A home-producer’s pony of a lifetime is bound for London International Horse Show for the first time in the Senior Showing and Dressage Ltd (SSADL) finals. Amy Ashworth’s Belchford Mari qualified for the senior ridden championship at Rutland County on the lead-rein with eight-year-old Eliza Jones in the saddle.
Belchford Mari is a 16-year-old Welsh section A mare and Amy, who works for online retail company Lords and Labradors, has known her for most of her life. Amy has ridden for Mari’s breeder, Jennifer Stamp, for over a decade.
“One day many years ago, I was at the yard while Jennifer was away and I decided to take this little chestnut mare for a ride down the road,” Amy says.
In 2018, Mari was left empty and Amy decided to continue with her ridden education.
“She’s always been a bigger girl so I kept her in work to keep her fit and healthy,” she says. “I’d always dreamed of riding at the Great Yorkshire and as Mari was going so well and the judges were good, I decided to enter her. To our amazement, she won and qualified for Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).”
Mari took Amy to HOYS two years running before she bred two foals for her. One of her sons now resides in Australia and her first born went to HOYS in the open Welsh section A final in October with Amy.
“She’s done absolutely everything I could have ever wanted,” Amy says. “London was a show I’d never aimed at before, so I decided to recruit a young jockey for Mari to campaign the senior finals. I did try one qualifier myself with her at the beginning of the season, but Mari – who is nicknamed Gangster Granny at home – is a bit speedy, but she is a diamond on the lead-rein.”
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Last year, Mari began itching and it was discovered that she had developed a severe dust allergy as well as an auto-immune problem. It was a stressful time for Amy, who says it took a while to get to the bottom of the issue: “We tried everything and as she’d never had anything like this before, we couldn’t work out what was causing it. Thankfully, the team at Rainbow Equine Hospital have been with us every step of the way and have helped get Mari better. It was a scary time; it can be hard to find out the diagnosis of a skin issue as there are so many potential factors that can cause it.
“Mari means everything to us,” Amy adds. “She’s the sweetest pony ever who is also fun, spicy and naughty at times. She’s made all my dreams come true and has now done the same for Eliza, giving her an experience of county showing and her first ride at a major final. I’m so grateful to our vets for their help; getting to London has been a huge team effort.”
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Former H&H showing editor and deputy features editor
Born and raised in the Lake District, Alex has grown up on the showing scene. She has qualified and competed ponies at the Royal International, Horse of the Year Show and Olympia and has first-hand knowledge of the current issues in the showing world as well as the horses, ponies and riders who compete in the sport. Alex joined H&H in January 2018 as showing editor, cementing its place as the leading equestrian publication for both showing reports and current showing news in the UK. She moved on in October 2024 to pursue other opportunities, but continues to write for us on a freelance basis.
