A 19-year-old rider is making her debut at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) with The Silent Master, a horse formerly ridden by one of the best showman of all time.
Hallie Booty and The Silent Master (Rocky) landed their ticket to the middleweight show hunter of the year final at the BSPS summer championships.
Hallie has been a showing enthusiast since she competed on lead rein ponies. However, her rapidly growing height meant her early days in the show ring were hindered, as she was required to skip some pony classes, including first ridden, and sell on ponies she had produced and worked hard with.
“I have always had my sights firmly set on achieving my dream of riding at HOYS one day,” says Hallie, who is currently studying real estate and land management at Oxford Brookes University. “I have always been super tall so I quickly outgrew some brilliant young ponies who eventually went to HOYS with their new jockeys.”
Aged nine, Hallie rode home-produced Highland pony Maccallumdene, qualifying him for the Royal International in open ranks. Aged 14, she moved into horse classes and her ride was the family’s home-produced cob, Aero.
“I had to wait until I was 15 to ride him in the ring and I had immense fun with him,” Hallie continues. “But after he retired from the show ring we struggled to find a suitable horse for me.”
Like many aspiring show riders, the now retired showman Allister Hood was one of Hallie’s icons.
“Allister was one of those professionals who always encouraged Hallie,” says Hallie’s mother, Kim Bootie. “Last year we felt that we weren’t making as much progress in the ring to go to the next level. I work full time and we were struggling to find the time to continue to home-produce our horses, so we approached Team Hood about joining them.”
When shown by Allister, Rocky was an uber-consistent middleweight contender who stood at the top of the line at all major shows, including winning and finishing reserve at Royal Windsor in 2019.
He had been run as a field master’s horse prior to his owners, Andrew and Mary Bowie, giving Hallie the opportunity to have him on lease to show this season.
“Ironically Aero and I featured on the same page as Allister and Rocky in a Royal Windsor feature in a magazine,” Hallie explains. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be riding him a few years later.
“We had a great start to our season and we quickly gelled. Rocky is such a gentleman; Mum jokes that if he were human that he would be boyfriend material.
“We were crowned amateur champions at the Suffolk Show and we decided to have a go at a few HOYS qualifiers later in the year. It was straight in with the big boys but Rocky and I had some great placings and a decision to go to a qualifier at the BSPS champs paid off as he got the golden ticket.
“Mum couldn’t watch the placings; she was hiding behind the judging box and it still hasn’t sunk in that my first-ever ride at HOYS will be in that huge main arena in such a strong class.
“I would not have had the courage to give it a go without the continued kindness and support of the everyone at the Hood Show Team who have helped to make the biggest of dreams come true and more importantly have always given me the encouragement and confidence to keep going and give it my best whatever sort of day we have had. Both Allister and Rocky’s owners have always encouraged me to enjoy it; there is never any pressure. Behind the scenes has been particularly special as Allister has had a watchful eye over our progress and he has given so much of his time and wisdom to me.”
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