Heading to HOYS: meet the talented jockey who has qualified FIVE M&M working hunter ponies…
With a charge of five ponies set to compete in the mountain and moorland (M&M) working hunter pony classes, it’s safe to say that Staffordshire-based rider Tori Oakes and her team will be having one very busy Thursday at the 2018 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).
It is believed that Tori, who notes that four out of her five finalists are still owned by their breeders, is the only rider to achieve such a feat. She will compete one pony in each height section of the native pony worker finals (122cm, 133cm, 143cm and exceeding 143cm) and has recruited a stand in jockey to ride her second 122cm participant.
“Chetwynd Caspar, who qualified at Suffolk show, is the only one I won’t get to ride at HOYS, so Sarah Parker will step into ride him for me,” said Tori.
Nineteen-year-old Casper is owned by the Countess of Shrewsbury and has competed at HOYS most years since he began his career as a young flat pony.
Tori, who works in retail three days a week and produces the ponies alongside, continued: “Also in the 122cm section is Sue Hinchcliffe and Tammy Heathcote’s 16-year-old Welsh section B Roseberry Lullaby, who qualified at Moreton-in-Marsh. Lullaby will be joined by the same owners’ 133cm finalist Roseberry Model May, a 14-year-old gelding who picked up his ticket at NPS Area 7.
“In the 143cm class, my own Highland Cairns Fergus will be competing after winning at the New Forest show, and finally, in the exceeding 143cm class we have the 11-year-old Connemara mare PSF Molly, owned by Barbara Sargeant, who also qualified at Suffolk show.
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“I am so proud to have an an amazing team of ponies that always give me their all. It was incredible to have four of them at Hickstead and I would never have dreamt I could have bettered the number at HOYS, of all shows. I can’t wait.”
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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.