“The things we’ve had to do to keep him clean this morning,” said Cathy Wood as she watched her snow-white Connemara stallion Contepomi Cashel step up to clinch the overall Horse & Hound-supported Mountain and Moorland (M&M) in-hand championship at the 2019 Royal Windsor Horse Show.
While the weather stayed dry for the native ponies, two previous days of heavy rain meant that walkways and collecting areas were blanketed in thick mud.
Cathy added: “He’s had to be fully bandaged and rugged and he’s had to wear a tail bandage right down to the bottom of his tail — it’s been a nightmare. When we were sat in the lorry last night we thought the show might be called off as the weather was that bad.”
Nevertheless, the 12-year-old stallion — who is co-owned with Emma and John Rugman — was on song with usual handler Jamie Frost to be pulled forward by judge Allan Robertson to claim the supreme title.
“This is my first time at Windsor,” added Cathy, who breeds event horses from her base in Devon. “We’ve entered for the past four years, but due to covering commitments, we haven’t been able to come.
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“Contepomi is such a powerhouse and I love his trot. He was my first Connemara and now I have a herd of them.”
Contepomi was a Cuddy finalist in 2015 and has since notched up several in-hand titles on the county circuit. At this show, he also proved his credentials as a sire as his three-year-old daughter won the youngstock class and stood eventual breed reserve.
Reserve champion went to the Dales champion, Sarah Noble’s big-moving mare Stuffynwood Daffodil who was led by Everret Hayes.
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Don’t miss our full report and analysis from this year’s Royal Windsor Horse Show in the 16 May 2019 issue of Horse & Hound magazine
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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.
