Horse & Hound “win a horse” prize turns 30

It has been the partnership of a lifetime — and it all started through Horse & Hound.

Helen Seymour was 21 when she beat hundreds of other entrants in the win-a-horse competition run by H&H back in the summer of 1984. Her prize, Mountwood Bally Hy, turns 30 on 24 March.

“Winning ‘Monty’ changed the whole direction of my life,” said Miss Seymour. “I’ve learnt so much from him, moved house because of him and made a whole new set of friends thanks to him.”

Suffolk-based Miss Seymour, who has ridden since she was a child, won the competition after answering a set of questions published in H&H throughout 1984.

“The prize was £3,000, which was a lot of money back then, and as I was keen to get into showing, Robert Oliver picked Monty out for me,” she explained.

“I was a bit unsure when I first rode him, but Robert told me he’d be perfect for me and he was absolutely spot on.”

Read this story in full in the current issue of Horse & Hound (15 March, ’07)

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