Lightweight adds his name to the history books with third hunter of the year championship of his career
The season’s most competitive hunter showdown took place at the 2021 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS), as six immaculate contenders battled it out for the Catplant Group of Companies Ltd show hunter of the year championship.
The top two lightweights, View Point (Robert Walker) and Glenkeeran Dance In The Deep (Camilla Stowell Davies) met with the best of the middleweights, Bloomfield Eloquence (Loraine Homer) and Mardi Gras (Aimee Stunt). The leading heavyweights, Dublins Street Fighter (Matthew Ainsworth) and Bowland Lucky Slipper (Magnus Nicholson), then completed the set.
It was a stunning display with each combination looking worthy of the championship spots, but it was Jill Day’s View Point and his trusty pilot Robert Walker who were judges Mary Low and Louise Daly’s choice for the overall award.
“Sean” now becomes one of the few horses to have won the hunter of the year title at HOYS three times during a single career; he was also the victor in 2017 and 2018.
Robert proved just what a showman he is as he made the most of his lap of honour in front of the elated crowd.
When he left the ring, he leant onto Sean’s neck and told him ‘good boy’ before jumping off to watch his 17-year-old son, Sam Walker, blow a hunting horn as a tribute to those figures of equestrian sport we have lost over the past two years.
Loraine Homer secured the reserve spot on Angie Coggin’s delightful grey gelding Bloomfield Eloquence, who shone under the spotlight and soaked up the electric atmosphere on his first HOYS appearance.
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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.