‘We couldn’t hack him for two years’: Intermediate defies odds to win top title five years after being hit by a car
Despite only contending their third show together, Harry Moore and Lauren Mollard’s lovely gelding Be Smart (Smartie) made light of the TopSpec Arena to clinch the intermediate show hunter of the year title at the 2021 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).
The new combination was retaining an unbeaten run, which includes overall HOYS intermediate championships at both the Scottish Horse Show and the BSHA National Championships.
10-year-old Smartie is produced by Edward Young, who rode him to be second in the small hunter final earlier in the week.
“My first sit on him was a catch ride,” said Cheshire-based Harry, who runs a showing yard with his brother, Jack. “He gives the most amazing ride. Edward sets him up for the small hunters so he just goes for me.”
Edward has had Smartie on his team for four years.
“His attitude is something else,” said Edward, who was also second with Smartie in the smalls in 2019, so was clearly delighted to finally achieve a win with the special horse. “He’s a really nice fella.”
Edward also noted that Smartie can be stressy so requires plenty of work and routine when at a show:
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“He was hit by a car five years ago and the jockey ended up in a coma,” said Edward. “It took us two years to get him back on the roads, but during lockdown we managed to get him out hacking again. It took a long time and a lot of patience, as he would just have a breakdown. Here, he’s been fine with all the buggies and the trains going past so it’s clear the work has paid off.”
Gary Parr stood second with Georgina Wilkes’ superbly consistent mare Mexican Summer.
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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.