HOYS-bound horses lose height certificates
Two Horse of the Year Show (HOYS)-qualified horses connected to Southampton-based showing producer Adam Wimbourne have had life height certificates withdrawn by the Joint Measurement Board (JMB).
Mr Wimbourne has confirmed that 133cm Out Of The Blue V was measured at 137cm by the JMB when competing under the name Finkley Chitter Chatter.
He said the gelding was bought by owner Regina Daly of Co Cork without any papers and was given a passport and measured at 133cm under the Out Of The Blue V moniker.
In May, an unnamed informant reported the horse to the JMB and its height certificate was invalidated, resulting in disqualification from the 133cm and under show hunter pony section at HOYS this week.
“It’s a child’s pony and the little boy [Gavin Daly, who rides him] has had a lot of upset over this,” said Mr Wimbourne. “It was a genuine mistake, but this is what happens when you buy a pony without documentation.”
A second horse, Jewel Of The Night, was bought by Jane Gill of Harrogate from Mr Wimbourne last October.
But in August 2008, after rumours circulated that it was actually 159.5cm Weltseiger, she returned the gelding.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“Mr Wimbourne took it straight back and refunded my money,” she said.
Howard Robinson, who runs the JMB, told H&H that Jewel Of The Night’s measurement certificate was declared invalid on 4 September after it was found the horse had the same freeze-mark as Weltseiger.
Jewel Of The Night had qualified for the not-exceeding 158cm intermediate show riding type class at HOYS.
For more on this, see the current issue of Horse & Hound (9 October 2008).
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.