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‘He never stops giving’: Fifth HOYS championship for ultimate showman

Alex Robinson Alex Robinson

    • For the third time in his career, the Mears Family’s magnificent large contender Forgeland Hyde Park (Will) took home the Andrews Family hack of the year championship at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).

    Judges Mathew Lawrence (ride) and Vanessa De Quincey (conformation) selected the 12-year-old as their champion over the winning small, six-year-old Manhatten, ridden by Harriet Dennison, who was marking her first HOYS victory in horse ranks.

    Both geldings are sired by the late prolific stallion Kilvington Scoundrel.

    This was the second time Will’s rider, Danielle Heath, has taken the hack tricolour with him. In 2019, he won it with his former producer, Jayne Ross.

    Will has also won HOYS in intermediate ranks, standing champion in 2021 with Issy Mears Wood, and also in 2018 with Miranda Wallace. He will return with Issy on Saturday to vie for the title a third time.

    “He never stops giving; he’s just a showman,” said Cheshire-based Danielle, who rode Will to win his fourth Royal Windsor accolade back in May. “Even when he’s a bit tired he goes in there and rises to the occasion. We laugh when we put the red rosette on him; straight away he is in the zone and he just knows what he’s achieved.

    “He does a handful of shows a year which is why there is so little wear and tear on him and he looks fantastic for his age,” added Danielle. “We’ll keep going with him as long as he wants to do it and for as long as he enjoys it.”

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    Alex Robinson
    Alex Robinson

    H&H showing 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 since when she has cemented its place as the leading equestrian publication for both showing reports and current showing news in the UK.
    Alex Robinson

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