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‘He came alive’: rider ticks title off bucket list with ‘sparkling’ riding horse

Alex Robinson Alex Robinson

    • A producer finally got the centre line moment she’d been working for as she captured the 2024 Royal Windsor riding horse championship.

    This was Justine Armstrong-Small in the saddle of Jane and her daughter Sophie O’Keeffe’s nine-year-old small section winner Rosemore Midnight Rendezvous (Dissy). The pair were heading into their class with form, as last October they lifted the small riding horse of the year final at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).

    Dissy also contends intermediates with Sophie and the horse has been on flying form this season, winning two Royal International (RIHS) riding horse championships on the bounce, and also landing his ticket to the Hickstead final as an intermediate on his first attempt. He has also won Sophie a supreme of show sash.

    On Sunday of Windsor, Sophie piloted him to win the intermediate show hunter class and post section reserve in a star-studded section championship.

    “We were second here in the riding horses last year, so we’ve always strived to win,” said Justine, a multi-Windsor working hunter champion. “I’ve never actually won a flat class here, so this is a big moment for me. It’s such an honour to win here.”

    In the morning’s class, the previous night’s rainfall meant the ground in the Copper Horse Arena was less than ideal, as Justine explained: “It was tough going so we only went on one rein. But, he coped exceptionally well. He plouged through it. He tends to like going on grass.”

    Jane and Sophie bought him when he was a four-year-old from the Bowen Family. They went to view another horse but when it was deemed unsuitable for the job, they took a look at Dissy.

    Dissy has been a level-headed horse from the get go, but he’s skyrocketed into champion status in the past 12 months.

    “As a younger horse he would become a bit too exuberant if there was too much clapping, but he’s got better with age,” Justine said. “He grew in there today. He came alive, put his ears on and he sparkled. I did feel the pressure a bit, given he’s the current HOYS winner, so to do it is a big thrill for everyone concerned.”

    Justine had a rocky start to her Royal Windsor campaign. In the working show horses on Thursday she parted company with her horse: “He gibed at the water. He stopped, dived left and I capsized onto the floor. No harm done, though!”

    The 2024 Royal Windsor riding horse championship, which was sponsored by Mr and Mrs Swallow, saw Wayne Thorneycroft and his winning large contender First Man take reserve, in a similar fashion to what he had done at the RIHS final in 2021.

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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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