Show hunter pony out of legendary HOYS supreme winner takes glory at Royal Windsor
A show team cemented a perfect 2022 Royal Windsor Horse show campaign by clinching the Royal Windsor show hunter pony tri-colour for the second time.
This year’s champion was the 143cm contender Romanno Spot Of Distinction (AJ), a six-year-old bay gelding by Stanley Grange Regal Heights, out of Chiddock Spot On, the mare who won the final Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) overall supreme in 2001, before the championship was split into respective horse and pony sections.
AJ, supreme hunter pony at the BSPS summer championships last year and supreme novice at the BSPS winter championships in 2020, was ridden at Windsor by 16-year-old Charlotte Caulfield.
“We got him from Katy Carter,” explained his producer, Adam Forster. “I had been to view some show ponies and when Katy was showing me round I saw AJ in a stable. I fell in love and I said that I wasn’t leaving without him.”
This was the second time AJ and Charlotte have won the 143cm class at Royal Windsor, but last year’s championship spot went to team mates Annandale Flanders and Oscar Konechny.
“He has the best temperament and anyone that rides him loves him; if a new staff member has a spin on AJ they don’t want to get off,” added Adam.
Charlotte has been based with Team Jinks since she was on 128cm ponies and has netted a host of accolades on various animals:
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“She’s so reliable and committed,” said Adam. “She’s always in the ring to win but she’s polite and is very sportsmanlike.”
Team Jinks/Forster also won the 153cm class with Anthony Gribbin’s Runnon Ruby Tuesday, ridden by Reise Shakespeare.
Reserve for the Royal Windsor show hunter pony crown was winning 122cm, Harry Edwards-Brady and his mother Emma Edwards’ Gryngallt Page Too.
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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.