The only thing three-year-old Queenie Follows said after her first experience trail-hunting was “Can I do it again?”
The tiny rider and her trusty Shetland Coppice Magnum joined the Albrighton hunt Boxing Day meet at Newport rugby club, hob-nobbing with joint-master Brian Hinks, following hounds – and expressing her displeasure when it was time to go home.
Dad Stephen told H&H Queenie’s older sisters Bonnie, 17, and Hermione, 12, hunt frequently.
“She was so happy,” he said. “Normally she has to follow on foot with me. We followed for a bit and [when I said it was time to go] she wasn’t happy!”
Mum Jodie told H&H Queenie rides most days, loves mucking out and has already had success in the show ring.
“She’s ridden since I can remember; as soon as she could sit up, she was on in an Inky Dinky saddle!” Jodie said. “She’s so keen, asks to ride every day.
“She went to the National Shetland Performance Show last July, before she was even three, and she loved it – she won a saddle and everything! We’ve had Shetlands since we had our first daughter and the saddle is the prize for the supreme; something we’ve always dreamed of and it happened when she was two years old.”
Jodie added that as Bonnie and Hermione hunt most weekends, Queenie had “always wanted to do it”.
“We told her that morning that she was going and she was so excited,” she said. “Magnum is a real saint, who was so good at the meet; he’s really good for her at home too.
“She loved it, and afterwards said: ‘Can I do it again?’”
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