Horse & Hound’s daily debrief, brought to you every weekday morning
1. Idols becoming rivals
Seven years ago, Lily Attwood was representing the Tanatside Hunt branch of the Pony Club in the mini-major at Olympia, where she was teamed with pro rider Guy Williams. Fast forward to 2021 and the now 19-year-old has received an 11th hour call-up to compete in the CSI5* classes at the London International Horse Show under the tutelage of her trainer, the very same Guy. It’s the fairy tale that every young Pony Clubber dreams of coming true. “I remember, even before I jumped in the mini-major, watching the 12.2hhs at Olympia and thinking just to jump in that class would be amazing;” Lily told H&H. “So it’s quite cool to be doing the five-star now!”
Find out more about Lily, her mini-major memories and hopes for the 2021 show
2. Whiskers
H&H showing columnist Julie Templeton discusses the Great Yorkshire Show’s decision to ban trimmed whiskers from 2022. The move follows similar decisions in the sport horse world, by the FEI, British Eventing and British Dressage. Without coming down on one side of the argument, Julie raises the question of how it will be policed, if stand-alone decisions are confusing for competitors and whether the show world “would have been better placed to try to bring this type of change in through The Showing Council”. She adds: “Great Yorkshire Show has an active voice at the table of The Showing Council through the Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations, and could have asked for this to be discussed with all societies and associations. It would have made more sense for everyone to have input and then a strategic policy reached.”
3. Pony power
A Connemara pony proved good things come in small packages to secure a place at the Blue Chip championships. Fairfax Hot Tottie, ridden by Georgia Simms, secured qualification in the Heritage Insurance diamond qualifier horse class with the 17-year-old. Georgia has owned the 148cm mare for six years and jumped her to 1.20m in pony classes. When Georgia turned 16, she made the decision to keep jumping the mare, switching her to horse classes.
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