Dales stallion surprises breeders with championship victory and ticket to Liverpool M&M final *H&H Plus*
Ridden M&M ponies competed for a coveted ticket to the BSPS M&M Heritage ridden final to be held at Liverpool in the New Year. Read the full list of results...
Native ponies from across the country flocked to the Copper Horse Arena on day three of the Royal Windsor Horse Show to compete for a ticket to the British Show Pony Society (BSPS) supreme Heritage championship to be held at the Liverpool International Horse Show for the first time this season.
It was the winners of the day’s first class who returned to shine in the overall championship. This was Julie and Anna Pennell’s home-bred Dales stallion Nipna Midnight Rambler, a six-year-old by Nipna Invictus out of Nipna Damask Rose.
Despite being one of the youngest ponies in the championship, the big-moving stallion and his producer Sarah Parker gave a fluent, yet true-to-type display which clinched them the coveted qualification.
“He’s just so uphill and he really moves,” enthused Sarah. “He’s still a novice, but he coped with the atmosphere so well today; he just wasn’t bothered by anything in the slightest.”
Rambler is Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) bound after winning at Stoneleigh Horse Show.
Anna was there to watch her home-bred favourite triumph on royal turf:
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“He’s super special to us as he’s out of our first home-bred mare, Damask Rose, who took me to HOYS and was second in 2013. He’s got such a partnership with Sarah, too; I love watching them together.”
Reserve was Karen Johnson’s ultra-consistent Welsh section D stallion Menai Eurostar, a former H&H cover star and Windsor winner in 2019. The 10-year-old was ridden by his producer Adam Forster. This pair are also heading for the Royal International and HOYS this season after qualifying early on in the season.
Other class results included:
Fell/Dales/Highland:
2nd Wellbrow Diplomat (Brian Williams)
3rd Ellister Islay Spruce (Rebecca Penny)
4th Lochlands Lord Byron (Oliver Bradshaw)
5th Murthwaite Ted’s Lass (Stephanie Richards)
6th Trowan Millisle (Harriot Siden)
Welsh section D
2nd Llanarth Fair Lady (Charlotte Alford)
3rd Drogeda Valentino (Rachel Cooper)
4th London Golden Eye (Aimee Devane)
5th Larnleighs Express (Rebecca Penny)
6th Renvarg Royal Flush (Heather Comley)
Welsh section C
1st Synod Rilley (Alice Barr)
2nd Lantau Supernova (Jodie Haywood)
3rd Stormyoak Just Divine (Cheryl Hillman)
4th Dyffryntywi Llewelyn (Amber Oaker)
5th Beno Bubbalouie (Lalia Reeves)
6th Moeldod Monty (Darcie Campbell)
Welsh section A/B
1st Hoekhurst Example (Libby Grota)
2nd Idyllic Spartacus (Livie Smith)
3rd Laitehill Flute (Kate Hewson)
4th Llynhelyg Play Boy (Janette Thompson)
5th Lledrith Nemesis (Sam Roberts)
6th Gigman Michaelangelo (Esmé Summers)
Dartmoor, Exmoor and Shetland
1st Treworgan Commodore (Sam Roberts)
2nd Sharptor Tricolore (Jessica Talbot)
3rd Blackthorn Panther (Emilia Andrews)
4th Stephanie Richards (Dunkery Hornbill)
Connemara/Newforest
1st Gloves Blakehill William (Lucy Body)
2nd Culmore Bobby (Mandy Baldwin)
3rd Kilpatrick Kestrel (Lulu Farmbrough)
4th Beechmount Emperor (Abigail Huxham)
5th King Bunowen Castle Ali (Sonya Fitch-Peyton)
6th Liscappul Ed (Rachel Turner)
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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.