RED ROCK III exhibited by ?? and owned by Mrs T A Veale winner of the Ridden Cob Championship during Great Yorkshire Show held at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate in North Yorkshire in the UK between 9 -11th July 2019
Read which coloured horses and ponies were in the running for the coveted ridden championship
With several HOYS, RIHS and former Windsor winners forward, the coloured championship came to a nail bitting head in the Copper Horse Arena under judges Will Murray (ride) and Emma Green (conformation) at the 2021 Royal Windsor Horse Show.
There was no denying that Vicky Hesford and Tracey Veale’s magnificent cob Red Rock III (Red) were deserving winners of the title.
Earlier in the morning they had piped Sue-Helen Shuttleworth and Shirley Moro’s HOYS-bound traditional The Highway Man II into second place in the native, cob and traditional horse class. Following on they pushed Jayne Ross and Tony Reynolds’ stunning plaited horse KBF Crescendo, champion here in 2019, into reserve. Their championship performance included a ground covering gallop, and Red floated around the arena in complete self-carriage throughout.
Nine-year-old Red, of unknown breeding, is also shown prolifically as a lightweight show cob and was placed fourth in his cob class the previous day.
Red had the Covid season off with Tracey, who works two jobs to fund his production with Vicky. Red’s 2019 tally includes wins at Windsor, the RIHS and HOYS.
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“He had a good break and he’s come back fighting,” added Vicky. “He’s a legend. He had a little hack down to the ring this morning and then he was pretty much ready to go in. If they could write a perfect show horse it would be him.”
Red was originally found by cob specialists Val Sheehan and Camilla Neame. Tracey saw him in-hand at the BSHA national championships and persuaded Val and Camilla to sell him.
“She showed him from home and then contacted me at the start of 2019, as my heavyweight show cob had retired,” said Vicky. “To be fair I jumped at the chance as I would have been lacking a top horse to ride and I actually tried to buy Red as a four-year-old, so it was fate.
“He’s a poppet at home, even my little boy rides him.”
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Former H&H showing editor and deputy features 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 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.
