Robert Walker riding View Point in Class 41, winner of the Hunter Championships during the Royal Windsor Horse Show, held in the grounds of Windsor Castle in Windsor in Berkshire in the UK between 1st - 4th July 2021
Read the full report from the show’s most coveted championship, which was dominated by Team Walker and Team Ross, who occupied four of the six spots
THE reigning open hunter champion returned to the 2021 Royal Windsor Horse Show to reclaim the title and prove he really is the king of them all.
The impeccable combination of Cheshire-based producer and Jill Day’s stunning 10-year-old Loughehoe Guy lightweight View Point were faultless throughout their performances in the Castle Arena, host of the hunter classes for the first time in 20 years. View Point, also supreme ridden here in 2018, has the most enviable tally, which includes two Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) titles. Jill was in the stands watching her horse take the victory.
As a four and five-year-old View Point took the novice circuit by storm, standing novice champion twice at the British Show Horse Championships and also winning the novice hunters at the Great Yorkshire Show.
“When he’s out and about at shows, he often whinnies,” said Robert. “Sometimes he even does it when the judge is on him. He doesn’t even move his head but you can gently hear him. He does a lot of hacking as he is a very quick learner and would get bored going round and round in the school.”
View Point’s older brother Vantage Point, also piloted by Robert, notched up several successes in the show ring a few years before. Vantage Point’s tally includes the 2015 Hunter of the Year title.
“Windsor is my lucky show,” added Robert, after his championship win. Standing next to him as reserve was his wife, Sarah, aboard winning middleweight Chief Whip. The six-year-old by Ricardo Z is a relatively new face for the team, but has already achieved HOYS and RIHS tickets.
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Gareth Jenkins of championship sponsors Clip My Horse TV presented the overall award, before Rob and Sarah embarked on a victory lap side-by-side.
Winning heavyweight, Rose Bailey’s Twinshock Warrior and Jayne Ross, 2019 RIHS hunter champions and reigning HOYS supremes, also put on an exceptional show for the judges, Jill Wormall (ride) and Jane Holderness-Roddam (conformation).
Jayne also took second place in the lightweight class riding Kay Cambell’s nine-year-old Temple Ogue.
Completing the championship was second placed middleweight, Big Ben (Lucinda Freedman) and Ringwood The Specialist (Will Morton).
Other placings included:
Lightweight
3rd Carra Villa Gem (Jack Moore)
4th Timpany Imperial (Oliver Hood)
5th Seabourne Silent Valley (Francioise Babbington)
6th Double Mocha (Olivia Edmundson)
Middleweight
3rd Carlingfords King (Justine Armstrong Small)
4th Castle Howard Legacy (Katie Jerram-Hunnable)
5th Mr Darcy Dancer (Amy Cook)
6th Kluane (Katie Jerram-Hunnable)
Heavyweight
3rd Patrics Choice (Robert Walker)
4th Golden Inca Cross (Lucy Fisher)
5th Pagestown Principal (Judy Sole)
6th Fuerty Emperor (J Fryer)
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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.
