Laura Nicholson piloted her own Absolutely Lovely (Jim) to top the lineup in the amateur hacks before going on to claim the 2026 Royal Windsor Horse Show hack championship.
“I just can’t believe it,” said Laura. “This is my first ever win at a big show like this. I always go into the championships for a nice time. It’s a dream come true to actually go champion. I had the best time.”
Jim, 14, was bred by hack aficionados John and Vicky Keen and is by Whiteleaze Dominion.
Laura has owned him since he was a five-year-old, and she was a teenager. She first saw him on a trip to view a show pony with the Ahern sisters, and he was kept with them until she went to university, when he moved to Alice Barnes’ yard.
“She did a bit of everything with him, and now he’s based with the Walkers,” explained Skipton-based Laura.
“He’s been my only horse for nine years; he’s goofy and silly and he makes us all laugh.”
2026 hack champions Laura Nicholson and Absolutely Lovely.
(Image credit: Elli Birch)
It hasn’t all been plain sailing though.
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“We’ve overcome quite a few struggles, including a long period of rehab after an operation,” explained Laura.
“We’ve grown up together through the good, bad and ugly. But every year he seems to get better and better.”
This term, they have notched up three tricolours from three outings and are Hickstead-bound in the amateur and open ranks.
Alice Homer almost followed in her great-grandfather and grandfather’s footsteps – both of whom were hack champions here on multiple occasions – and finished reserve in the 2026 Royal Windsor hack championship aboard her mother Loraine Homer’s winning large hack, Comberton Unique.
“She’s just proper show horse; she’s a queen and she knows how special she is,” said Alice. “Riding her in the Castle Arena was so special. She was second here in the novices last year, but the championship clashed with another class so my friend Annabel Drake rode her in the championship. It was super special to have a spin on her myself this time, especially as I’ve had her right from the start of her career.”
The Utopia six-year-old has been under Alice’s care since a three-year-old, when she was purchased from her breeders Sally and Peter Hobbs. Bred for show-ring glory, she is out of Kilvington Scoundrel mare Comberton Copelia, who contended the Price Family Supreme In-hand championship at HOYS with Unique at foot.
So far, she has notched up three championships this term across intermediate and hack ranks. The pair will return for the intermediates on the show’s closing day, and Alice will also contest the novice riding horses with her maternal half-sister.
The reigning Hickstead amateur supremes Rebekah Pring and her mother Charlotte Coppard’s Littletons Tiger Lily – former amateur class winners here – topped the small hacks, while Hannah Horton continued her superb form to land the novice hacks aboard Jane Streeter’s Dowhills Deja Vu.
Jo Bates and Ami Blundell had two frustrating near misses, with Ami’s multi-garlanded Shildons Plan B and her exciting home-bred prospect Honourable Bardot both finished runner-up in the large and small divisions respectively.
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Bethan joined Horse & Hound as showing editor in January 2025, after spending two years as Editor for Showing World. Having adored ponies since childhood, she started showing as a teenager and has enjoyed wins at major shows up and down the country, including Royal Highland, New Forest, and the Royal Welsh, as well as HOYS, RIHS and London. She is particularly passionate about Welsh breeds and is also a Welsh language commentator.
