Recorded shortly after she was crowned supreme horse champion at HOYS for the eighth time, Jayne shares some insight into what it’s like to be competing at HOYS and KBF Lucia, or “Poppy”, who is owned by Diane Stennett and Lucy Cameron.
“It’s a very very surreal scenario altogether; you tend to get into your own little bubble and you forget what’s going on with the rest of the world because it does become very intense,” she says of competing at the NEC.
“It’s very hands on with very strange timings. Because of the fact there’s a limited amount of room to actually exercise horses and things like that, and they’re limited with the number of stables they can put up, horses tend to be coming in and out all week.
“And on the whole, we’re starting between three or half past three in the morning in order to have horses ready to go indoors for what they call arena familiarisation, which is quite often is around half five in the morning because all that has to be done before the classes start at seven. Then we have to go back to our stables, which is a good ten minute walk. I’m lucky as I’m usually on board but my poor team are usually following with trollies of all the stuff we might need. So you’ve done half a day’s work before you even start your first class.”
Luckily, it seems that Poppy is something of a dream to prepare.
“She’s been ‘Perfect Poppy’ for a few years now,” says Jayne. “She’s the most phenomenal ride, both side saddle and astride. The only real pressure is to tell her, ‘come on Poppy, you’ve got this’.”
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As well as reflecting on HOYS and Poppy’s rise through the ranks, Jayne reflects on her childhood and her career as a whole.
“I was not from a horsey background,” she says. “I was from a very sporty background in so much as my mother was an Olympic figure skater, and my father was twice world speedway champion in the 50s. So they were top-of-the-league sports people themselves, and so very good at backing us as a family and encouraging us to do whatever we wanted to do to the best of our ability.”
She goes on to share how her father “made the mistake” of taking her to see some friends who introduced her to ponies aged around four, and her first forays into showing.
“That was it I’m afraid. That was a really bad day for my father,” she jokes.
Jayne’s first HOYS win came “purely by chance” in 1966 on Cusop Pirouette, a 128cm show pony who went on to be champion.
“But that was it. Once you’ve won there, you want to do it all again,” says Jayne. “I’ve been unbelievably lucky in my career; I’ve had some fabulous horses, fabulous owners, fantastic wins. How lucky am I to have won that supreme eight times? I never dreamt it would happen. I have so many people to thank for that.”
To hear more on how she forged such an illustrious career, the importance of her team, and her commitment to her horses, tune into the 171st episode of The Horse & Hound Podcast.
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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.
