Castle Kestrel and Lucy Glover after winning the supreme ridden M&M at London International Horse Show 2022; this year judge Samantha Darlington will be assessing ride in this class.
Showing producer Samantha Darlington explains what she wants to see when judging the natives at London International in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers
The championship for native ponies at London International Horse Show (LIHS) is one of the oldest and most prestigious on the mountain and moorland calendar. Now organised by the British Show Pony Society (BSPS), the judging format is unique, with four judges working together to find a champion. Two judges preside over performance, including Samantha Darlington this time, and two preside over conformation.
The scores for each show are displayed on the large screen above competitors, meaning sharp minds and keen onlookers can keep a tally of who’s in the lead for each section and breed. The final placings, however, remain a surprise as all four judges’ marks are totalled to reveal the top 10.
Ahead of the show, we’ve caught up with Samantha to get the lowdown on her background in showing, and what she will be looking for in the ring on the day.
Samantha Darlington’s equestrian background
Samantha’s parents weren’t horsey at all.
“But I just loved ponies, and they bought me one – I was very lucky – when I was about six or seven years old,” she says. “We kept the pony at a local riding school, and I went to Pony Club and did that kind of thing.”
Samantha’s journey into showing came via her instructor.
“A lady I was having lessons with was friends with Stella Harries,” she explains. “She told my parents I was worthy of a decent pony, and got me riding for Stella.”
The late Stella Harries was one of the most successful and influential of her time in showing.
“Riding for Stella was hard work, but it was also amazing and such a good grounding,” adds Samantha.
“When I was young, I had a scrapbook of people riding show ponies at the time – I was in awe of them and used to cut out photos from magazines. So when I started riding for Stella, and then had my own working hunter ponies, the people I became friends with used to be my idols in my scrapbook.”
Samantha Darlington rides Broekland Allessandro at London International.
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
Samantha Darlington’s showing success
After finishing school, Samantha began producing.
“I had some great times and great horses,” she recalls fondly. “My first horse I produced was my own – a small hunter called Oak Hills Aristocrat. He won the Royal International, and for someone coming off ponies, that was really good. I was in England hunter pony team myself, and then produced ponies to be on the team, which was great.
“In those days, we had such a good crowd of owners and riders, and we were like a big team. We had a big camp at the championships and it was such fun. We still keep in touch with people now that I had ponies for many years ago.”
Samantha’s daughter Georgia has had a superb run in pony classes and is now highly successful on the working hunter and working hunter pony scene. Earlier this year, she added a fifth Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) win and third championship to her repertoire, stepping up to the working hunter ranks with aplomb and taking the tricolour aboard her former intermediate working hunter pony of the year, Jara.
Samantha will know exactly how competitors in the ring at London International are feeling, having ridden there herself several times.
“The first time I rode at Olympia, I was about 18 years old. I was riding a Connemara I was producing called Grayswood Village Peregrine, and he was reserve champion – probably my best result there,” says Samantha.
“I’d been to watch at Olympia for years, but I just rode show and working hunter ponies at that point and didn’t have mountain and moorlands; they came when I started producing. So it was just amazing to ride there and so exciting. He qualified at the East Anglian Native Pony Show, and obviously back in those days you had to stand champion in order to qualify.
“The natives were the only showing class at the show back then, so it always felt like such a big thing to be competing there. And we were made so welcome, like they really wanted us there to show with all those people watching.”
Since then Samantha has taken several other breeds, including Welsh section As, Connemaras and Dartmoor ponies. Her daughter, Georgia, also rode a Shetland pony at Olympia.
Samantha and her daughter, Georgia, rode champion and reserve in the Grand Prix WHP Championship at the Ponies Association (UK) Supreme Championship in 2015.
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
With such special memories of competing, it’s little wonder that Samantha is looking forwards to judging, and coins this show as a judging highlight.
“I haven’t judged much in the last few years because we’ve been so busy with showing ourselves – you can’t judge and show at the same time. I have been asked a number of times to judge at the Royal International, but because we live so close to the show, and because both myself and Georgia teach so much, I’ve never taken them up on the offers as it would affect our clients.”
She admits, though, that it’s “quite nerve-racking”.
“Your marks go up on the screen,” she explains, “so with two judges assessing performance, if the other judge is on a totally different page, then what must people think? But I can’t think like that and must judge what I see.
“Some people do mark higher than others; there are things that I might like that another judge might not. You can’t really expect two judges to have the exactly the same marks because everyone’s looking for something slightly different.”
What will Samantha be looking for as the native performance judge?
“I like something that’s forward; that’s sitting up in the bridle,” says Samantha. Her winner will “look light to the hand and look easy”.
While bearing in mind the different breed types and descriptions, Samantha will nevertheless want to see a pony that is moving forwards freely.
“Something that makes me think ‘I’d love to ride that,’” is ultimately what Samantha wants to see in the ring.
Samantha’s pet hates
“I don’t like to see ponies rushed,” she says. “I like something to have a natural rhythm and not be pushed out of its stride.
“I also like to see a nice walk at the start and finish of a show, and I like a good gallop, but it must be eased into – not fired off the corner.”
Anything else?
“I also don’t want to see a show that goes on and on.”
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.
