‘She’s just been a star for the yard’: decorated mare is crowned 2026 Royal Windsor show hunter pony champion

A prolific mare took the 2026 Royal Windsor show hunter pony championship for her delighted rider.

Isobel Radford Jones got her first Windsor win aboard her mother Fiona’s 143cm Morning Sunflower (Flo).

A shocked Isobel said: “There aren’t words to describe it, honestly. I’ve been coming to Windsor for a long time, so it’s so amazing.”

This will be Isobel’s last year on the Rosscon Sunrise 10-year-old part-bred Connemara.

With this in mind, they started as they meant to go on, picking up their Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) at their first show of the season.

“This means so much to me,” Isabel added.

Producer Lucy Glover spotted the mare as a four-year-old.

“She’s just been a star for the yard,” said Lucy. “We’ve had her since she was five.”

Flo has certainly had a decorated career. She has twice stood top at RIHS – once as a four-year-old – and was steered by Isabella O’Donnell to stand show hunter pony champion at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in 2023.

This was also Flo’s second Royal Windsor victory.

“She’s just an incredible one, and she’s the easiest to do,” said Lucy. “We’ve had her for three different riders now.”

The reserve for the 2026 Windsor show hunter pony title was the winner of the 133cm division, Nynwoods The Milkman ridden by Beatrice Taverner Jordan.

The eight-year-old chestnut gelding is owned and produced by John Harvey, and was bred by Terry Wall.

The smallest winner in the championship – victorious in the 123cm division – was Annabel Makin-Jones’ Tyfel Zico eight-year-old Colway Belle Of The Ball, ridden by Annabel’s daughter Jemima Makin-Jones.

The final combination to land a red rosette in this section were the winners of the 153cm class: Georgia Jones riding Roger Jones’ 15-year-old Mr Oscar Cookson.

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