A WESTBURY born and bred horse has been crowned as Hunter champion of Great Britain 2013.
Mickey, a four-year-old gelding, competed at the Royal London Show where he impressed judges in all the rounds.
23-year-old Hannah de Boorder is delighted with her horse’s performance, which was one of his first experiences of the show world, and believes he has a very exciting future ahead.
In a hunter class, horses are required to walk, trot, canter and gallop, showing off the horse’s movement. Horses are marked on aspects including its manners, temperament, and movement.
Hannah explains, “Being relatively new to all the showing world, we didn’t have many hopes for this big show. I would have been equally thrilled if he gave the judges a good ride, and that he enjoyed and behaved himself.
“Mickey’s first class was the small hunter, which are all hunter type horses under 158cm but above 148 cm in height – riders any age. To my delight Mickey again pulled a wonderful ride for a four-year-old and the judge loved him and we won that class. Later on that day we had our second class, the intermediate hunters, where the riders have to be under 25 years old. Mickey too won this class.
“After winning both classes we then were put forward to the championship pre-judging where all the judges from the hunter classes assess all the winners and second placed horses together. Thus Mickey was up against the lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight, and ladies hunter winners.
“Usually the judges like the bigger horses over 158 cm as these are more versatile. Once pre-judging is over we all had to wait for the evening performance to see who the judges pull forward. The evening performance is an experience in itself. It is all dark and they put a spotlight on you as you go around and the crowd is clapping and cheering. It’s very intimidating and exciting for a four-year-old who has never experienced any thing like this ever! To my delight he behaved wonderfully and as we all stood in the line up, my number was pulled out as the Hunter champion of Great Britain.”
Hannah works full-time and to fit in her love of horses, she is up at 5.00am every day and rides in the evenings.
She has been riding all her life, and Mickey was her first experience with equine breeding. She has already had plenty of experience in the equine industries, including a six-month placement on a racing yard in Canada.
Hannah said, “I would like to aim Mickey for Royal International Horse Show qualifiers if he matures over the winter, and it would be a dream come true if I could qualify him for Horse of the Year show one year.”
