Equestrian Expert
The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery was founded in 1947 by King George VI as the one remaining troop following the mechanisation of all horse-drawn artillery and commissioned to take part in ceremonies of state. Most recently, the troop made a special public appearance last year during Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.
Captain Richard Todd RHA, The Troop Captain of The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, commented: “The King’s Troop RHA is a special place that holds a unique role in the great ceremonies of state, but nothing is better than the spectacle of guns, horse and harness galloping around an arena performing difficult and dangerous manoeuvres.” With flat-out g alloping, edge-of-the-seat turns and a booming gun salute, the feature display certainly did not disappoint.
The second display could not have been further from the King’s Troop of 24 charging horses and 4 battle guns – it starred a pony with a huge identity crisis, a pony with a whole lot of Pride in his appearance...
Eight-year-old ‘Luma the Lion’, who was groomed to perfection to bring out his wild side, performed daily to the crowds. Creatively disguised as a lion, Luma the tiny Shetland pony combines light comedy with liberty work and dressage movements in his performances, alongside trainer Melie Philippot. The pair have worked on their act since Luma was three years old and disguised as the king of the jungle, Luma has become a big star on the continent appearing at major shows and events.
On the jumping side, Horse of the Year Show is also famous for its Saturday night wall that gets bigger and bigger after each round – the ‘Puissance’ (which in French means Power). An electric atmosphere and a sell out NEC crowd set the glorious stage for the Tagg Puissance. Douglas Duffin and Volcano were the victors, clearing a whopping 7ft 3in to claim their victory in this supreme challenge. Four made it through to the final round, but only Douglas and his British-bred horse were able to come up with all the answers the infamous red wall posed.
The home crowd got to celebrate their homegrown World Number One show jumper in fine style after Ben Maher claimed the Thistledown Stakes with Kavanagh. “I hadn’t had a great start to the week. My top horses are having a week off, so I had to borrow some,”
Ben explained. “Kavanagh belongs to John and Laura Renwick and Laura usually rides him. I have a different style to her, so it’s taken us a few days to click. Now we have, it’s been great to give the home crowd a win.”
With only one ride at this year’s Horse of the Year Show, Billy Twomey had a definite aim – to make sure he qualified and claimed the Leading Show Jumper of the Year title with Tinka’s Serenade. The 16-year-old mare, who has had many successes for Billy and owner Sue Davies, jumped the fastest of two double clears to take the £13,200 winner’s purse. The Nottinghamshire-based rider used this to his full advantage and jumped an immaculate round to the delight of the crowd.
“She’s very talented and helped secure European team bronze a few weeks ago,” said Billy, who last won the Leading Show Jumper of the Year title in 2008 with Je T’Aime Flamenco. “It’s very special to win here and this class has a lot of history.”
Before the final evening on Sunday came to an end, the fabulous gala evening finale consisted of a spine-tingling performance from Military Wives Choirs, established by BBC Two’s The Choir, who performed their song ‘Sing’ and their own stunning rendition of the National Anthem, before the whole audience linked arms to sing Auld Lang Syne at the top of their voices. The show closed with the traditional reading of the poem dedicated to the horse – ‘Ode to the Horse’.
Karl Ude Martinez
Visit Karl’s website:
www.karludemartinez.com
Follow Karl on twitter @KarlUdeMartinez
159
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164