‘I was scared of jumping 90cm’: teenager comes back from fall to take prestigious under-25 win

A 16-year-old rider who did not think she would jump again, and was scared of 90cm fences, having lost her confidence following a fall in which she broke her arm has won a prestigious under-25 title in her first year on horses.

Yesterday (24 June) Millie Lawson and Cameron Anderson’s 10-year-old gelding Calatis beat some of the UK’s best under-25 riders to claim the Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie RHS Young Masters Championship final at the Royal Highland Show.

Millie and “Cal” and the only other clear, Emma Crawford with Dukes of Hazzard, were joined in the jump-off by three four-faulters; Emma with King Louie III, Sandy McLean and Calcord II and Fergal Holohan and Kan Annie, jumping in reverse order of time.

“In the first round I made a couple of mistakes on my other horse Kyoto Van Duyversputten, so I knew when I went in on Cal not to have those mistakes,” said Millie, who had only contested one 1.40m class before, at the Bolesworth International the previous week.

“My dad said if we had a few poles it didn’t matter and it was just about the experience. I thought I’d be the slowest clear as I’m quite partial to getting time-faults in the first round, but then they said I was last to go in the jump-off.”

Second-last-to-go Emma and Dukes of Hazzard jumped double clear to stop the clock on 41.71sec, and Millie’s dad David advised Millie to aim for a steady clear.

“My dad said ‘You’re not going to beat the time, second place is what you’re aiming for’,” said Millie. “Fence one to two was eight strides and he told me ‘Do not go seven’, but I went seven, I turned tight back to the double, then I just sent Cal forward. I jumped the upright then I saw a good stride to the last and he cleared it. He was amazing.

“Afterwards I thought ‘Have I done enough?’ and then they said I’d won and I burst into tears. I just thought ‘Wow’.”

The victory comes after a dramatic Royal Highland Show qualifier for the Lawson family at Tillyoch Equestrian on 5 May, when Millie’s mum LeeAnn suffered a heart attack.

“She’s ok now, but we just have to make sure she’s standing next to somebody when I jump!” said Millie.

Millie won the Royal Highland Show 138cm championship in 2021, but this was her first year competing at the show as a senior, and her first time in the showground’s famous main arena since she was on 128cms.

“The last time I rode in the main arena was in the mini major competition in 2019 and I fell off,” she said.

“The Highland is one of our favourite shows, we all love it”.

Millie has enjoyed a successful international pony career, but last year, her final year on 148cms, a fall resulted in a broken arm – and a big confidence knock.

“I lost all my confidence and didn’t really think I’d jump again. At the start of 2024 I was scared to jump 90cm,” said Millie.

“We took our time and went to some local shows and it started going good again.”

Millie, who is trained by Rebecca Maher, is building up her string of horses and in February Cameron Anderson bought Cal for her.

“I have a few young horses, but we wanted to find a horse that could teach me a bit. When I went and tried Cal we all fell in love with him. I trust him, he’s a massive personality, he loves people, loves cuddles, and he thinks he’s the best. I’m so grateful to Cameron, and my parents for the support,” she said.

“We don’t really have a set plan for the rest of the summer, this year was about having fun with the horses and getting to know them, but now I think I might need to ask my parents to take me to some big shows.”

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