‘She’s a miracle mare’: history-making 15-year-old rider heads to HOYS on home-bred Clydesdale

A home-bred Clydesdale is bound for the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) with a 15-year-old rider who becomes the youngest competitor to ever qualify for the ridden heavy horse of the year final. Colleen and Barry Marshall’s Burgess Outon Miracle, a six-year-old mare by Eskechraggan Ernest, and their daughter Kaitlyn, just 14 at the time, landed their debut HOYS ticket at Fife Show.

Miracle was the first foal the family bred and while she is relatively new to ridden showing, she tallied some impressive results in-hand. As a four-year-old, she won the prestigious Cawdor Cup at the Royal Highland Show and was also champion of her age category at the World Clydesdale Show in Aberdeenshire later in the season. In 2023, she bred a filly foal.

“Last year, Kaitlyn had outgrown her 14.2hh pony and we were looking for something for her to ride, so we broke Miracle in for a bit of fun,” explains Colleen. “Kaitlyn backed her herself and they’ve gone from strength to strength as a partnership ever since.”

Miracle contested her first ridden show at Kilmacolm at the beginning of the 2024 season, where she won her class and qualified for Blair Horse Trials. As she was so impeccably behaved, her next outing was Fife.

“It was a bigger show and a step up as the class was a HOYS qualifier against the big boys,” Colleen continues. “We were absolutely gobsmacked to be placed first and qualify. It was an absolutely unbelievable and phenomenal feeling as a parent; I was so proud of them both. We never thought this would be us. Next stop was the Royal Highland show where they finished reserve champion out of 16 horses.”

The duo most recently headed to the Blair final where they were crowned ridden Clydesdale champions on less than ideal going owing to wet weather.

“We’re now getting ready for HOYS,” Colleen said. “All we can ask for is to get in and out of the ring safely, and to get a nice picture! As a family we are so proud of Kaitlyn; to have achieved all this in such a short time and at such a young age is an inspiration.”

Showing isn’t the only sphere Miracle excels in, as Colleen explains: “Miracle also attends Pony Club, has done some dressage and is more than happy to have my 10-year-old daughter and 13-year-old old son, who is a complete beginner, ride her at home.

“I will forever be in debt to this horse; she really is a miracle mare, our true horse of a lifetime. We don’t have any fancy facilities or an arena, so we’re getting as much riding in as possible on the grass ahead of HOYS.”

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