‘She told me not to watch!’ Tiny rider and pony in full flight to win first HOYS title

Nine-year-old Annabel Widdowson and 23-year-old Bunbury Conquest set the Andrews Bowen Arena alight at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) as they scorched their way to win the Enablelink 128cm championship.

The tiny pair, last to go in the 13-strong jump-off, took over half a second off the time set by Anya Dewey Clark and Jim, which had proved untouchable from second draw until then.

Annabel had gone for a steady clear on her first ride, Sarah Kane’s Daffodil, but when she came in on Alison Irvine’s “Questy”, her determination was clear from the start. They galloped the length of the arena, then from start to finish, taking the paint off the wings with their turns and taking a stride out as they went into full flight over the last vertical.

“He’s just magical,” said Annabel. “He loves it in there, and I love the environment and all the people; it’s just fabulous.

“Anya is really fast and I hoped I’d come second or third, I never imagined I’d win.

“I just love him, and I’m so thankful to Alison for letting me have him.”

Annabel and Questy came second in the winter 128cm championship at Hickstead this summer.

“There was one turn there that I wouldn’t let her do,” Annabel’s mother Kathleen said. “So this time she said ‘I really want to try, Mummy’ – she told me not to watch!”

Annabel made history at last year’s Royal International Horse Show when aged eight, she became the youngest ever winner of the winter 128cm final with Questy.

–“He’s the best pony in the whole wide world,” Kathleen said. “He’s never won this, and aged 23, he deserves his name down with the legends.

“We got him when Annabel was six and have gone all the way from Stepping Stones to this. We can’t thank Alison enough for letting us have him.”

138cm champions

Amy Capper had finished ninth and 10th in the 128cm final with her two rides – but she made her family’s trip from Renfrewshire worth every mile as she topped the Equine Rescue Services 138cm championship with Playboy Van De Zoetewei.

The 12-year-old rider and Robert Capper’s “Bugsy”, who won this title in 2019 with Tabitha Kyle, held their lead from second of nine in the jump-off; the 13-year-old gelding not needing to hurry, nor take the stride out many others did on the second-last line, as their rhythm and balance clinched the speediest time.

“I just tried to go as fast as I could and let him make all the strides, and just go for it,” Amy said. “He’s got such a big stride, he doesn’t need to take them out, he just keeps going. He loves it.”

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