DAY ONE – A WET WEDNESDAY & HACKNEY DAY

There must have been a few hearts that sank as the Royal Windsor horse show opened on Wednesday 8^th May.  The clouds clashing above the 11^th-century fortress castle were iron grey, with not a hint of sunny dapple, and true to form, they opened and for the first two days of the show, hard rain drenched everyone.  The democracy of a drenching is absolute – Royalty, grand prix horses, Olympic gold medallists, Pony Club ponies, farriers and foot followers.  The car parks soon turned to skiddy mud and the temporary ridged metal driveways set down to enable the horseboxes to get to the stabling areas were hidden beneath the clods of sticky, brown earth.

But, being an archetypically British show, it went on.  Brollies were out, wellies donned, and everyone was undiminished, even the poor Middle and Far Eastern horsemen and women who attended for the evening pageant and daily displays who were clothed in skimpy, hot-weather gear.

While the Land Rover FEI driving Grand Prix got underway in the Home Park, with the vets’ inspections, the first purely driving classes on the Wednesday were for the Hackney novice and open horses and ponies.  The class judging took place in the Adelaide ring, down towards the obstacles, with championships being awarded in the Castle Arena.  The class winners assembled on the Wednesday afternoon and judge Mr C Purver chose Alan and Billy Ward’s homebred as their champion, Luddington My Way.  Another Luddington animal, the winning horse Maestro, took the reserve slot, owned by Mr F and Miss C Vyse and exhibited by Peter Vyse.

Hackney Horse Society chairman Barbara Stockton provides the following comment, ‘All the exhibitors did exceptionally well in the horrid conditions, with downpours of rain and lots of mud. It was lovely to see so many tremendous hackneys forward in the Castle Arena for the championship. But if only Royal Windsor would separate the timings, i.e. not having the novice horse following straight on after the novice pony and likewise with the two open classes the entries would be better, because no one can show a horse and a pony there because of the distance from stables to ring, and many exhibitors have both a horse and a pony, and would have shown both given the chance. That said, we really appreciate our Hackney classes at Royal Windsor as it starts the season for us.’

THURSDAY – PRIVATE DRIVING & LIGHT TRADE DAY – AND MORE RAIN

On the Thursday, it was a festival of driving at the show.  Dressage was underway for the FEI competitors, and on the showground, the early classes were for the Private Driving.  The classes were enhanced by the presence of Prince Edward’s eldest, Lady Louise.  She drove beautifully at the show, and in recent years has become a regular feature at driving events, for example competing this last season on the Indoor circuit with at Merrist Wood near Guildford.  Needless to say, the paparazzi were intrigued by her presence and the Phaeton that her grandmother once drove has become a regular feature in the Daily Mail.  What is heartening is the support she has not just from those in the Mews such as Matt Powers and Emma West, but her family, who watched her every performance – including her Grandfather whose ponies she is driving.

In a sticky Adelaide Arena, the competitors remained resolute and the standard of the turnouts was high.  Kelly Searle drove Stockdale Black Prince and won the over 13-2hh class, beating into second the perennially successful Black Boy and Paul Atkinson, last year’s HOYS winners.  John Henry White’s Leyeswick Dun ‘n’ Dusted won the under 13-2 hh class and Joanne Hartland with a pair of her well-mannered Friesians took the pairs class, beating a Royal turnout and her son Michael.  Kelly took the championship with Joanne in reserve.  The Hartlands and their horses did sterling work in supporting as many driving classes as they could from the trade, to PD and the BDS drive on the Sunday.

The second day of the show was a busy one for judge Jane Brightwell.  Most judges will tell you they much prefer a full day as looking at multiple turnouts helps get ‘your eye in’.  After the PD, Jane was involved in overseeing the two driving for the disabled classes.  The winner of the first class, the showing, was Stacey Armstrong driving Eddie and winner of the cones class was Harley Walker driving A Pint Sized Pumpkin.

LIGHT TRADE CLASSES – A NEW, WINNING TURNOUT ON THE BLOCK

Next were the two light trade classes and one of the most memorable moments at the show.  As we watched the prelim judging, and Minta and I sat up.  A turnout we’d never seen before, a coloured cob with lots of feather and a great attitude was put to a gleaming Bradford Cart.  We looked at each other and wondered what Jane would do.  The two other turnouts in the class – the Fountains and John White, were both turned out immaculately, and both on their day are extremely hard to beat.  But there was something about this new turnout.  To our left stood Joe & Di Thompson from County Durham and their daughter Anna, who is an artist.  Their emotions were brimming over.  We learned after that the Thompsons had built the cart over 40 years ago.

Next, we watched the pairs class.  Another three immaculate turnouts and three very well-matched pairs, who, from the outside (the easiest place to judge) looked very close.  In the end, it was Peter Gibson driving the Cribbs’ Flower Van who took first prize stood above Bob Alexander and Michael Hartland; later Peter took the overall LT championship.

The final judging for the trade was in the Castle Arena and we all held our breaths.  The coloured cob was an 8-year-old mare called Sally, and we learned from commentator Carey Knox (great to have a female voice at RW) that it was not only Sally’s first show, but the first time the turnout had been put together.  The two white smocked figures sitting on the bench seat were newlyweds Tom & Raychal Teasdale and it was their first show too.  They had come down from Stockton on Tees – a seven-hour journey.  What a way and place to start their showing career.  Sally rose the occasion like a true pro and came into her own in the big arena – her wonderful action and foot perfect performance left us in no doubt that the turnout had to be the winner of the singles class.  The crowd, often quite reticent at Windsor, latched onto the magnitude of the occasion and cheered Sally, Tom & Raychal.  The look on Tom’s face as he took his lap of honour was priceless – disbelief, shock and pride all in one.  They also took the reserve overall slot.  Now they have a huge amount to live up to, but we really look forward to seeing them out again.

SUNDAY AND THE BDS LAURENT PERRIER MEET

By Sunday morning, after a break in the rain, the forgiving grassland at Windsor had recovered well.  Areas of the lorry park and stabling were still muddy, and the tractors were still in force pulling out vehicles.

As the first official meet in the calendar for the BDS, and at such a wonderful venue, the class usually attracts over forty entries and this year was no exception.  It is viewed by a non-driving judge as a Concours d’Elegance class and this year it was the Hon D Brennan who stepped up, although he was swayed by the opinion of his daughter who was by his side all morning.

As with the coaching marathon, it is a privilege to be able to drive round the grounds of Home Park – something no competitor ever takes for granted.  To be able to see how the estate works, from the dairy and beef herds, to family ponies and horses who graze in front of the castle, it is an experience to be cherished.  The route was an approximate reverse of the coaching route on Friday but didn’t involve the Long Walk which is especially busy with walkers, runners and tourists on a Sunday morning.

In keeping with tradition, a member of the Royal family leads the drive and for the first time, Lady Louise assumed the mantle, ably driving Prince Philip’s team of Fells.  She handled the situation so well and it was heartening to see her Grandfather at various points in the route, waving to all the turnouts as they passed him.  Next in the entourage was Prince Michael of Kent, and the Crown Equerry Colonel Toby Brown, both driving pairs of Windsor greys.

Jack Harris was delighted to be pulled into position as next in line for the drive with his charming Mills of Paddington pony coach and home-produced team of bay Hackney ponies.  Horn blower Bob Elliot, who was also working as a ring guard throughout the show, jumped on the back, and kept Leah and Rachael Marshall well entertained on the back. Leah writes about the experience in our Young Drivers section as it was her first time on a coach.

Behind Jack’s turnout was a fascinating selection of some of our finest private driving turnouts – pairs of Gelderlanders and Friesians, Hackneys and Gigs, native ponies and Carts.  As everyone assembled back in the Castle Arena and stewards John Peacock and Barrie Luck sent groups of drivers out again to entertain the crowd, the judge made his final decision and it was announced that the winner of the Doris Zinkeisen trophy (see our Dispatches page) was none other than Judi Ralls and her versatile little bay pony Squeak.  Judi works tirelessly for all sorts of driving organisations, not least the Sanders Watney Trust, and Squeak also takes part in showing and eventing.

THE FINAL AFTERNOON – A NEW VENUE FOR EXTREME DRIVING

By the Sunday afternoon, sun cream was being applied.  In the Castle Arena, the Rolex Grand Prix show jumping class attracted a prize fund of £500,000 and we enjoyed watching some of the world’s finest riders and horses tackling Bob Ellis’ challenging course.  I was fortunate to sit next to Bob for some of the class and it was fascinating to see someone of his calibre and experience still worrying about how many clear rounds there would be – too many and the course would be deemed to easy; too few and he and his colleagues would have asked too big a question that day.  And it was interesting to see the stamp of the horses that are jumping at this level nowadays – they are all tall, leggy and supremely supple, and seem a long way from the equine heroes of my youth such as Milton, Ryans Son and Marius.

By this stage in the show, the arena party is finely tuned, if not exhausted, and the speed with which the huge, flashy show jumps were dismantled and the obstacles – including a bridge – and cones set out for the Extreme Driving, was an impressive piece of entertainment in itself.  Positioned next to the entrance to the arena, I was able to see lots of familiar faces from the driving and FEI world migrate to the ring – they had all been involved in the eventing too, as had the competitors.

It was a double first Extreme Driving – the first time it had been held at the show, and the first time it had been held outdoors.  Although, for those involved, it seems like a natural progression from Olympia to Royal Windsor as both events are organised by Simon Brooks-Ward and his team.  It was generously sponsored by long term supporters of driving, Karen and Hugh Scott-Barrett who provided the prize fund.

Six of the world’s best team drivers took part and the move from indoors to out, with a huge arena to really rev the horses up, was a remarkable and thrilling sight.  Three of the starters were from the Dutch team – father and son Ijsbrand and Bram Chardon, and Koos de Ronde.  Glen Geerts and his lovely horses represented Belgium; Boyd Exell wore his Australian flag and for the UK, Daniel Naprous drove a team of greys, fresh from his filming wrap on the final episodes of Game of Thrones.

All six drove breathtakingly and the venue lent itself perfectly.  Another aside was observing the passion and absorption of Dad Ijsbrand as he watched his son Bram drive – the Dutch are nothing if not vocal in their support of their own.  All six drivers had cones or balls knocked in the first round to incur penalties and the three fastest after the first round returned for the drive-off.  The crowd really got into the spirit of the event and it was supremo Boyd who as ever held his cool and took the winning slot by driving a faultless final round; Bram took second with four penalties and Koos was third with eight.

After the prize giving many of the drivers returned to the arena on foot to be presented with their FEI prizes by HM the Queen.  Although it was disappointing not to have all the turnouts forward as in years gone by.  Boyd once again was applauded as he received his first prize but one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon was for Roger Campbell who took the pony team class – a feat which hasn’t been achieved for a generation.  A fitting way to end what had been a vintage Royal Windsor.