Show Rider of the Year
Will Morton
Will Morton first turned heads as a teenager in the Search for a Star ranks, and they young producer has gone from strength to strength, looking nothing short of stylish in the saddle. This season has seen him take a clutch of wins and championships including at Royal Windsor, and a successful pairing with Killcarna Brilliant has made the pair a force to be reckoned with, securing the supreme at Suffolk, champion at Lincoln, and a tantalisingly close second at HOYS.
Georgia Darlington
Georgia Darlington is another young rider making great strides. According to nominations, Georgia is ‘a versatile rider,’ and despite her youth, she ‘experience with a range of classes and horses’. Georgia is another who has overcome adversity to make a great seasonal comeback, as she incurred a bad break to her leg after a fall out hunting the week after HOYS 2021. She underwent surgery on the leg in February but by the BSPS championship, she was on great form to win the novice mountain and moorland championship and later the Intermediate Gold Cup and section championship on her own Jara, a horse she later rode to the Intermediate Working Hunter of the Year title.
Alice Homer
Young producer Alice Homer had a highly successful 2021 which saw her stand second at HOYS in the large hack and large intermediate class with Ballinclare, who went on to win Hack of the Year for her new owners this season. Alice herself has had a dream-like season. She won no less than three classes at Royal Windsor horse show including the novice hunter championship and the ladies horse championship. She also partnered Little Joe to the working hunter title at Windsor with the pair retaining their excellent form to also stan Working Hunter of the Year at HOYS. A versatile jockey, you’ll find Alice as adept at sitting tight on a Point-to-Point course as she is sitting pretty on a show!
Darren Crowe
According to the nominations, Darren is something of a ‘magician,’ able to ‘get any horse to go well and knows how to set them up for the judge – a true horseman’. After HOYS wins running into the teens in the Arab ranks, Darren won and stood champion with a horse of his own, Diamond Geezer, for the first time in the riding horse championship, and he performed ‘a breath-taking supreme prelim show’.
Tom Page
Amateur showman Tom has had an incredible first season of showing, qualifying loan horse Wolfe for RIHS and HOYS at Suffolk County, finishing a fabulous tenth. What’s most remarkable, however, is that last summer Tom overcame a blood clotting disorder which nearly cost his life, and even last October, he was struggling to walk, making his debut showing season yet more impressive.
Camilla Davies
Camilla and her fabulous hunter Glenkeeran Dance in the Deep [Fintan] are an inspiration to amateur and home-produced competitors in horse classes, competing consistently and successfully for a number of years together with excellent results at the highest level including occupying the runner up spot at HOYS. This season, Camilla rode Fintan to be champion amateur hunter at Royal Windsor, and they stood supreme amateur at the Royal International Horse Show. They also won a strong HOYS qualifier at Royal Cheshire, stood supreme at the SHB (GB) Championship show and finished third at HOYS.
