Seven Sweet Minis Taking Their Tiny Jockeys to Their First HOYS!
With seven days to go until HOYS begins, meet seven sweet minis giving their jockeys their first taste of HOYS!
Anna Cayzer’s five-year-old daughter Alicia will be joining the lead rein lineup having qualified at the BSPS championships. Alicia will be riding Barkway Dancing Queen!
Berwick-Upon-Tweed mum Jane Lindsay will have a nerve-wracking HOYS, with both her children riding at HOYS for the first time! Luckily, producer Emma Holder will be on hand, leading Rowfantina Millionaire with Jane’s daughter Posy in the saddle. “Emma broke him and they have the most wonderful partnership,” said Jane. “He has to be one the most consistent lead rein hunter ponies out there. To get his ticket this year was so special after missing out last year. It’s such a tough class, too, makes it extra special.” Jane’s son Rocco will also be riding at the NEC for the first time. He will be riding 122cm show hunter pony Thistledown Galaxy. The pair are in their first season but already, “Rocco adores the bones of this pony.” Galaxy splits his time between home with the Lindaay’s and Team Holder HQ. “He is such an easy pony that Rocco loves to do everything on including Pony Club, and has started jumping with him.”
Littletons Louis and Curtis Whalley picked up the TSR Wild Card qualification to the lead rein class, led by mum, Emily Whalley. Curtis has been riding since he was three years old, and this is his final year in show pony lead rein classes. His ticket ends a long wait for Emily to be able to lead one of her own children at HOYS, leaving him feeling “so very lucky”.
Thistledown Arctic Monkey will be making two appearances in the ring next week. “Monkey was bought for Poppy ready for next season in February,” explained mum, Gemma Hale. “We loved him last time he was for sale, but he was snapped up so although Poppy wasn’t ready for the open 122 show hunter pony class, we didn’t want to miss out on him again. We ‘popped from Cardiff to Scotland’ on the Friday after school! A week after having him Poppy wanted to take him for a play to Hereford Marches as we were going with Daisy’s worker.” Gemma entered the pair for the first ridden class so as not to over-face Poppy, but they surprised her by qualifying for the RIHS. Meanwhile older sister Daisy started riding Monkey in a few open 122 shp classes to keep him going whilst Poppy’s confidence grew. “Daisy had some fabulous rides but her win at Windsor boosted Poppy’s confidence and she decided she wanted to ride him at TSR, so again we thought play it safe and put her in the first ridden, and beyond all expectations, he won the class qualifying for HOYS!” A few weeks ago, Gemma received notification that Daisy’s solid performances with Monkey had earned her the TSR Wildcard, meaning Monkey will be making not one, but two little girls very happy at HOYS.
Luna Hannel and Annabel Pope’s Nantcol Swansong gained their golden ticket at the New Forest and Hampshire Show in the lead rein pony of hunter type. This will be both pony and tiny jockey’s first time there. Luna has just turned six and has been riding Sid on the lead rein for the last two seasons. The pair graced the cover of Showing World earlier this year after they stood champion at the Wiltshire Spring Show.
Andrea Latto’s daughter Myia Latto and her pony Chaseford Camelia – both six years old – will be entering the lead rein final having made the long journey from Northern Ireland for their first ever HOYS. “Myia’s really excited to travel over to compete at the biggest show in the UK,” said Andrea. “She’s very excited as she’s worked so hard this season riding her pony and practicing. She’s looking forward to riding her pony in the Topspec Arena on the Saturday and going shopping after. And most importantly having fun and making memories.”
Florence – ‘Flossie’ – Milczarek, 6, and her pony Penllech Sid qualified for the lead rein show hunter pony class led by dad, Jonjo. The Milczareks purchased Sid from Brecon Horse Sales last September. “It was a bit of a gamble as although we had seen a couple of videos of him, we couldn’t really try him other than walking him up and down the pens with Flossie on board,” said mum, Sophie. “We took the plunge hoping he’d be an allrounder for Flossie, but never did we think he would be a HOYS pony!” Their first taste of qualifying success came early in the season when they took an RIHS ticket only for the celebration to be “short lived, realising the next day he had to have a valid JMB measurement before the qualifier. Being novices, we genuinely weren’t to know any of this,” explained Sophie. Thankfully, the trio regained qualification later in the spring. “We then started thinking about our HOYS campaign. As much as we thought it would never happen, we thought let’s at least give it a go.” With two shots at goal left and several points accumulated in the Premier Amateur League, the family headed to the BSPS championships where they qualfied. “As Mum on the sideline, I thought they deserved a placing but when they were pulled first it was just the icing on the cake; Flossie wanted it so badly and has told us all season it’s her dream to ride at HOYS; there was no better feeling seeing her hard work pay off and them have their moment in the ring! Flossie is beyond excited to ride in that Arena of Dreams! He’s definitely our diamond find.”
