A ride off between two horses decided the British Horse Society Supreme Horse Championship at the Longines Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) today (2 August).
In the end a masterful gallop around the perimeter of the arena helped clinch the title for Diane Stennett’s Time 2 Reflect, ridden by Jayne Ross.
Find out Jayne’s thoughts on the victory in the following video:
This is the fourth time that Jayne has finished overall supreme here. She is something of an RIHS specialist, and had already claimed the lightweight hunter class and championship on Time 2 Reflect, plus the ladies hunter and small hunter classes on Hello Dolly and the heavyweight hunters on Bloomfield Excelsior.
“A ride off is difficult because you feel like you’ve already given your all, but you’ve got to try and find something else,” said Jayne, who was called forward for a second time alongside Jordan Cook on the hack champion Fleetwater Xecutive after the two horses finished on the same mark for their individual shows.
Time 2 Reflect earned nines across the board from judges Brian Williams, Nick Brooks-Ward and Margaret Shaw, whereas Fleetwater Xecutive’s equal mark of 27 was made up of two 10s from the latter judges and a seven from Brian.
Following the ride off, the judges converged and chose Time 2 Reflect as their overall champion.
“Her second gallop, which was downhill rather than up like the first, did it for me,” said Margaret. “The mare had her head down, ears back and it was a classic hunting gallop.”
Oliver Hood on the cob champion, Chaplin, owned by the Wilsons and Sue Rawding — Time 2 Reflect’s breeder — finished third on a mark of 26.
Chaplin’s individual show concluded at the top of the Derby Bank, which prompted rapturous cheering and applause from the crowd.
“I knew I had to pull something out of the bag after that and I thought speed might be of the essence instead of height,” added Jayne. “I just allowed Time 2 Reflect to cover the ground and use her stride. The going is so good — we just let rip.
“Jordan gave the most superb show and I’m not quite sure how we’ve managed to finish on top. It’s an electric arena but my mare loves that — she has got the most fantastic temperament. I’m privileged to win this title again.”
Don’t miss the full RIHS report in the next issue of Horse & Hound (6 August).
