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Two Royal International championships in two hours for untouchable horse

Alex Robinson Alex Robinson

    • The stunning gelding Briarhill Buddy Bolden became Saturday’s star of the show at the 2023 Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) as he netted two overall victories in the space of two hours.

    Meg Edmondson’s Kings Cornet seven-year-old began his day by securing a pass into the Longines International Arena after being called into the top 10 of the Culford Lodge Commodities small hunter final.

    Meg was on board throughout, and the pair were eventually called forward to accept the winner’s sash, providing Meg with her first RIHS victory in horse ranks.

    There was little time to celebrate, though; as soon as Buddy left the main arena it was a quick dash across the show ground where his intermediate partner Harriet Dennison steered him to glory in a strong intermediate show hunter class, before they topped the Jackson Fine Homes Ltd supreme intermediate championship.

    “He’s just a joy to ride,” said Harriet, as she was called forward as champion with the horse who is based with Team Helliwell in Cumbria.

    Meg bought Buddy from Russell Skelton and James Murno in 2021, and last year Harriet piloted him to win the intermediate show hunter of the year title at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).

    Buddy, a Royal Highland show winner earlier this year, has been knocking on the door of a major small hunter win; at the 2022 BSHA National Championships he was novice supreme, and he finished eighth at HOYS as a small hunter last season.

    Harriet’s 2023 RIHS form has matched Buddys, as the talented rider had two rides qualified for the intermediate championship. But reserve for the overall intermediate tricolour was Alice Binks riding her grandmother Jane Bennison’s small campaigner Roseberry Fascinator, who was mirroring her 2022 results.

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    Alex Robinson
    Alex Robinson

    H&H showing editor
    Born and raised in the Lake District, Alex has grown up on the showing scene. She has qualified and competed ponies at the Royal International, Horse of the Year Show and Olympia and has first-hand knowledge of the current issues in the showing world as well as the horses, ponies and riders who compete in the sport. Alex joined H&H in January 2018 since when she has cemented its place as the leading equestrian publication for both showing reports and current showing news in the UK.
    Alex Robinson

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