Former racehorse trainer Jenny Pitman is the new president of showing association Ponies (UK).
“Jenny’s love and involvement with horses has led to her taking on this important role as the president,” said a spokesman for Ponies (UK).
“This association is a very broad church and most of the innovations that are now part of the showing world were initiated at the P(UK) Championships. And many of the UK’s international eventing, show jumping and dressage stars began their careers within the showring at Ponies (UK).
“Jenny with her diverse interests will be an enormous support to the association with the training of judges and the development of the Jenny Pitman and Heros Challenge for the Racehorse to Riding Horse series.”
Jenny started her career with horses in 1975 working in a racing yard and was the first woman to be granted a professional trainers license.
She then became the first woman to train a Grand National winner (Corbiere in 1983).
Throughout her career as a trainer she won two Grand Nationals, three Welsh Nationals and two Cheltenham Gold Cups.
In 1998 she was awarded an OBE for services to horseracing and retired from training in 1999.
Jenny told H&H: “I feel very honoured to have been asked to be president. I love going to shows and have learnt an awful lot about showing since I retired from training.
Jenny’s nephew Jack Bowlby, 13, shows Welsh ponies and has a Connemara, and her sister’s horse Ironman Muldoon (full brother to 1995 Grand National winner Royal Athlete — trained by Jenny) won the Retraining of Racehorse show championship at Horse of the Year Show last year.
“It was immensely rewarding to see him go so well. It was unbelievably tense though — it takes three times longer than the Grand National and you can’t tell how they’re doing during it, only the judge knows.”
And Jenny has just bought a Connemara. “Hopefully we’ll have a bit of fun with the pony, fingers crossed,” she said.
Jenny takes over from Susan, Countess of Swinton.
