A producer finally got the centre line moment she’d been working for as she captured the 2024 Royal Windsor riding horse championship.
This was Justine Armstrong-Small in the saddle of Jane and her daughter Sophie O’Keeffe’s nine-year-old small section winner Rosemore Midnight Rendezvous (Dissy). The pair were heading into their class with form, as last October they lifted the small riding horse of the year final at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).
Dissy also contends intermediates with Sophie and the horse has been on flying form this season, winning two Royal International (RIHS) riding horse championships on the bounce, and also landing his ticket to the Hickstead final as an intermediate on his first attempt. He has also won Sophie a supreme of show sash.
On Sunday of Windsor, Sophie piloted him to win the intermediate show hunter class and post section reserve in a star-studded section championship.
“We were second here in the riding horses last year, so we’ve always strived to win,” said Justine, a multi-Windsor working hunter champion. “I’ve never actually won a flat class here, so this is a big moment for me. It’s such an honour to win here.”
In the morning’s class, the previous night’s rainfall meant the ground in the Copper Horse Arena was less than ideal, as Justine explained: “It was tough going so we only went on one rein. But, he coped exceptionally well. He plouged through it. He tends to like going on grass.”
Jane and Sophie bought him when he was a four-year-old from the Bowen Family. They went to view another horse but when it was deemed unsuitable for the job, they took a look at Dissy.
Dissy has been a level-headed horse from the get go, but he’s skyrocketed into champion status in the past 12 months.
“As a younger horse he would become a bit too exuberant if there was too much clapping, but he’s got better with age,” Justine said. “He grew in there today. He came alive, put his ears on and he sparkled. I did feel the pressure a bit, given he’s the current HOYS winner, so to do it is a big thrill for everyone concerned.”
Justine had a rocky start to her Royal Windsor campaign. In the working show horses on Thursday she parted company with her horse: “He gibed at the water. He stopped, dived left and I capsized onto the floor. No harm done, though!”
The 2024 Royal Windsor riding horse championship, which was sponsored by Mr and Mrs Swallow, saw Wayne Thorneycroft and his winning large contender First Man take reserve, in a similar fashion to what he had done at the RIHS final in 2021.
Enjoy the best of Royal Windsor with Horse & Hound
To ensure you keep up to date with all the breaking news and the best of the action throughout Royal Windsor Horse Show, with no limits on how much you can read, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website from £1 a week in the UK. Sign up now. And don’t miss our bumper Royal Windsor Horse Show magazine report in the issue of Horse & Hound dated 9 May.
You may also be interested in:
Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round
‘He’s such a kind horse’: maxi cob goes through the gears to win first class of Windsor 2024
‘Exceptional circumstances’ force date changes for Badminton and Royal Windsor in 2024
‘He’s more chilled out than his brother’: famous horse’s sibling makes presence known at Windsor
‘I’ve finally got my Royal Windsor rug’: glory for full-time lawyer and her ‘perfect gentleman’
‘He oozed presence’: Welsh stallion from Holland leads M&M supreme at Royal Windsor
Huge-striding, ‘playful’ 17.2hh gelding lands Royal Windsor’s opening five-star: ‘I wasn’t expecting that’
