A tiny rider who went viral when she jumped her dad’s 17hh stallion over a 1.20m oxer now has 100,000 YouTube subscribers, is aiming for a million – and may be helping the future of horse sport.
H&H reported last year on the video of Ivy Thomas-Cook, then six, clearing a fence 5cm taller than she was on her father Ben’s Crown’s Ace Of Pearl, and wanting to go bigger.
“It all went from there, really,” Ben told H&H. “It’s not just the stallion, it’s videos of her ponies too. Sometimes a video goes viral and then nothing comes of it but we thought what if we just keep posting videos and see what happens? So we did.”
Ivy and Ben have since been updating the “jumping with Ivy” channel on YouTube, and TikTok and Instagram. Late last year, Ivy hit the magical 100,000 subscribers figure, for which YouTube awards a play button trophy.
“All her accounts are huge,” Ben said. “I think it’s her size and age and what she’s doing; she doesn’t let her size or age be a barrier to her doing things. And we let her! I’ve had friends say ‘You let her loose with that stallion’, but I’m happier when she’s on him than when she’s on any other pony.”
Ben said one major consideration with the channel is “keeping it real”, so sharing the bad days as well as the successes.
“We’ve posted ‘Yes, she fell off, but it happens’,” he said. “All the top guys will fall off at some point. I remember an interview where someone said to AP MCoy that he was the most successful jumps jockey and he said ‘That’s because I’m the biggest loser’. That stuck with me because to win everything, you have to lose everything.
“People say they like following us because they see when it doesn’t go right, and then when it does. I think it’s really important to keep it real, as everyone has bad days.”
Ben said Ivy loves making and posting the videos, and watching them afterwards; he said she grew up watching more YouTube than children’s television, and suggested the channel in the first place.
There have been some nasty comments made about Ivy on some videos, which Ben said are hard to take although they are a very small minority.
“I really struggle with that,” he said. “The nasty ones are probably less than one in 100 but when you moderate, you see 99 saying ‘Love you, Ivy’ but one saying ‘Spoilt brat’ and that’s what you focus on. That’s the one that gets me; she is lucky but she’s a lovely, polite kid, who’s never in trouble.
“I don’t get jealousy; I’d be more ‘I want to do that, so how can I make it happen?’ not make comments like that. You could have all the money in the world but without the work, the blood, sweat and tears, you’d never get anywhere.”
Ben said Ivy was aware of the button trophy, and that they reached the milestone when they were at a show. Unknown to Ivy, he arranged for it to be presented to her by commentator John Stokes at an Onley Grounds prizegiving just before Christmas.
“It’s a difficult thing to get, I think only something like 0.27% of people on YouTube actually get it,” Ben said. “Ivy has no idea what 100,000 means in numbers but she knows it’s a really big thing. She had no idea it would be presented at the show and when they brought it out, her jaw dropped.”
Ben added that Ivy’s channel has helped inspire people to start riding, and he also hopes it may help with public perception. He cited recent surveys commissioned by World Horse Welfare showing that some 40% of people would only support involvement of horses in sport if their welfare improved.
“I think because she’s so tiny, even on the ponies, people can see the horses are doing it because they love it,” he said. “I think that maybe comes across better because of her size than it does in top-level sport shown on television, and maybe people realise the horses love what they’re doing.
“A lot of comments are from people saying they don’t have animals but the videos have inspired them to start riding, it’s maybe ‘If that little girl can do it, and is so passionate, I can do it too’, and that’s what sells the sport.”
Ben added that the plan is to keep doing what they do.
“The next play button award is for a million subscribers, and that’s what she wants to get to!” he said.
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