A New Forest and a Dartmoor pony came to the fore in the National Pony Society/Baileys Horse Feeds M&M ridden pony of the year championship at the 2023 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).
After two marathon days of judging, Antony Bell (conformation) and Alex Kelly (show) selected Laura House and Andrew Vine’s home-bred seven-year-old Vynnes Magical Edition, a HOYS debutante, as their overall champion.
This victory marked both his breeders and his rider, Pip Smith’s first HOYS championship victory.
They qualified for the final on their first outing of the year, at Royal Three Counties back in June.
The Forest-bred stallion, who is by Applewitch Pure Magic out of Brookshill Blackberry, came over from the Isle of Wight to compete at HOYS.
“We knew he was a nice pony, but this was so unexpected as he’s a bit of a joker and he can test me,” said Pip, who is based on the Isle of Wight.
“He’s had some really big wins, but he’s just sort of under the radar,” added Pip. “He just hacks around the Isle of Wight and we do a bit of cross country to keep him sweet and happy. He went to British Dressage a couple of weeks ago, he just does normal pony things. We won’t show him on the flat again now; he might come back jumping in time. He’s just amazing.”
The last time a New Forest won the HOYS M&M supreme title was back in 2014, when the roan gelding Marleydenes Shiraz and Alex Hawkins took the crown.
Reserve was Sarah Parker riding Sarah Weston’s home-bred Dartmoor Westown Wild Fire, who had won the Dartmoor pony of the year final for the second time in his career.
Sarah [Parker] was the rider to beat across the native classes, winning three finals and being placed in the top two in several other sections.
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