Preston rider wins place in Horse of Year show

11:46am Tuesday 5th August 2008

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Young horse rider Faye Heskety is celebrating after winning a place at the prestigious Horse Of The Year Show.

Faye, from Much Hoole, secured first place with her mother Dorothy’s horse, Animated, in the Racehorse to Riding class at the South Essex Insurance Brokers Search For A Star qualifier in Hampshire last month.

The event recognises the abilities of ex-racehorses to be re-educated and prepared for the show ring. Dorothy bought the four-year-old bay gelding, who had trained with AJ McCabe and last ran in 2007, in October at a sale in Doncaster.

But when she first saw him go through the ring, she was too nervous to bid on him and it was only the next day, when she noticed that he was still in the stable, that she traced the owner and put in a winning bid.

Faye, who has a first class honours degree in Equine Psychology, said: “He is so lovely. He thinks he is a person and will cuddle up to you.

“We were looking for a show horse and he really caught my eye – as soon as I saw him, I did not want to look at anything else. It is fantastic that we have qualified for Horse Of The Year Show.”

The competition is open to amateur riders and horses that have never before qualified for the Horse Of The Year Show or the Royal International Horse Show Championships.

South Essex Insurance Brokers instigated the class to encourage keen amateur horse owners and riders and enable them to get advice from the judges at all qualifying events. Competitors are also invited to a training workshop run by renowned show horse producer, Richard Ramsey, who judged conformation at the event.

He said: “Each year the standard of turnout gets better and better – a lot have no experience of showing and the numbers that come forward are phenomenal. There was a good competitive attitude.”

The South Essex Insurance Brokers Search For A Star Championship finals will be held at the Horse Of The Year Show, in October at NEC in Birmingham.