The dust (or should we say mud?) has finally settled on yet another Easter Show.  As always at Sydney Royal there were plenty of highs and lows, successes and heartbreaks, but now all is quiet, where less than a week ago the hooves of champions sounded out so many glorious victories and noble defeats.

Following are some reflections on the show from:

Royal Show Hack Judge - Helen Heagney...

On the Turnout classes, Helen commented, "Although my area was Conformation, Soundness and Manners and Paces I could see that many of the Junior exhibitors don’t understand that excessive colour and sparkles are not appropriate for a turnout class in which the costume still has to be very traditional.  Some of the more glaring mistakes were cutaway coats, short white girths, no spurs, coloured browbands, in fact many were dressed as they would for a hack or rider class in the current fashion which is not to everyone’s liking."

"There were not a lot of good workouts in the under 18 classes and it should be obvious that, according to the distribution of points, it is essential to put up a good performance."

"Conversely, in the Senior event, where exhibitors are bound to be Formal, the standard of Turnout and also workout was much higher."

Regarding the Crane Trophy (pictured) and Pope Cup, Helen said, "In the Crane Trophy the criteria states a percentage of thoroughbred qualities and suitable to breed hacks."

"This is not just another hack class, hence the simplified workout which was more to guage the paces of the mares rather than their obedience and rideability as one may do in a straight hack class."

"Likewise, in the Pope Cup, the thoroughbred qualities in conformation as well as movement are paramount."

"Tom Edwards and I were very pleased with the winners and placings in these two classes and personally, I was pleased to see that the Pope Cup winner and Runner-Up started in the class and went on to be Champion and Reserve Champion Hack."

"It seems a tradition that hack class winners stay out of these classes for fear of being beaten before the Championship, which to my mind is idiotic as they are completely different classes with different criteria."

"Both the Crane Trophy and Pope Cup are very prestigious classes to win in anyone’s language."

Helen was impressed with the led Thoroughbreds saying, "it was pleasing that so many very nice horses stayed for the end of the show in such awful conditions."

"In these classes I was looking for a horse with correct conformation, with quality and scope and loose, athletic movement."

"All the class winners showed these qualities and I was really happy with the line-up for Champion."

 

Exhibitor of the Crane Trophy Winner - Samantha Kennedy...

Horsezone caught up with Samantha Kennedy, who rode the beautiful mare Silver Elegant (owned by Angela Forster), to victory in the Crane Trophy to find out more about this lovely horse. 

 

"After her retirement from the track, Silver was purchased by Angela Forster - who was a registered race jockey some years ago and is now a racehorse trainer .  Angela used to ride her in trackwork and saw her potential as a hack.  The mare raced as Silver Elegant and is by Arena - Angela kept her name as a hack.  Silver won two starts and now this is her first season showing."

 

"Angela, who lives in Port Lincoln -  some seven hours from Adelaide - came over to Adelaide for a show and thought it would be a good idea to leave Silver with Clayton (Samantha's husband) and I to school her a bit more, as she was quiet green and Angela had a team of racehorses at home, a race season to finish and it would save a day of travel to the Easter Show. (16 hour drive to Sydney from Birdwood verses from Port Lincoln, which is 23 hours!)"

 

"Angela rode Silver to win the novice hack 15.2hh and ne 16hh, which we were stoked about and she then went on to place well in her open hack (she was the only hack in a snaffle). This was Angela's first time competing at Sydney mind you, not a bad start!  I then rode her in the Crane Trophy for mares 15hh to 16hh and was thrilled when she won! The mare then went on to place second in the led thoroughbred mare 15hh to 16 hh which was a huge class. We were always asked what breed she was cause she was too pretty to be a thoroughbred!"

 

"Were all so pleased with Silver's performances at the Show, as she is so young and inexperienced and has never seen the likes of Sydney Royal before! It was a real team effort between Angela, Clayton and myself. For a young horse Silver coped with the atmosphere extremely well, we were so proud of her. 'Hi Ho silver' was the catch phrase of the Show, especially after a celebratory beverage!"

 

Staff from Horsezone's thoughts on the show:

 

Heroine of the Show - Jamie Winning...

Horsezone were thrilled when the class we sponsored, Working Hunter Pony 12.2 n/e 14hh was won by gorgeous pony, Koonama The Lionheart!

 

Jessica Coady is currently leasing Koonama The Lionheart from his owners and breeders, Meg and Len Foster from Koonama Pony Study in Paddys River, NSW and she is so excited that the pony won this class.  However, there's more to the story, Jessica had recently had surgery and wasn't able to jump the pony, so at the last moment he was ridden by her next door neighbour, none other than Jamie Winning - successful showjumper and World Cup qualifier winner!

   

"Jamie found out I couldn't jump the pony," says Jessica, "and kindly offered to ride the whole class for me. She did an amazing job and is such a lovely person, we were very lucky. The win has meant so much to us all, but was especially a proud moment for Meg seeing her much loved pony achieve such a great result! We are so proud of this little fella, he was the smallest in the class and probably the least experienced, as he has spent the majority of his life a stallion, he only just recently was broken in to commence a saddle career."

 

There was fantastic turnout for the working hunter classes at Sydney Royal.  These classes are fast growing in popularity, because they are exciting to watch and lots of fun for the riders.

 

Best New Event - Exhibition Eventing...

Nicky Turner of Equestrian Australia organised for this great new class on the main arena, which was extremely well recieved.  Accomplished Eventer, Shane Rose (pictured right), won the event.  Click here to for details and full results.

 

Crowd Pleaser  - The Wild Ride of Cobb & Co...

This show was outstanding!  Incredible teams of horses and horseman with a bit of history in there to boot! The Commonwealth Bank Arena lit up each night of the Show with this fast-paced display of horsemanship, which highlighted a stirring chapter from Australia’s pioneering past. Click here for more details and to view video footage.

 

What Was Hot?

• Julia Hargreaves and Vedor winning the World Cup Showjumping.
• Overall high quality of hacks.
• Australia's Largest Purebred Percherons.
• Shane Rose's winning jumping round on APH Moritz in the Eventing Exhibition.
• Georgia Fasher from Horsezone sashing the winning horses in the Eventing Exhibition and getting to step foot on the main arena.
• Toffee Apples
• Calf escaping from it's minder during a Grand Parade.
• The amount of work gone into all equine/animal disciplines....coaching, cleaning and training.
• Firerys.
• Poultry Display.

 

What Was Not?

• The tiny area most of the hack classes were given to work out in - didn't really give riders enough room to really show off their horses.
• Cost of food, rides, etc...
• state of the main arena surfacing after all the rain - very wet!

CLICK HERE to view results from horse events at Sydney Royal.