These are the class results, but they may not all qualify for HOYS due to passport irregularities or at the judge’s discretion or where the same rider has qualified twice or where the horse or rider do not meet all eligibility requirements.

Working Hunter
1st Hans II, owned by Karen Fritton and ridden by Elizabeth Mantel from Reading
2nd J’s Just James, owned and ridden by Jacqueline Jenkins from Reading

Riding Club Show Horse
1st Liberal Lady II, owned and ridden by Julia Izzard from Kent
2nd Spring Fever, owned and ridden by Kate Andrews from Hampshire

Show Hunter
1st Harlequin, owned and ridden by Lucy Moggridge from Essex
2nd Llynfi Valley Colorado, owned by Mr Kearse and Christopher Penfold and ridden by Christopher Penfold from Wiltshire

Ponies
1st Bathleyhills Chocolate Dream, owned by Penny Walster and ridden by Shannon Bridson from the Isle of Man
2nd Bronheulog Freedom, owned by Louise Wenham and ridden by Jack Spink from Surrey

Riding Horse Hack
1st Oh Star II, owned and ridden by Holly Simmonds from West Sussex
2nd Donatella, owned and ridden by Jan Palmer from West Sussex

Cobs
1st Horton’s Vortigern, owned and ridden by Dominique Pizzingrilli from Surrey
tma2nd Alfie Moon V, owned by Felicity Comber and ridden by Emily Comber from Surrey

Report

The 2012 South Essex Insurance Brokers Search For A Star Championship qualifiers continued at Wellington Riding, Hampshire, on the 15th July, where strong entries competed for the chance to attend The Horse Of The Year Show finals, held at the NEC Birmingham in October. The judges for the day were Richard Ramsey, David Bartram and David Ingle.

Working Hunter
First place in the Working Hunter went to Karen Fitton’s German Warmblood, Hans II, ridden by Elizabeth Mantel. Hans is normally a show jumper but has also been placed first and second in local working hunter and show hunter classes. He will also be aimed at eventing at the end of the season. “My friend’s have done Search for a Star and as he was going well in unaffiliated classes we gave it a go” said Elizabeth. “Karen’s son had been riding him but he broke his wrist so I stared showing him and did a couple of events and it was decided I could keep the ride”. Karen and Elizabeth now plan to do some more local shows with Hans as a means of practice before they head to Horse of the Year Show. “I never dreamed I would be showing at HOYS, it was worth the 4.30am wake up call and he can now have some well deserved days off” said Elizabeth, who works at Berkshire College of Agriculture as an Equine Lecturer.

Second place went to Jackie Jenkins’ homebred, J’s Just James. Jackie bred James out of her half shire mare, by her late stallion J’s Super Sox. “As his is homebred, I am very proud of everything he has done” said Jackie. James has proved to be very successful, having qualified for the 2012 Badminton Grassroots Eventing Championships, now to be held in 2013, and the National Riding Club Championships for a second time, with the High Wycombe Riding Club. James also hunts regularly with the Berks and Bucks drag hounds. “Everything was being cancelled so we came here for something to do as it’s on my doorstep. I haven’t done showing since I was on ponies and certainly hadn’t contemplated being placed, there were a lot of nice horses in there” said Jackie, a mother of two and housewife. Jackie is no stranger to competing and once qualified for the Foxhunter show jumping at HOYS.

Riding Club Show Horse
In the Riding Club Show horse class, first place went to Liberal Lady, owned and ridden by Julia Izzard. The 6 year old coloured mare, known as Libby at home, is by Catherston Liberator, and Julia bought her at 18 months old. After backing and schooling Libby herself, Julia now uses her for all sorts of activities, including side saddle, jumping and dressage. “I started riding side saddle because a friend needed some teaching practice with beginners so I said I would be her guinea pig. I really enjoy it because it’s so technical and you have to learn to use your seat more than I ever thought I could!” said Julia. The pair were fifth in a hotly contested side saddle class at Royal Windsor and also won a class at Heathfield show, they now aim to go to the National Side Saddle Championships and compete at BE90 level in eventing as well as being a team member with the Faversham and District Riding Club. “I came to Wellington for the practice and to see how Libby would go, it hasn’t sunk in yet that we’ve qualified and I’m shocked” said Julia, who works in the city and has to fit in doing the horses around an early commute each day.

Second place went to Spring Fever, know as Spring, who is owned and ridden by Kate Andrews. Kate has owned the 20 year old mare for 12 years and they have done everything together, mainly eventing at Riding Club level, where the won the Open National Championships five years ago. A year later they were part of the winning Hampshire Rural Riding Club team at the Riding Club Eventers Challenge held at Blenheim Horse Trials. Spring has hunted for ten seasons and whipped in with the Hampshire Hunt as well as doing local shows and open team chasing. “She was operated on twice after getting caught in rabbit wire out hunting and she got an infected tendon sheath, I said goodbye to her twice but she came back” said Kate. “My mother who is 70 can rider her and my three year old son sits in front of me and we go over jumps. She’s a loyal servant and for her to qualify is really special, especially as she was a last minute substitution for my other horse that we discovered was not eligible”. Kate used to event but has to combine doing Spring with working in London, where she runs a private investment trust company, so it proved difficult to get Spring to the right level of fitness so now she focuses mainly on hunting, riding club and some showing. “To qualify for HOYS is hugely exciting” said Kate.

Show Hunter
First place went to Harlequin, owned and ridden by Lucy Moggeridge. Lucy has owned the coloured gelding, Harlequin, known as Quinn, for four years and he has proved to be a brilliant allrounder, having done dressage, hacking and cross country. Lucy and Quinn started to do ridden coloured classes and then their instructor, Charlie Quinn, persuaded Lucy to enter Search for a Star. Quinn has qualified for the Norton Heath unaffiliated Dressage Championships, Trailblazers and also Wales and West Dressage Championships. “I plan to go to the Dressage Championships at Norton Heath and then we will do some more showing. He’s not fussed about anything, he’s very laid back” said Lucy, who works full time as a Project Manager for an asset management company in London. “He loves his mum and calls out to me when I get to the yard. I fit in riding him after work and at the weekends” said Lucy.

Second place went to 17.3hh, Llynfi Valley Colorado. The six year old piebald is owned by Mr Kearse and rider Christopher Penfold. Jasper, as he is known at home, has only been with Christopher for 4 weeks prior to Wellington, after his previous owner became ill and turned him away for two years. Christopher was very pleased with the way Jasper behaved at his first show and is now looking forward to HOYS. As Jasper is only just six and still quite green, Christopher aims to take him to a few more shows before HOYS to get him used to different arenas and atmospheres. “Search for a Star is a great opportunity for both horse and rider to learn and develop their skills, with the judges giving good constructive criticism” said Christopher, a Marketing Director.

Ponies
Bathleyhills Chocolate Dream took first place in the Show and Show Hunter Pony class, known as Dennis at home, he was ridden by Shannon Bridson, 16, who has him on loan from breeder Penny Walster. This is Shannon’s first season with 5 year old Dennis and they have already won at the BSPS Winter Championships, qualified for the Royal International Horse Show and also qualified for the Pretty Polly at the Area 3 Show. Shannon and her mother Jo, travelled 4 hours on a boat from the Isle of Man before joining the motorway to get to the venue. “It is our dream to get to Horse of the Year Show” said Jo, “He has such a lovely temperament and takes it all in his stride”. They now plan to do more open HOYS qualifiers and the BSPS summer championships. “We tried Search for a Star last year with our intermediate at Vale View and we came third, just missing out on qualification” said Jo, who will now stay with Penny before taking Shannon and Dennis to the Royal International.

Second in the ponies class was Bronheulog Freedom, known as Bert, owned by Louise Wenham and ridden by Jack Spink, 13. Jack started riding the 11 year old chestnut gelding two weeks ago and this was their first show together. “We have had him since he was four and shown him as a Mountain and Moorland all of his life, this is his first time as a Show Hunter Pony. This is a new partnership and we are very excited about it, Jack rode him beautifully” said Louise’s daughter, Alex, who has sadly outgrown Bert. The aim is now to go to more shows and get some more experience. Jack is at school at St Johns Beaumont prep and will move to Windsor Boys in September.

Riding Horse and Hack
The Riding Horse and Hack class was hotly contested and Holly Simmonds was first riding her own Oh Star II, who is also known as Vince. Holly’s partner bought the 9 year old former show jumper, as a surprise and managed to keep him a secret for 4 months until Holly got him as a birthday and Christmas present. “I got him the day after I did the ligaments in my knee so I had six weeks off and he stayed with Sarah Davidson, who sold him to us”, said Holly. As well as show jumping Vince had done some hunter trials and now Holly concentrates on the flatwork with trainer Alison Short, to try and switch him off from jumping. “We have moved house this year so we haven’t done that much, but I love showing and qualifying for HOYS next year was my aim, this year was just meant to see if he enjoyed it, and he does!” said Holly. The pair will now go to Hickstead for the Amateur Riding Horse Qualifier, followed by Cranleigh Show and more flatwork practice before HOYS.

Donatella, owned, bred and ridden by Jan Palmer took second spot in the Riding Horse and Hack class. When the chestnut filly was born, Jan vowed to sell her but she ended up keeping her and backed the now 6 year old herself. “We have been doing dressage this year and I’ve started to ask her a few more questions. She’s extremely powerful so I ride her with caution but as we get going we are making a better team” said Jan. As a three year old, Roo as the mare is affectionately know, won the Sport Horse Breeding in-hand class at the New Forest show and they have more recently competed at Surrey County Show. “My friend was coming here so I thought it might be worth having a go” said Jan, “the judges said she is a hack not a riding horse, which is probably why we did so badly at Surrey County”. Jan now plans to put in a lot of work at home before they head off to HOYS.

Cobs
First place went to Horton’s Vortigern, owned and ridden by Dominique Pizzingrilli. Horton’s Vortigern is known as Jerry at home and also tweets under the name of Chunky Monkey. Dominique has owned the 8 year old skewbald gelding from two and half years and does everything with him. “He has quite a talent but I lack confidence jumping, but we are getting better and starting to do more” said Dominique, who works as a Marketing Manager. The pair have contested a number of shows and will plan to fit in some more before the final at HOYS. “We are improving on last year’s result, when we came 4th. I took the advice of the judges and came back for another go. We’ve done a lot of work over the winter to get him more forward. I really want to do the workers next year so will have to practice my jumping” said Dominique. Jerry is affiliated with British Dressage, currently with 3 points and has qualified for the Dressage Masters Southern Semi-Final at Hickstead. “He has a great character and presence as well as being a real head turner. He’s a big part of the family”, added Dominique.

Alfie Moon V, owned by Felicity Comber and ridden by her daughter Emily Comber, 22, took second place. Five year old Alfie was bought from Ireland in 2011 by a friend of the Comber’s and they have owned him for four months. Alfie and Emily went to their first show last month but this was the first indoor one they have contested. “He was very green so we have lots of work to do between now and HOYS” said Emily. The pair have done some riding club rallies and plan to do some jumping over the winter as Emily would like to try working cob classes next year. “I had no expectations coming here, I’m absolutely blown away. There were some really nice cobs and it’s exciting that I have something to progress to County level with. I’m speechless”, said Emily, who graduated from Exeter University last year with a degree in Law.

Spillers
The Spillers Weighbridge is present at most Search for a Star venues and Spillers also gave prizes to the first and second in each class.

Absorbing Prizes
Absorbine grooming products have long been associated with impeccable turnout, particularly in the show ring, and they were pleased to give a bottle of ShowSheen 2-in-1 Shampoo or ShowSheen Stain Remover and Whitener to the first and second place in each
class. Their ShowSheen hair polish and detangler is renowned and this brand has recently been expanded to include the shampoo and stain remover.