Vote for the Horse of the Year Award

In 2022, I was retiring from riding, aged 55, feeling old, and believing my dreams of competing in National Championships had gone. Then, watching the RoR Showjumping Championship at Stoneleigh inspired me to search for a racehorse to retrain. In January 2023, my husband spotted Evron advertised by his trainer as “a potential RoR, no longer enjoying racing, with a kind and willing temperament, raced 27 times.” Evron and I gelled instantly, and our RoR journey began.

In less than two years, Evron has won six RoR championships, including Advanced Medium Dressage 2024, BS RoR Showjumping 2023, RoR Arena Eventing 2024, and finished second in Elite Dressage at Aintree 2024.

Recently, Evron has made my childhood dreams come true, qualifying for the Badminton Horse Trials Grassroots Championships 2025.

He’s finished this eventing season as the fifth most consistent event horse in the UK at 90, coming fifteenth overall.

Evron is our one-in-a-million horse. He loves his new life—ears always pricked—and thrives on training and competing, yet he is unbelievably kind and gentle. Even my disabled husband, Anthony, can help me with him. Anthony was a jockey, but this ended when he broke his back racing in 1982. Evron has given Anthony and me two of the most special years of our lives. He has a home with us for the rest of his life—we owe this incredible former racehorse so much.

Master Wickham (Darsi) has enjoyed another successful year on the competition circuit, showing his versatility and consistency, which are second to none! In 2024 alone, he has achieved the following:

British Showjumping - Now only 23 points from Grade A. Points have been obtained in speed, take-your-own-line, accumulator, derby, pairs, grand prix, and normal single-phase classes, showing his adaptability and consistency within showjumping. He was second at the Summer National Championships and third at the Winter Championships. He qualified for all five major championships this year, including the HOYS semi-final, and became Area 23 Champion.

British Riding Clubs - Third in the Music National Champs.

British Dressage - Continued his winning form, only beaten once (came second) in his nine years of retraining.

British Eventing - Having placed in the 80, 90, and 100 National Champs, he has moved up to FEI 1*/105 level this year. His debut at Aston should have been clear, but his jockey missed a fence, breaking his nine-year record of faultless cross-country rounds! He bounced back at Little Downham as the only horse to finish on his dressage score! He also completed Gatcombe on his dressage score, adding to his placings at famous venues such as Badminton, Blenheim, and Bramham!

RoR Winter Festival of Dressage - He added a thirteenth RoR national championship win to his collection in the Elementary Dressage to Music. This is alongside the Tatts Challenge Final, the Three Phase Challenge Final, Arena Eventing, British Showjumping, British Eventing, Combined Training, and multiple league finals.

Arena Eventing - Equilibrium National Arena Eventing Champion at 100 level. He also qualified for both BE finals.

Showing - At Equifest, he competed in the RoR amateur qualifier, working hunter, performance to music, and event horse classes. He won all and went on to be Reserve Champion Event Horse and Champion Music Performance.

Veteran Horse Society National Champs - A winner in all his classes again! He lifted the reserve champion competition horse title and was champion performance to music! He even won my best friend a sash in the grooms' class, having sat on him for the first time 30 seconds before entering the ring! This once again showcased his versatility and rideability on a national stage!

This year saw a few first-time experiences for us: parading at the Grand National, performing at the BD High Profile Show on Grand Prix night, and connecting racing with showjumping as part of the “sportjumping” competition, where he finished sixth against some very high-calibre opposition!

He is the most unbelievable horse, and all results can be found on his records! Year after year, he goes out and gets the job done! A truly remarkable horse and one who just keeps opening up new opportunities to promote life after racing!

Amroth Bay (Fats) is my horse of a lifetime. In his 20th year, he has had an unbeaten season in the show ring, culminating at the RoR Championships, where he was champion in both the Amateur Final and the Veteran Final.

After what can only be described as a really tough year, losing my mum and chief plaiter to cancer, this horse has been our sanity. He has given us something to smile about at every show we’ve attended.

Fats has turned his hoof to everything, including hunting, eventing, showing, and his new favourite job as top babysitter to my one-year-old son! There’s nothing Fats has said no to since I first met him while working for the Skeltons nine years ago. He was the first winner I ever led up, and I wish I could reincarnate him as a smaller version for my son to learn to ride on!

In a nutshell, he is irreplaceable to us, an all-round superstar, and very much part of the family.

Second Brook (Seb to his friends) came into my daughter’s life six years ago and changed it completely. He is generous of spirit, versatile, and can be quite opinionated. They have formed a very close bond, and he enables her to feel normal and be treated normally (people watching do not realise that Lesley cannot see). Whether out hacking, at a clinic, competing at dressage, or showing, he always gives her his best effort.

Together, they won the Dressage Anywhere RoR league at the end of 2023. This year, at the RDA National Championships, they became Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) National Champions in dressage in the B1 grade, won their showing class, and also won Best Turned Out (all their own work). They attended their first RoR camp at Lincomb in May, where they both excelled. They also regularly train with the United Counties RDA group.

These may seem like small feats compared to some of the other nominees, but when you consider that Lesley lost her sight about 10 years ago, you can see they are a truly amazing team. Seb has helped her adapt to life in the dark. He always looks after her but also gives her challenges and tests her abilities.

He enables her to continue with the sport she loves and is very much loved by all the family. Everyone who meets Seb can see what an amazing horse he is, and he totally deserves this award.