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The Blue Riband is possibly the most difficult title of all to win; having qualified you then have to get past up to six judges including the notorious ‘celebrity judge’ whose appeal vote can throw up the occasional surprise. After a string of seconds, we had never even won a class; this year thankfully was rather different.
Bred by Martin Davis ‘Boyo’, as Charmer is known, is out of Chinock Chantilly, a 12.2 we had from breeder Wilf Davies which went on to be Pony of the Year. She had the most wonderful way of going and when we heard she had bred a 12.2 we tracked him down and found he was bring produced by Ron and Debbie Thomas. He joined us after HOYS 2003 and opened his 2004 account winning the 12.2 novice at Royal Windsor. Winning his first RIHS qualifier, he soon followed this by winning his first HOYS qualifier at South of England ending up reserve to Broadgrove Chatterbox.
The Summer Championships confirmed our belief in his potential. Partnered by supershowman Joseph Thurston he opened his account with the Novice Show Pony Championship followed by being Reserve Supreme Show Pony to the lovely Chatterbox. He won the 12.2 Blue Riband after getting top marks in his show, conformation and performance section, the only pony to do so. His exceptional temperament is ideally suited to the indoor atmosphere and as he floated round, more than one person came up to us and said ‘you could win this’. The three judges for the championships were three of the best, including ‘celebrity’ Roger Stack - no cute bunches and tiny jockeys grinning were going to get past him; he is one of the most knowledgeable horsemen in the business. As we were up against the by now unbeaten Chatterbox again, we forgot to listen for who was going to be called out Champion as we were so busy crossing everything for reserve. Joseph who always thinks he is in with a chance was on the ball and ambled out into the spotlight grinning as his name was called. It was one of the very rare moments when we have been left speechless; needless to say this didn’t last long and we raised the roof as Boyo and Joseph did their lap of honour.
Thank you to everyone involved and to the BSPS for a spectacular show which gets better each year. To all the amateurs out there, we like to fly the flag; you can take on the professionals and win – you just need dedication, a great jockey and the right pony.
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