Horse of the Year 2023 Part 1: Prep and In-Hand

 Horse of the Year Show has always been a highlight on our calendar. I don't think we've missed one in seven years - although in 2021 all my good mares were pregnant, so I volunteered as gate marshall instead. 

There's nothing else quite like this show, where all the breeds compete at one venue and then against one another during the supremes on Sunday. Seeing all the breeds is always so fun, and for the Nooities, HOY is our national show as well.

The Nooitie attendance this year was breathtaking. There were 52 Nooitgedachters - the breed with the most entries - no mean feat for a rare breed numbering only around 400 horses in total. Our society has been working really hard to improve show attendance and do better by the breed as a whole, and it's really paying off.

For the first time in ages, we had the opportunity to show up strongly with some of our best Nooitgedachters, and so I entered Arwen and Wynnie, of course, as well as Faith and Midas for K and my beloved barn rat. 

My goals for Wynnie were simple. She may have won the youngstock championship last year, but she was an attractive three-month-old foal then, not the gawky fourteen-month-old she is now. I had no illusions of grandeur this year, but I still felt that continuing to go to HOY every year could only be good experience for Wynnie. She would have to deal with a host of completely new experiences: her first proper bath, her first ride in the big horsebox, her first time in the show ring without any of her friends from home, and her first time sleeping over at a show. These are all experiences that Arwen and Thunder didn't have as youngsters, and it still shows. I wanted Wynnie to learn all of this now, while she's still small and easy to wrangle, but also before she has to do anything particularly difficult in the actual show ring itself.

Her first full bath went just fine. With enough blueberries and bits of carrot, she was persuaded that being sprayed with the hosepipe was not actually scary, and I bathed her on my own with no one holding. Things only got a little interesting when she realized that her tail was soaking wet and flicking her with water, and also that she was soaked to the skin on a really hot day. This was cause to be extremely excited about life and she spent ten minutes bucking and galloping on a circle around me before I eventually stuffed her into her stable, where she buried her nose in her hay like nothing had happened.

BarnRat did a fantastic job of her first ever plaits on Midas, helped by K, who also helped me sew in Arwen's plaits properly. They came out super cute. I love how her black plaits look against her white neck these days, and it was so exciting to see my dragon all braided up again and ready to go kick some butt.

Wynnie, for her part, was utterly amazing for her own plaits. Standing quietly for 20 minutes is no mean feat for a yearling, but she dozed through the whole thing, and looked super cute when we were done. I did quick, pull-through plaits to spare her having to stand still for too long, but they were neat enough.

The next morning, we loaded up at 5am. Loading in the dark is always a daunting proposition, but K had done her homework with Faith, who waltzed right in. Arwen and Midas boxed perfectly - as they always do - and then it was just little Wynnie. I went to get her on her own and led her up to the box in the dark, and she had a little look at the headlights shining at her as we walked past, but didn't seem to mind at all. We'd done a brief session about getting into the big box the day before and she had done so with zero hesitation. Now, it was no different. I held out a handful of treats and walked boldly up the ramp, and Wynnie walked in beside me without missing a beat. She didn't quite understand that she had to step sideways for the partition to close, but DH just gently pressed her over while I fed her treats, and she wasn't at all worried. I wish either gelding would load as easily as my yearling did!

The trip to KPC took about an hour and a half, and we arrived quite uneventfully just before seven. Our stables were in J block, near the back, which is kind of a pain as they're far from the parking spaces but also very near our show arena, so that was fine. We had an hour to get Wynnie into her class, so we got right to unloading.

Wynnie stepped out of the box cool, dry, and completely unphased by anything. Arwen, of course, was plunging, snorting and sweating, as usual for Arwen arriving somewhere. K and I left DH and BarnRat to look after Midas and Faith, and headed down to the stables with Arwen and Wynnie. We admired some friendly people with two Percheron stallions, and Arwen dragged me into the stable snorting and plunging, as usual. Wynnie had her doubts about going into the stable, so Kathleen started to gently coax her forward while I went to take Arwen's halter off.

The next minute, chaos broke loose. One of the Percheron stallions had broken his halter and attacked the other. These dudes were BIG, and all I could see was two tons of irate stallions, kicking and biting, stumbling toward about two hundred kilos of slender little Wynnie. I abandoned Arwen to her fate, bolted her door and rushed over to Wynnie, who was balking in front of her stable door. The second stallion pulled away from his owner and they were both on their hindlegs in a proper stallion fight about three doors away when I reached Wynnie and basically rugby-tackled her into the stable from behind. The fact that she didn't kick and did acquiesce to being forcibly shoved inside probably saved us all. I hastily bolted the door, and K, Wynnie and I gaped over the door as the Percherons' owners separated and contained them within a couple of minutes. No one was badly hurt, and luckily they were comparatively quiet drafts, not bloody warmbloods or something, or we would never have been able to separate them. The owners apologized profusely, but I get it. Things happen!

Thus pumped up on adrenalin and wide-eyed, K and I returned to get Midas and Faith. Wynnie and Arwen appeared none the worse for wear and happily chomped on some hay while K and I quickly put some shine spray on Wynnie, slipped on her show halter and trotted up to the show ring.

It was in the Charlotte and David Stubbs arena, which Wynnie showed in last time, but I still anticipated some shenanigans and screaming for her friends. Wynnie did no such thing. She locked onto the filly heading into the arena ahead of her and decided that chasing after her would be a grand idea. I had to work to keep her with me for the first circle or so, but after that she was really perfect. A little wiggly when standing still (again... she's 14 months old) but she listened, kept her forefeet on the ground, and didn't spook or sweat.

Photo by Denford Studios

Even trotting up, she only broke to canter for a step, otherwise she trotted up perfectly without any shenanigans. I was so impressed. It was a fairly large class of 6 or 7 fillies and Wynnie had to pay attention for quite a long time, but apart from wiggling around in the halt at times, she didn't put a foot wrong.

We didn't get a ribbon, but I don't really mind. She's an awkward-looking little object right now and all I wanted was for her to get a good show experience. She'd been perfect all day, so in my eyes, she totally crushed her goals for the show!

Photo by Denford Studios

Erin's horse, the magnificent Addy, had squished her toe the night before and she'd asked if I could show him in the hand, so as soon as Wynnie came out I stuffed her in the stable - BarnRat was amazing with making sure everyone had hay and water - and sprinted all the way around the Stubbs in my full show outfit. That part sucked, let me tell you, and I felt it for days. But Erin already had Addy turned out to perfection, as usual, and in a few moments we were walking into the ring.

Addy is a consummate professional and has done this a thousand times. I felt mostly like I was an ornament and he could have done the class all on his own. He is a fabulously beautiful and correct creature and won champion gelding while I wheezed and panted beside him and brought very little to the table.

I got back from Addy's class just in time to see Faith place fifth in a very big class of mares, which was nice. The judge liked her but said that her back was a little weak, which is fair. Faith behaved much better this time than in her last in-hand class back in 2020, but to be fair to her, she only ended up going to HOY that year because Arwen was sick with biliary so I'd pulled her out of the veld a week before the show. Now, she's had enough prep, and also has found her perfect match in K. They go really well together.

After Faith's class, we had a little break to grab breakfast and look for water - thanks to loadshedding (rolling blackouts), there was no water in the taps at the stables, but we tracked down a tap by the restaurant that worked - and then returned in time for the progeny classes. I had entered Wynnie with a young mare by the same sire, as well as Arwen with her half-sister out of the same dam.

Around this time, EM arrived! She came to photograph and cheer us on, which was super fun. My mom and sister also appeared around this point. It was so much fun to have so many friends and supporters around, and part of what made this the best HOY we've ever had.

Photo by Opus Proprium

I showed Arwen myself, since I've seldom had the chance to show her in the hand, and K took Wynnie. It was a short, easy class with no running, which I was grateful for since the heat had now become pretty brutal. Neither of us placed, but it was fun to show Arwen in hand myself for once.

Photo by Opus Proprium

Wynnie and K were fine, too, even if Wynnie kicked out at her companion in a frisky moment.

Photo by Opus Proprium

The judge asked Arwen's age and if she'd had any foals, which reaffirmed my decision not to show her in hand at this show in her own right. Arwen has won the in-hand enough times, and her topline did sag a little after the birth of Wynnie. Even though she doesn't feel past her prime by any means, I think her in-hand champion days might be behind us, which is just fine. This cast-iron mare is still carrying me as soundly and faithfully as ever, even if her back looks a little different.

Photo by Opus Proprium

With the in-hand all done, we had a short break to get ready for the ridden classes, starting with dressage.

God is always good!