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Whitaker and Wilson take annual plaudits
IT has been a year of memorable highs for some in the equestrian world while others have experienced low points and uncertainty about what the new year will bring.
British Eventing provided one of those high points with our team, including two Yorkshire riders, winning the European Eventing Championships for a record-breaking eighth time.
Our show jumpers, meanwhile, are appealing against relegation to a lower league after a poor year which saw them tie with Belgium for last place.
As hunt supporters gathered in their thousands for the traditional Boxing Day meets, hunting was back in the news again.
There have been fresh calls for a repeal of the controversial Hunting Act as a general election looms. The ban on hunting could be repealed if the Conservatives win, while Labour are canvassing fresh support for the ban which they will keep in place should they be re-elected.
The Countryside Alliance say the law is "failing at every level" but that in spite of it, hunting is in better shape than ever.
The world of dressage was opened up to a much wider audience thanks to the Netherlands rider Edward Gal and his wonder horse, Moorlands Totilas. After a near-perfect performance at the Windsor Europeans in the summer, he broke his own grand prix freestyle world record with a mark of 92.3 per cent at Olympia just before Christmas.
In June, Bramham International Horse Trials took place in almost perfect weather conditions, just a few weeks after the second day of Chatsworth Horse Trials had to be cancelled due to torrential rain.
At very short notice Bramham took over running the CIC three-star competition, which should have been held at Chatsworth, and Bramham will continue to run it this year.
Northallerton's Nicola Wilson came within a whisker of winning the main event and went into the final show-jumping section in the lead, with the home crowd cheering her on.
After a clear round with Master Banks she left the ring ecstatic, thinking she had won. But time penalties cost her the title, which went to Bramham regular, Andrew Nicholson. Nicola more than made up for this disappointment when she was selected for the British squad to ride in the European Eventing Championships at Fontainebleu in France.
She was picked to be the pathfinder for the team on the cross-country section and stormed round the course on Opposition Buzz. The team took the title and Tina Cook won individual gold with Miners Frolic.
The event proved disappointing for Oliver Townend but the rest of the season showed him to be on unbeatable form. He finished the year as the winner of both Badminton and Burghley, the HSBC Classics winner and Express Eventing Champion.
Now based in Shropshire, the Huddersfield-born rider has won more than 300,000 in prize money during the past 12 months.
In April he will head to Kentucky, chasing the 213,000 Rolex Grand Slam.
For 23-year-old Ellen Whitaker, the Horse of the Year Show proved to be a spectacular comeback.
After a difficult period involving an ownership dispute over her horses and missing the Beijing Olympics when her top horse, Locarno, went lame, Ellen had a memorable week at HOYS.
She was Leading Show Jumper of the Year, won Speed Horse of the Year with Kanselier and the puissance, at 7ft 1in, with Ladina B. Unfortunately her uncle, John Whitaker, has not been so lucky. He has been out of action after breaking his ankle following a fall from his Olympic show-jumping partner, Peppermill.
The Horse of the Year Show proved to be a thrilling occasion for Sheila Fenwick, who at the age of 78 was making her first visit to the famous event where she saw her four-year-old mare, Baydale Venus, take the Hack of the Year title. It was a surprise for everybody concerned, including producer Jerome Harforth, rider Simon Charlesworth and not least, Sheila. She lives at Eshton near Gargrave and has been breeding horses for 40 years.
This year saw the Cleveland Bay Horse Society celebrate its 125th anniversary and move to new premises at the Great Yorkshire Show ground.
Yorkshire riders, owners and breeders enjoyed success in many areas and will be preparing to defend their titles in the coming year.
Yorkshire can even boast a world class farrier. Steven Beane won the 30th annual World Championship Blacksmith competition at the famous Calgary Stampede in Canada.
Steven, from Trenholme Bar near Northallerton, also won the forging and shoeing championships and came home with $10,000 in prize money.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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