Brown determined to show he can still compete with the youngsters

Mary King, 49, and Mark Todd, 56, are still very much at the top of their game in eventing and Paul Brown, who is 58, is as competitive as ever when it comes to the military sport of tent pegging.

He might be the oldest member of the British Tent Pegging Association, but he is also one of the most successful, having just received the National British overall Master at Arms trophy.

Last year Paul won an individual gold medal plus team gold and two silver medals when competing against South Africa at the Household Cavalry summer camp in Norfolk.

For this competition Paul was riding a King’s Troop horse, Abbey, that will be taking part in the Queen’s Jubilee parade.

Tent pegging involves riders picking up small tent pegs with a hook while galloping.

There are also Skill-at-Arms competitions, where riders show their skill using a sword, a lance and a revolver.

Paul has just completed 30 years in the mounted section of West Yorkshire Police and he has no intention of retiring just yet.

“Nobody else has achieved that length of service in the same department,” said Paul.

So far as he knows, he is the longest-serving police officer in South Yorkshire and he would like to continue working for another couple of years in order to reach a total of 42 years’ service.

Paul’s wife Tracey is also an officer with the same mounted section and both of them are keen riders in their spare time. Several years ago they took on a former police horse called Baron Bruni.

Bruni did not make the grade as a police horse but he turned out to be a marvellous all-rounder for the Browns. As well as tent pegging competitions with Paul, he also does eventing, showjumping and eventing with Tracey.

They are members of the South Yorkshire mounted police team and at last year’s Royal Tournament the team, including Tracey, won the showjumping and Bruni then went on to win the individual tent-pegging competition with Paul.

“At our end of season national event, he won all my classes and Tracey also rode him in two classes, which meant he won all seven classes,” said Paul.

Their next outing will be to the Aldershot Military Show which is being held in Melton Mowbray on Friday and Saturday. They will also be competing at the Royal Windsor Show in May and take part in the parade for the Queen.

Nicola Sutcliffe remembers having great fun at local, unaffiliated showjumping shows when she was younger.

They were popular and perfect for people who were not involved in the affiliated BSJA scene.

Now that she has her own yard near York where she produces young horses and has liveries, Nicola decided to start up some similar competitions.

“The big centres run shows but they don’t offer any help or advice,” she said.

“I thought it would be a good idea to do some shows for people who need some confidence and we can offer them any help or advice they need.”

She organised the first show earlier this month with the help of her husband Jordan and farrier Lee Hardy. It turned out to be a great success with about 30 horses and ponies turning up. One competitor travelled over from Whitby.

“It was a really good day and very relaxed and we were very pleased with the turn-out,” said Nicola.

They are going to have a points system and the senior and junior riders with the most points at the end of the season will receive a cup and a sash.

They are planning on holding the shows every fortnight but had to cancel Sunday’s show due to the wet weather.

They hope to run the next show on May 6.

Sport Horse Select is at Stillington, York. For more information email Nicola at [email protected].