Dedication of Wallace family sees rare Exmoor herd thrive

The Anchor herd, which dates back to 1797, was in danger of dying out completely after the Second World War. It was saved by a man called Frank Green whose great nephew, Simon Lycett-Green, later took over the farm and land on Exmoor, including Winsford Hill, which was home to the dwindling herd of ponies.

Simon Lycett-Green and his daughter, Rosie Wallace, worked hard to re-build the herd and when she died in 2005, her son David took over responsibility for the herd – which is where the Hetton connection comes in, home to David and his wife Emma and their family.

They make regular trips to Exmoor to check on the herd and the retired farm manager also keeps an eye on the ponies.

“There are 40 ponies out on the hill and the whole herd numbers about 100,” said Emma. “We bring back some of the foals here to handle and then sell on.”

The two big events of the year are the “gatherings” in June and October where all the ponies are rounded up to be checked, micro chipped and branded with the distinctive Anchor symbol.

Exmoors, which are still a rare breed, have become popular as show ponies but, says Emma: “You have to know what you are doing and have experience with native breeds.

“You have to have great patience but once they trust you they are brilliant.”

The ponies are also used for conservation grazing and can often be seen at Escrick Park, near York.

The Anchor ponies have usually been shown in-hand by the family but Emma is working on bringing some on as riding ponies which will make them more saleable.

“Our first one, Anchor Champagne, has just come out under saddle this season and won the Mini Championship at her first show,” said Emma.

The plan is for her niece, three-year-old Juliet Freegard, from Ilkley, to ride Champagne in lead rein classes. Juliet has already had some success riding a Shetland pony and is the youngest competitor at Ilkley and District Riding Association’s shows.

Emma, who is a qualified BHSAI instructor, hopes Juliet will follow in her daughter, Miranda’s footsteps.

Miranda, 18, grew up riding Exmoor ponies but eventually grew out of them. She has since moved on to much larger horses including a new maxi cob, Dylan Thomas, gaining a second with him at the Great Yorkshire Show.

Miranda has qualified four horses for the Royal International Horse Show and will also be competing at the Horse of the Year Show.

n For more information about the Anchor herd go to www.equinetourism.co.uk.

Amelia and Olivia team up with Mouse to scoop prizes

A PONY called Mouse and her two young riders have been on winning form recently, collecting two tickets for the Horse of the Year Show in October.

“Having narrowly missed out on four occasions over the last two seasons,with second places in HOYS qualifiers, Mouse and her jockeys are collecting a tally of tickets,” said Karen Burkin, who produces the pony with her daughter, Sophie, at Sand Hutton, near York.

The first ticket was won by Amelia Tinkler from Malton, niece of National Hunt jockey, Andrew Tinkler. Amelia won her class at the Royal Norfolk Show and at the same show Mouse competed in the HOYS First Ridden qualifier with Olivia Varley, nine, from Sheffield.

They were placed second and Mouse and Amelia also went on to take reserve champion in the Mini Championship.

“This was amazing as it was only Amelia’s fourth time in the ring and her second HOYS qualifier,” added Karen.

Not to be outdone, Olivia and Mouse gave another excellent performance to win the HOYS Mountain and Moorland First Ridden class at the NPS Area 25 show at Bristol where they were also reserve Mini Champion.

The pair continued their success to be placed second at the Great Yorkshire Show last week.

Now Olivia and Mouse are hoping for another HOYS ticket for the Open Ridden Welsh Section A class, after competing in their first qualifier at the North of England Show.

Compact eventing draws stars

TOP event riders, including Mark Todd and Oliver Townend, can be seen in action at this weekend’s CLA Game Fair at Blenheim Palace. They will be competing in the Express Eventing qualifier for the Horse of the Year Show in October.

Todd and Townend, both past winners of Badminton and Burghley Horse Trials, will be competing on Sunday against other leading riders, including Harry Meade and Matthew Wright.

A compact version of eventing, the competition is arena-based and involves a freestyle dressage to music section, cross country and showjumping. This year the competition has also been opened up to young riders and among those competing tomorrow will be Rachael Lupton from Northallerton.

Wright has won both the Express Eventing qualifiers so far this year but will still be competing as he could be in the running for the £3,000 first prize which goes to the winner of the qualifier.

The final qualifying event before the Horse of the Year Show will take place at The Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe next month.

Alex keeps it in the family

YOUNG showjumper Alex Gill, 13, is following in the family tradition and showing some star quality in the ring like his uncle, international rider Paul Barker.

Alex, from Northallerton, hit top form recently qualifying for two championships at the Horse of the Year Show on the same weekend.

He qualified for the Junior Newcomers final riding Amman Valley Santino and the following day took his ticket at Port Royal Equestrian Centre in the Junior Foxhunter class.

Alex jumped three clears in the Junior Newcomers to take the top spot and in the Junior Foxhunter he and Santino were the only pair to jump clear in the second round, giving them their second ticket.

This will be Alex’s first time jumping at the Horse of the Year Show and he has also managed to qualify for the Royal International Horse Show.