Well where do we start?!
We have had the most fantastic season anyone could wish for with our two Shetlands, Sapphire Classic and Brinleyview Camanchee. To be fair mum has always said that some judges think (esp non-Shetland judges) that a typical correct Shetland is big and black – and we will always get some who cannot see passed Camanchee’s colour. So her answer was to send both stallions to Debbie Barr.
With Camanchee or should we say Chee man winning Royal International and the NFU Mutual championship in the NPS Summer Championships (even being ridden by the judge!) we didn’t think we could get any better. We hoped for a top 5 in HOYS and repeat is best Shetland title of 2012 – so as you can imagine after a foot perfect show and looking fabulous when he wasn’t in the top 11 we were a little disappointed. But Classic and Thomma were still there and the placings were revealed in reverse order, once they got up to second (which was Alice Barr on the dartmoor Okeleat Navigator (owned by David Hodge, Julian Walters & Debbie Barr’s) we didn’t think we were in contention. I think we will all live that moment a million times in our heads when Classic was announced as the winner – in fact it gave me goose bumps writing this!
Thomma Shepherd rode him superbly as always. Debbie has done an amazing job producing these ponies for us and Classic has really matured and is going so well. I have to say watching him work in the night before – he has never looked or gone so well. Not sure where his gallop has come from?!
Huge thank you to Debbie Barr, Angela Pallett, Mandy Shepherd and all the girls (you know who you are!) for making 2014 so special.
We were also lucky enough to qualify Chee man for the CHAPS class on the Sunday of HOYS but unfortunately Shetlands were not the judges favourite breed so he wasn’t in the top 10 but he looked fabulous.
