Whitworth Community High School Year 9 student Abby Parnell was competing in only her second ever Horse of the Year Show, HOYS, qualifying heat on Sunday June 28 in Formby.
She said: “There were 11 in my class – amateur Search for a Star – and everyone else was an adult.
“I entered my first HOYS qualifier in May in Rutland and we came second. This time I knew we had done well.”
Abby was riding nine-year-old Maggie, whom she has had for six years. She is the youngest of three horses Abby owns and stables at Tong End Farm in Whitworth.
She said: “I had to be up at 4am and we got there for 8am so I had time to prepare Maggie and get her ready for the competition; she gets a bit stressed in the horsebox, but I knew she looked her best.”
Abby, who has been horseriding since she was two, said: “I have only started HOYS this year so I was shocked to get second in my first competition, but because I had done so well I thought I would give it another shot.
“At Formby, I recognised a couple of riders who had been in my class at the last event. I used to be very nervous, but now I am fine with taking part.
“When I am riding, sometimes I feel the pressure when there are lots of people watching but Maggie is very responsive to me and I ride her five times a week.”
The competitors are only told the order of the routine just prior to the competition.
Abby waited and let some other riders perform their display before she had her go so she had the routine in her head and knew when Maggie had to trot, to canter and walk and when she had to be led on a rein and how Maggie needed to hold her head.
She said: “There were nine moves to remember and they had to be done in the right order; I had already seen some riders do them wrong.” The routine took around two minutes to complete and when they announced Abby had won her mum burst into tears.
Abby said: “It’s such a privilege, most people can’t afford horses, I am really honoured. My mum Helen is a horserider and she had ridden Maggie and my cousin has done sometimes.”
She is excited to compete in HOYS, which is a five-day equestrian event at the National Exhibition Centre. Abby would like to become either a horse physio or a horse dentist.
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