SHOW REPORT: HORSE OF THE YEAR 2020

By Shane Mundell

The 2020 Horse of the Year Show held at Kyalami Equestrian Park was, once more and in spite of the lower number of entries, a great success. Once again the hard work put in by the Gauteng Showing Committee, combined with excellent marketing resulted in great sponsorship, prize money and prizes being donated by various sponsors. The main sponsors for the event were TRM/Sadler Laboratories and Doug Caunter, staunch supporters of HOY.

There were spectacular rosettes made by MD designs. Red, satin garlands made especially and donated by Winning Rosettes, a company owned by Lientjie Marais, were presented to the SASA Supreme Champions in every category. Beautiful trophies were awarded and the job of allocating them to the correct classes was given to Rune Swart who did an amazing job.

There was a small donkey parade on Sunday during the Champions Lunch with delicious food provided by the KEP Caterers, BB Catering.

The Supreme Champions were:

South Lawn who was overall Supreme Ridden Champion, Champion Gelding and the highest placed Thoroughbred (earning him the trophy donated by Beyond Racing – Catherine Hartley and Sandy Wilson). He was ridden by JJ Kemp and is owned by Mrs Carol Aronson.

The Supreme Champion Young Child’s Pony was Dolarch’s Llandilo Lilybrook ridden by Sage Beetge.

The Supreme Champion Breed Horse was Tipuana Flamboyant, Section A Welsh owned by Tipuana Stud.

The Supreme Champion Working Hunter was Dageraad Baroque ridden by Rowan Retzlaff.

 

The Supreme Champion Working Riding Horse was SK Equestrian’s Midgard Saphyr, ridden by Shaneen Kryza.

The Supreme Champion Single Harness was Merrydown Bohemian Rhapsody (Caryn Wilson).

And last, but certainly not least, the Supreme Champion Groom Handler was Thomas Modisaotsile, followed by Tobias Ngwenya and Moses Soko. This class was generously sponsored by Mrs Mark Slack, who loyally does this each year.

For those interested in the welfare of retired Thoroughbreds, the Racehorse to Show Horse class was won by Earth Fair owned by Mrs Mary Slack. He is a chestnut gelding by Noordhoek Flyer (SAF) out of Monyela (SAF) by Fort Wood, born in 2011.

Judges

The judges from the UK were Ms Barbara Evans and Mrs Vicki Smith. The other judges were Senior Judges on the SASA panel and those selected by the different breeds for their individual classes. Appreciation must be given to Ms Sue Cooke who directed the show admirably after a traumatic few weeks during which she had two robberies at her home. She was ably assisted by Kayleen Harrison, who took over the loudspeaker duties where necessary.