British Breeder Magazine May 2020
Magazine for breeders of British bred sport horses. Includes breeding industry news, updates, interviews, profiles and reports.
Magazine for breeders of British bred sport horses. Includes breeding industry news, updates, interviews, profiles and reports.
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NEWS - FROM THE DISCIPLINES<br />
Virtual Windsor<br />
<strong>2020</strong> Receives<br />
Thousands Of<br />
Entries From<br />
Around The World<br />
Following the cancellation of Royal<br />
Windsor Horse Show due to COVID-19,<br />
the Organisers of the Show have put an<br />
innovative solution in place;<br />
Virtual Windsor <strong>2020</strong>, an online<br />
platform that merges virtual competition<br />
with ecommerce and social media.<br />
Virtual Windsor has already generated<br />
an astounding number of entries to its<br />
online Showing classes, which are taking<br />
place at the same time as the usual<br />
competitions at the Show.<br />
Across all classes, there have already<br />
been 3,122 entries from all corners of<br />
the globe, demonstrating the willingness<br />
of the worldwide equestrian family to<br />
pull together and celebrate their passion<br />
virtually (a ‘normal’ Royal Windsor<br />
would receive around 2,300 entries<br />
to its Showing classes). The classes will<br />
be judged by Chief Showing Steward,<br />
Nigel Hollings, with expertise also<br />
provided by John Peacock and Linda<br />
Lawrance.<br />
Alan Titchmarsh, Royal Windsor Horse<br />
Show Member, celebrated gardener<br />
and television presenter has joined in<br />
with the spirit of the event and is set to<br />
judge the fancy dress competition, which<br />
has already had some very creative<br />
entries. He joins a line-up of judges<br />
who have been selected for their expert<br />
knowledge, and who have previous<br />
experience at top Showing events.<br />
There are exceptional stories from some<br />
of the other entries, such as a driving<br />
entry from the US whose competitor<br />
hand-built the wicker cart used for<br />
the photograph. Elsewhere, Frances<br />
Hampson-Jones has entered her trusted<br />
partner, Holliday, in the Ridden Senior<br />
Horse or Pony. Their combined horse<br />
and rider age is 90-years-old – quite a<br />
feat! Other heartwarming stories include<br />
the 27-year-old horse Sweet William,<br />
who has – despite health issues –<br />
competed at Royal Windsor every year<br />
since he was 16 in the Senior Horse<br />
or Pony classes, which he continues to<br />
contest virtually this year.<br />
Emma Tovey, owner of Sweet William,<br />
said: “Royal Windsor is a very special<br />
show to us, and we will miss it<br />
enormously this year, but I’m pleased to<br />
be able to enter the virtual version.<br />
Bring on 2021 and thank you for coming<br />
up with a way to keep our spirits up!”<br />
Elsewhere, the line-up includes<br />
racehorse Saint Are – five-time runner in<br />
the Grand National, including a second<br />
placing in 2015 – who is entered in the<br />
Retraining of Racehorses class, with his<br />
owners hoping to win one of the<br />
prestigious Royal Windsor rosettes.<br />
Simon Brooks-Ward, Show Director,<br />
said: “It’s a great shame that Royal<br />
Windsor Horse Show couldn’t go ahead<br />
as planned; however, Virtual Windsor<br />
<strong>2020</strong> has been phenomenally popular,<br />
showing that everyone can come<br />
together during these tough times. The<br />
amount of entries we have received has<br />
been astonishing, with the variety and<br />
level of competition extremely high.<br />
We want to thank everyone who has<br />
supported Virtual Windsor <strong>2020</strong> so far<br />
and look forward to what is set to be an<br />
exciting Championships taking place on<br />
17 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2020</strong>.”<br />
Virtual Windsor <strong>2020</strong> was also created<br />
to support the shops that the show<br />
houses each year, many of whom are<br />
independent traders. The online show<br />
has now welcomed more than 190<br />
brands, with some of them displaying<br />
their wares at “Royal Windsor” for the<br />
first time this year. Many have selflessly<br />
contributed to the NHS however they<br />
can, with Hayfield England producing a<br />
beautiful hat pin in blue and white<br />
feathers to raise money for the NHS;<br />
Thermatex colleagues making scrubs<br />
bags for NHS employees; and the<br />
owner of Bella Singleton – a luxury<br />
clothing designer specialising in silk<br />
products – creating face masks available<br />
to the general public.<br />
The Royal Windsor Horse Show<br />
community has shown an admirable<br />
ability to seamlessly transfer into the<br />
“Virtual World”, with more than 50,000<br />
page views on the Virtual Windsor <strong>2020</strong><br />
platform, coupled with all Royal<br />
Windsor related social media pages<br />
growing exponentially. As well as this,<br />
Virtual Windsor <strong>2020</strong> continues to grow<br />
the content platform. Interviews with a<br />
golden list of equestrian stars, including<br />
Ros Canter, Martin Fuchs and Daniel<br />
Naprous, videos of unforgettable Royal<br />
Windsor Horse Show moments of the<br />
past and top tips on horse care and<br />
nutrition.<br />
Classes will be judged during Show<br />
week, 13th-17 <strong>May</strong>, with final winners<br />
progressing to the Championships being<br />
judged on Sunday 17 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
BRITISH BREEDER| 9