Louise Simpson had only sat on Cornet of Follyfoot twice before – but the combination took the senior newcomers championship at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in effortless style.
Sally Jobson-Scott’s six-year-old had been having a fantastic year with Louise’s sister Nicole Pavitt but when Nicole broke her collarbone at Arena UK (16-22 September), Louise stepped in. The pair’s polished speed secured Louise her first HOYS title since 2016, over a second ahead of Jack Whitaker and Bonnie.
“I got a last-minute call!” Louise said. “Nicole fell off another horse and got injured so I jumped him at Arena UK, then sat on him the day before yesterday, then came here.”
The Cornet Obolensky gelding, who won both the Big Star six-year-old title and the newcomer masters at this year’s British Showjumping National Championships with Nicole, showed a cool beyond his years, and Louise said he takes everything in his stride.
“That’s the first time I’ve gone first on him but he’s just a little pro,” she said. “With a lot of horses, you couldn’t only have a couple of rides before a show like this but he jumped fine. What’s amazing about him is his brain; he doesn’t know me at all, he’s only six, the atmosphere and everything didn’t faze him and he jumped round like an older horse, his little ears forward. I can 100% see him going a long way.”
Nicole had surgery today, Louise said, and “will be sad she’s having to watch at home”.
“She was trying to have the surgery and still make it!” she added.
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