A nineteen-year-old rider who only jumped her first big red wall two months ago has cleared 2.12m to top the London International Horse Show LeMieux Puissance with Easy Boy de Laubry Z – who was fresh from trail-hunting with Rachel’s father.
Rachel Proudley and Graham Ward’s 10-year-old, who contested their first puissance at Horse of the Year Show in October – having been practising over a wall made from bales of shavings – were the only ones to jump clear in the fourth and final round.
“There isn’t a word that can describe the feeling,” Rachel said. “And to do it on home turf, in front of a home crowd in an atmosphere like that – it’s unbelievable.
“I’ve been out in Florida so Toby Parsons at home, at HK Horses, has been keeping him going, so a big thank you to him.”
A high-class field had come forward to contest the class, including puissance specialists Sebastian Hughes and Colorado Volo, and previous HOYS puissance winners Commandant Geoff Curran and Bishops Quarter, and after the third round, there were still five clear.
But when first-timer Phillipp Schulze Topphoff withdrew the nine-year-old Vivantas, and Daniel Coyle the aptly named Incredible, and Paul Sims and Kingfisher took the wall down, suddenly only Rachel and Easy Boy, and Jack Whitaker and Equine America Q Paravatti N, were left in the running.
Showing no sign of nerves, Rachel rode to the wall as if she had been doing it all her life; sitting quietly and riding beautifully, she found the perfect spot and they cleared it effortlessly.
She knew she had at least jointly won the title but when Jack and his father Michael’s 10-year-old brought the top row of bricks down, she had secured it alone.
Asked what she would have thought had someone suggested beforehand that she would win, Rachel said: “No chance! I would never have dreamed it.
“He’s got so much scope and is so brave, I can just trust him all the way, that he’s going to keep going. He was brilliant.
“In the third round there seemed to be quite a few in it, then only three in round four and when Paul had the wall, there were only two of us left. So there was a bit of pressure on but I knew I could trust him and it paid off. I’m just trying to get my head round it – he was hunting with my dad on Tuesday! He’s such a dude.”
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