2025
Aintree Small Pony Premier was the first show of the year for Anya and the ponies, and it was a resounding success as Anya finished 3rd on Jim and 4th on Snappy in the 128 Winters, qualifying Jim for the Final at the Royal International Horse show - a chance to defend their title.
Morris Equestrians Pony Premier followed a fortnight later, and despite the tough conditions bought about by Storm Eowyn Anya took 3rd place in the 128 Winters with Kilcreene Snapdragon. New 138 pony Fredaine de Blonde proved herself a force to be reckoned with as she jumped an incredible treble clear to take 4th on both days, whilst Tullibards Silver Mine also went 3 rounds on Sunday for 5th place.
Anya's next 128 qualification to Royal International came at South View Small Pony Premier, where Kilcreene Snapdragon jumped the only triple clear of the class to qualify and take the win!
With both 128 ponies now qualified, it was the turn of the 138 ponies at Kelsall Hill where Fredaine de Blonde and Tullibards Silver Mine both picked up their golden tickets with newest team member Blondie also finishing runner up.
On to the final small pony premier in the series at Arena UK and an incredible performance in a nail biting jump off in the 128 Winters saw Anya take the win on Jim and 2nd place on Kilcreene Snapdragon.
2024
Anya’s 2024 season has already started off on the right foot. By the end of February Anya had qualified 3 ponies for the Winter 128 Finals at the Agria Royal International Horse Show, winning the class at both the Onley Grounds and Arena UK Small Pony Premiers as well as taking Leading 128 Rider of the Weekend at the Aintree Small Pony Premier. She also picked up wins in the Under 10 Style and Performance at both Onley and Aintree.
After her successful run in the Winter Pony Premiers Anya then secured an impressive win and 3rd place in the 128cm Grand Prix at Pony of the Year Show Youth Festival, as well as more qualifications achieved for the Agria Royal International with wins in the 133 Working Hunter Pony Class and the 133 Working Hunter Pony Nursery Stakes Class at the UK Ponies & Horses Spring Classic. Further qualifications followed for the BSPS TopSpec Gold Cup Sports Pony Final at Burghley Horse Trials from her 2nd place at the Winter Championships and for novice pony Kitty in the STX-UK Pony British Novice Finals at the National Championships from their solid performance at the Golden Valley second round.
She continued to go from strength to strength bringing her Royal International qualifications to an astounding 8 as she took the win and Champion in the First Ridden section and a win and Reserve Champion in the 123cm Show Hunter Pony stakes at the Cheshire Premier Spring Show, and qualified novice pony Rhydypandy Tom Jones in the 133cm M&M Working Hunter Pony section at the Camden Equestrian Spring Show.
Then followed the British Showjumping Winter Pony Championships at Southview where Anya & Kilcreene Snapdragon stormed the jump off by 4 seconds to take the 128cm Spring Champion title as well as 3rd place with Jim. She placed in every class she entered in this competition with a 1st Place in the Handicap, 2nd and 4th place in the Handicap Special and 3rd place in the 11 & Under Finals.
Morris Equestrian's Pony Premier saw Anya qualify for the Royal Highland Show in both the 128cm and 138cm Championships with a beautiful win on Jim and 3rd place for Tullibards Silver Mine. Meanwhile in showing Anya had stood champion at Selston Equestrian in the Mini Working Hunter Pony with Rhydypandy Tom Jones for owner Rebecca Carter, and at Hambleton Show a 1st place & Reserve Champion 123cm Show Hunter Pony on Bronhuelog Gold Dust. White Rose County Show saw Anya's first ever qualification in the 143cm Working Hunter Pony with Tullibards Silver Mine taking 1st and Reserve Champion and securing his ticket to the Royal International Horse Show bringing her total qualifications to an incredible 9!
Southview Summer Pony Premier was a busy weekend of showjumping but produced Anya's first Horse of the Year Show Qualification with Kilcreene Snapdragon qualifying in the 128cm Championship Final - her first ever HOYS Showjumping qualification! Over the weekend she secured a 1st Place 128cm Champs, 2nd Place 80cm Open and 5th place in the 138cm Championships.
Into June the Derbyshire Festival delivered another qualification with Brookhall Pavarotti qualifying for the 133cm Working Hunter Pony at Horse of the Year Show with 1st place and Reserve Champion in that class. Anya really got into her stride then as the following weekend the 3 day pony premier at Coombelands produced a further two Horse of the Year Show tickets for Jim and Toplines Royal Wonder, meaning all of her 128cm ponies were now qualified.
Back over the border at the Royal Highland Show Anya jumped before an enormous crowd to take an impressive 2nd place in the 128cm Championships Final with Jim.
Anya's debut at Chard Equestrian Summer Pony Premier proved to be a highlight of the year, as Anya was selected for the first time to represent England in the 128cm section of the Home Pony Team and took 2nd & 3rd place in the 128cm HOYS class respectively with Jim and Kilcreene Snapdragon.
Just a couple of weeks later the team travelled to Ireland to take part in the Cavan Home Pony International where Anya's Team England debut could not have gone better and the team claimed gold! Anya rode both Jim and Kilcreene Snapdragon in the team and was ecstatic with the 1st place overall, as well as a win for Kilcreene Snapdragon in the 128cm Grand Prix.
Continuing her busy season it was then on to the Agria Royal International Horse show where Anya had back to back classes, at one point riding 5 ponies in one day. Her first class of the day, the 128cm Pro Ponies BS Winter Championship saw Kilcreene Snapdragon take 5th place for one pole, but a beautiful clear from Jim followed by a nail biting jump off saw Anya knock almost a second off the leading time to take the win, marking the biggest win of her career to date! The rest of her Royal International journey was equally as successful with 4th places in both the 143cm Working Hunter Pony and the Nursery Stakes Working Hunter. From Hickstead it was straight on to Wales and West for another England Home Pony Team victory!
The British Showjumping National Championships in Stoneleigh Park was another resounding success as Anya took the title of 128 National Champion with Kilcreene Snapdragon and a 4th place on Jim. The rest of the team of ponies performed equally as well with Anya's first 138cm pony - Tullibards Silver Mine - achieving an impressive 4th place in his first ever Silver League Final.
Another debut followed in early September for Anya as she competed for the first time at the prestigious Burghley Horse Trials. After qualifying Brookhall Pavarotti earlier in year for the BSPS TopSpec Gold Cup, they placed an impressive 4th in a very strong 90 153 class also achieving Highest Placed Pony Club member. During the same weekend she qualified Tullibards Silver Mine for the 143cm Working Hunter Pony final at HOYS following an impressive win at Moreton Show which also saw her take Champion Working Hunter Pony.
A very busy HOYS week saw Anya take 6th place in the 133 WHP and 8th place in her first ever 143 WHP - an amazing performance on Tullibards Silver Mine, judged by legendary William Fox Pitt where, despite being the smallest and youngest in the class, she achieved a perfect 10 score for her show. The following day Anya stepped out into the main arena for the first time, and a gripping jump off handed Anya an incredible 2nd place on Jim.
Southview's English Home Pony was another success story with Team England bringing home their third gold - making it a clean sweep for the season! Kilcreene Snapdragon was 2nd place in the 128 Grand Prix and newest team member, 138 pony Fredaine de Blonde, also stunned at only her second show of the season, with an incredible 4th place in Anya's first 138 Grand Prix.
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2023
Into 2023 Anya’s hard work continued to pay off and she was thrilled to qualify for the 128cm Championships at the Royal International Horse Show; a first for Anya and pony Mini Mouse and a huge achievement. Sadly Mini was unwell and wasn’t able to compete in the final but a it was a huge accomplishment nonetheless. At the same show Anya placed 3rd & 4th respectively in the 122cm Show Hunter Pony Class and the Nursery Stakes Working Hunter Class. This was followed later in the year by 4th & 7th placings at HOYS in the 133cm Working Hunter Pony and 122cm Show Hunter Pony classes, and most impressively the following week Anya qualified for the London International Horse Show in the 128cm Championship and the Mini Major.
2022
2022 culminated in Anya’s biggest showjumping success to date – taking a one-two, plus 7th place in the Springboard Winter Final, and becoming the youngest competitor to ever hold the title as well as the only rider to qualify three ponies. At the same show she also secured a further runner up position in the U10 Style & Performance class and at the Great Yorkshire Show, despite having qualified two ponies the rules would only allow one and she secured 2nd in the Mini Major, again proving her dedication and work ethic by achieving success in multiple classes on multiple ponies. This hard work was recognised in 2022 as Anya featured in Horse & Hound who described her as a ‘superstar’ and she was also awarded the NAF Shining Star award through British Showjumping’s Nottinghamshire Junior Academy. What a year!
The Start
Anya began riding at 3 years old and, after demonstrating a natural talent on horseback, she then began her competitive career in the show ring. At just 4 years old she competed in her first Horse of the Year show, placing an impressive 4th.
Fast forward 3 years to 2021, in her first event since lockdowns began in 2020, Anya won Horse of the Year Show; was Champion in the Lead Rein Show Pony class and, at only 6 years old and the youngest competitor in the class, placed 6th in the First Ridden.
As eventing began to pick up pace after a difficult couple of years 2022 became the turning point in Anya’s journey. She won the First Ridden class at both the Royal International Horse Show and Horse of the Year show as well as placing 4th and 5th respectively in the 133cm Working Hunter Pony Class and the Lead Rein class.
The Future
Heading into 2024 Anya’s team of ponies has grown and she is looking forward to learning and growing her skills as she continues to qualify and compete in the big shows. She dreams one day of joining Team GB’s equestrian team and is dedicated to putting the hard work in to get her there. Her vlog was started to keep all her memories of her showjumping journey in one place and has turned into a wonderful documentation of her progress which we continue to add to along the way so that she can see how far she has come and how much fun she had doing it.
