From Shetlands to Shires, breed classes display royal quality
THE parade of Australia’s finest livestock continued at The Sydney Royal Easter Show with an array of breeds of all shapes and sizes on display.
The heavy horses always attract a crowd of spectators and although numbers were small, the quality was high enough to please those who remember the great horses of the past.
In the Clydesdale section the supreme championship went to the mare Mcmurchie Monique owned by Colin and Karen Brown. Paul Cooper’s Oscarville Pegasus was champion stallion and the best Clydesdale gelding sash went to Demore Park and Murroka Clydesdales’ Murroka Herman.
The best Percheron was the upstanding mare Southern Cross Princess Royal shown by the Blakeley and Mckeon families and in the Shire Horse section, the filly, Ingleside bony Rose, was supreme champion.
The champion Shire stallion, Rebecca Ferguson’s Southern Cross Appollo, developed a real fan club at the show, happy to meet and greet people when his owner rode him through the crowd before stepping out to win the class for Shires under saddle.
Going from the biggest to the smallest, the supreme champion Miniature Pony was Patricia Mackaway’s Grassdale Sleeping Beauty.
Shetlands are always a strong group and the supreme champion was Narelle Hogg’s beautiful stallion, Lentara Maddoxs.
The best ridden Shetland Pony sash went back to Victoria with Lisa Virgona’s stallion, Kilpara Park On Point. The handsome young pinto went on to also win his class in the harness ring.
Like the off-the-track Thoroughbreds, the Standardbred has begun to show it can do many things apart from pulling a sulky as fast as possible around a track, and there are some lovely types making their appearance as show horses.
The winner of the Standardbred colt or stallion, any age, Judy Frisby’s Spare Me Days, was supreme in hand, and Mitch Fox’s Kasbah Kid has got very used to getting sashes for performing under saddle and was awarded the sash for best ridden Standardbred.
There were big classes in the Riding Pony section, where Catherine Gale, Margot Haynes and David Quayle’s Royalwood Enchanting was awarded supreme Riding Pony.
While the Australian Ponies don’t have the big line-ups of the past, with many of the best mares being used to breed Riding Ponies, the ponies at Sydney were beautiful examples of the breed with many of the old studs showing they have kept the breed standard in mind.
Koorana Pony Stud took champion and reserve stallion awards with Koorana Mystery Edition and Koorana Royal Descent, and did the same in the mare section with Koorana Royal Dawn and Royal Vision.
Margaret Stephenson’s Canyon Wisteria was junior champion and the best gelding was Tobermory Pastoral Company’s Koora-Lyn Carnival.
The Champion Ridden Australian Pony was Melynda Eather’s Koora-Lyn Perception.
In the Welsh section, Daniel Harvey and Susan Lyon’s two-year-old Section A Welsh Mountain colt, Eagle Park Versace, won the male championship and was supreme exhibit in the Welsh Section.
In Welsh Section B, the filly, Bells Mountain Paradise shown by Ruth Anderson, was supreme champion. With the Section C and D Welsh becoming popular as mounts and breeding stock for dressage, the winners – Ashley Porter and Scarlett Porter’s Yarrandale Airlee in the Section C and Melinda Floyd’s Section D winner Anakie Tywysog Teigr – attracted a lot of interest.
GALLERY
(Click any image to expand)
ABOVE: All images LORELLE MERCER
1. Reserve champion Riding Pony filly/mare Whitmere Vanity Fair.
2. Rebecca Ferguson’s Shire Southern Cross Appollo.
3. Karen Kolln’s RS Vera Wang, winner of the ridden Riding Pony mare or gelding, n.e 12.2hh.
4. Best Riding Pony gelding Whitmere Saville Row owned by Dianne Godfrey.
5. Supreme Standardbred Judy Frisby’s Spare Me Days.
6. Daniel Harvey and supreme Welsh Eagle Park Versace.
Stories on The Regional’s website are free to read and always will be.
If you enjoyed this article you can show your support by joining our mailing list (either by filling out the form below or sending us a message).
We'd also get very excited if you put a "like" on our Facebook page.
Comments