Next month’s Royal Windsor Horse Show (1-5 May) has received more than 1,700 entries – including 26 from His Majesty the King – across 130 classes. .
Showing beings on Thursday 2 May with classes taking place in all four arenas across the showground. The Senior In Hand Championship in the Adelaide Arena will be the first of 30 different championships to take place over the four days of showing action. Elsewhere on Thursday, The RoR Tattersalls Thoroughbred Ridden Show Horse Championship supported by Royal Windsor Racecourse will be another highlight of the day, with the 2023 winners, Minella Rebellion and Katie Dashwood, returning with the hopes of repeating their success.
The LeMieux Hunter Championship, will take place on Friday morning. The class, which has been dominated in recent years by Cheshire showman Robert Walker, was won last year by his groom Aimee Stunt riding MHS Morning Master. This year, Robert will be looking to reclaim the title with five entries across the Hunter classes including MHS Morning Master.
Later in the day, last year’s Count Robert Orssich Hack Champion winners, Danielle Heath and Forgeland Hyde Park, will be hoping to make it three in a row, having won the title consecutively in 2022 and 2023. Another combination who will be looking to defend their title on Friday are Janay Atherden and Red Rock III, who were triumphant last year in the Martin Collins Enterprises Cob Championship.
Saturday sees the Mountain & Moorland breeds take the spotlight, with 19 classes and four championships taking place over the course of the day. The final championship of the day, the BSPS Mountain & Moorland Ridden Championship sponsored by New Horizon Plastics, will take centre stage in the Castle Arena.
Sunday showing enthusiasts will be treated to the Part Bred and Anglo Arabs as well as Pure Bred Arab classes. The final day will also see the final ‘Pretty Polly’ classes take place, celebrating home-produced horses and ponies.
“We are thrilled to have such an incredible number of Showing entries for this year’s Royal Windsor Horse Show,” said Simon Brooks-Ward, Show Director. “Showing is truly at the heart of this Show, and we cannot wait to see the wonderful variety of horses and ponies who will be competing – it is always quite a spectacle.”
National showjumping
Nicole Lockhead Anderson and Quanthargos, winners of the The Walwyn Novice Jumping Championship sponsored by Martin Collins Enterprises. Credit: Royal Windsor Horse Show/Peter Nixon
Alongside the Five-star Show Jumping, Windsor also hosts national showjumping classes. The action commences in the Castle Arena on Thursday morning with the Redpost Equestrian Senior Foxhunter which will see over 100 horse and rider combinations taking part. The Billy Stud will be putting forward 10 horses ridden by five different riders, including Pippa Funnell with Billy Snowdonia and Billy Caravaggio. Another notable name to contest the class is Sophie Gracida riding Ortego, owned by her husband Ben Maher.
Next in the Castle Arena is The LeMieux National 1.40m Open Jumping Competition. Royal Windsor Horse Show Ambassador Joseph Stockdale will be one to watch as he brings the eight-year-old Laska JDV owned by Christian Matthews, as will talented young rider Nicole Lockhead Anderson riding Chilli. Adding international interest to the action will be France’s Dan Delsart, who is based in Leicestershire.
The Defender Under-25 Jumping Competition on Sunday morning will welcome Show Ambassador Joseph Stockdale with Millfield Counterfeit, fresh from campaigning at the CSI5* Saut Hermès show in Paris. In addition, the field will include multiple junior championship medalists including Noora Von Bulow, part of the British team that won bronze in the FEI Junior European Championships last year.
“Royal Windsor Horse Show is once again delighted to be hosting a number of national showjumping classes,” added Mr Brooks-Ward. “Providing riders, both amateur and professional, the chance to ride at this level of show is highly important, and we hope that they can gain the skills required from competing in this type of environment that allows them to keep progressing their equestrian careers in the future.”
