Banburyshire rider takes Horse of the Year title with former racehorse
Banburyshire rider and farrier Loti Innes-Parry took the HOYS Racehorse to Riding Horse championship today with her beloved bay gelding.
Loti and her ex-racehorse, As I See It, won the SEIB Insurance Brokers Racehorse to Riding Horse championship at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) held at the Birmingham NEC today (Wednesday, October 8).
The hotly contested championship saw 14 horses forward, having qualified for this prestigious occasion at shows all over Britain throughout the year. The championship was judged by Lucinda Sims and Robert Walker.
Amateur rider and farrier Loti and As I See It were up against professional show producers in the ring at the NEC.
Loti said: “It’s amazing to have won this, he went brilliantly today and it’s great to see that everything we’ve been doing at home has paid off. We qualified for this championship last year but were unplaced.”
Before getting As I See It four years ago Loti had never competed in showing.
She said: “As I See It came from Sally Taylor’s rehabilitation yard. I was looking for a horse but hadn’t thought about showing. I went for a lesson with show producer Jo Bates and she said she was sure he had something there for the show ring, so we went for it and every year he has got better and better!
"He's now lived at Jo’s yard near Banbury for the last year and she has helped us so much”.
During his days on the racecourse As I See It was in training with Harry Fry. He won over fences and hurdles several times.
Jo Bates said: “We’ve had some great successes in this class. As I See It is by the same sire, Kings Theatre, as the 2021 winner from our yard, Katie Dashwood’s Minella Rebellion.”
Diane Wilson’s striking grey, Scots Gold took runner-up spot in the championship, ridden by Jackie Wilson from Dumfries. In third was Festive Fare ridden by Rebecca Court and owned by Diana Taylor.
SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse organsier, Nicolina Mackenzie of the Absolutely Genuine Company said: "We set this series up two decades ago to help give these beautiful ex-racehorses the chance at a second career. We could never have believed at the time how successful and popular the class would become.”