Feature
The Royal Windsor Horse Show Polo Pony Class
Ponies on Parade Caroline Stern takes a look at The Royal Windsor Horse Show Polo Pony Class Past, Present & Future
T
he Royal Windsor Horse Show is the UK’s largest equestrian event and this year played host to one of the main celebrations of HM The Queen’s 90th birthday. Held in midMay, the RWHS is unique in being the only annual horse event to showcase polo ponies and their riders alongside competitors from the more common horse-show disciplines. Caroline Stern talks to Lord Patrick Beresford and Antony Fanshawe about the event and its history, as well as catching up with this year’s winners.
How it all began
The Show itself began life as the Windsor Horse & Dog Show in 1943, founded by Count Robert Orssich and Geoffrey Cross, to raise funds for the war effort. The then Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret themselves competed in the show in its early years and reportedly won the inaugural carriage driving class. A new class for polo ponies was added in 1950, as documented in Equiworld’s ‘A Brief History of the Royal Windsor Horse Show.’ Held within the private grounds of Windsor Castle, the Queen herself has entered several polo ponies in the class as has the Prince of Wales. In the early days, Lord Patrick Beresford and Peter Palumbo were considered the principal contenders, with other chief competitors generally Guards Club members. However, other competitors notably included Claire Tomlinson from Cirencester, other members of the Lucas family from Woolmers Park in Hertfordshire and Cowdray Park’s Lila Pearson. At its peak, the RWHS Polo Pony Class brought many players of varying nationalities, royalty, patrons and professional players, 46
Polo Times, July 2016
1988 – Mrs Nicholas Heslett, wife of the then Chairman of the RWHS – presenting the Sir John Aird Trophy for Supreme Champion to Lord Patrick Beresford on Amberjack, with his nephew Charles Beresford in the background on Reserve Champion Amberhill, full sister to Amberjack.
into the show ring with their best ponies. In 1979, the Lightweight class alone boasted 25 entries, including the Prince of Wales, showing his own eight-year-old gelding, Pan’s Folly. Lord Patrick’s rival Peter Palumbo fielded five entries, whilst Tony Devich brought three. The Sultan of Pahang had four entered, all trained and shown by Patrick himself. The Heavyweight class attracted 16 entries that year, with the Sultan of Pahang pitting another four Beresford-trained ponies against Harold Bamberg’s five, all judged by the late Major Ronald Ferguson. By 1990, class entries had dropped to 10 Lightweight and nine Heavyweight ponies. Lord Patrick rode his own mare Salerosa to
victory in the Lightweight class, beating his own 1989 winner Mariposa, who was also in the ring. He also claimed both first and second prizes in the Heavyweight class with Piera and Amberjack, eclipsing the Princeof Wales’ Coqueta and Serene, though the Prince of Wales himself was not riding his entrants. However, Prince Charles triumphed in 1991, taking the Lightweight class with a tenyear-old mare called Paloma. Prince Charles also took the Heavyweight and Supreme Champion awards with a 14-year-old bay mare called Serene. Yet, by the late 1990s, entries had dropped to an average of seven ponies, spread across the two classes and entry levels were similar in 2016. www.polotimes.co.uk