LIFE Defiance
RIDING HIGH
Kent Farrington grew up without privilege in inner-city Chicago, yet forged his way to the summit of a sport often considered a special reserve of the elite. Robin Barwick caught up with him in the heart of the British establishment, at the Royal Windsor Horse Show...
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Windsor Castle has stood on high ground above the River Thames for more than 1,000 years. Commissioned by William the Conqueror, the castle is a magnificent icon of British royalty and has been home to 39 monarchs. It is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, and to this day it remains the preferred residence of Her Majesty the Queen. The town of Windsor is also notable for being home to Eton College, that bastion of upper-class English boys’ education (since 1440, by the way) that has schooled a succession of British kings and prime ministers. In the expansive grounds to the north of Windsor Castle and across the river from Eton, the Royal Windsor
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Horse Show has been staged annually since 1943. It began as a “Horse and Dog Show” fund-raiser for the war effort, but after a lurcher on the loose borrowed a slice of chicken from King George V’s lunch plate in ’43, dogs were barred from the show. Famous for its broad range of equine events, May’s Royal Windsor Horse Show staged classes in show jumping, dressage, driving, endurance and “showing,” which is an equine beauty pageant and a particular favourite of Queen Elizabeth II, who had over 40 horses entered into the showing classes this year. Now 96 years old and celebrating her peerless 70th year on the throne, the less-mobile Queen is reducing her public appearances, but didn’t miss watching her horses at Royal Windsor. A staple of the UK’s landed gentry, where floral summer dresses, blazers and ties are de rigueur—Royal Windsor might be the last place you would expect to find a rider from inner-city Chicago, especially one who
