Kent County Show Sunday
Kent County Show Sunday
Due to a last minute change of plan I decided to head back down to Kent County Show on the Sunday. The glorious sunshine meant it was absolutely packed and the car parks were very full. Still everything flowed quite well and there was minimal queuing-quite a feat given the number of people there. As I had visited on Friday I made a beeline for the Dogs Trust stand to give Margaux a quick dip before the long walk over to the Equine arenas. Dogs Trust were doing a fantastic job in the heat and deserve a round of applause for providing somewhere cool and calm for the dogs in the heat.
Ridden Shires were in the ring so we stopped and had a little watch of these. Strangely fascinated by the peculiar hair cut there were sporting. A shaved tail with some wispy bits of hair- very bizarre and I’m not sure I liked it. Still their feathers fluttered as they trotted around and they have such kind faces. Over we popped to the rings over the back of the showground where the babies where on show. The classes were very small this year, strangely small. I saw more than one class with just one competitor which is really sad and doesn’t make for interesting watching. The baby shire horses seemed to sense this and free styled it. Waving their feet around and generally being a total handful they were very entertaining.
Kent County Show: Hunt Relay
Back to the main arena where it was time for the hunt relay. Always a favourite of mine, watching them charge up and down determined to be in the lead. Fiercely competitive some of their antic drew some negative comments from the crowd around me and I couldn’t help but agree at times. Still there was a lot of wonderful riding and some generous praise heaped upon the horses post event. All of them tried their hearts out in the heat but the Ashford Valley and Tickham were triumphant.
We had a yummy lunch from the pulled pork van, heaps of meat and a good helping of fries for a good price- another welcome surprise. Slightly spoilt by the £2.50 being charged for a bottle of water by another vendor. I mean I know you need to make money but that’s extortionate. It was better values to have a Pimms, lesson there I think.
Kent County Show: The ROR
Finally, back over to the Equine ring to watch the ROR Class. For those that aren’t familiar with this class let me explain. The class is made up of horses that have raced at some point in time. There is no minimum number of races they have to have won or run in. Once these horse are finished on the racetrack it’s time for them to find a new career. The ROR class has meant they’ve become more high profile and able to compete in a class designed just for them. Many of these horses need intensive re-schooling and it’s also a testament to their riders that they can go quietly around in big group in a busy show ground.
Those of you that follow the blog will have seen I have a relationship with Linda and Karen Jewell. So it was nice to see Karen competing with an ex-racer from their yard. Owned by Peter Oppenheimer, Kingscombe ran nearly 40 times and won a fair number of them He has now been retired and is starting on his new career path. He behaved beautifully if a little sleepy and gave the judge a lovely smooth ride. He was pulled in 6th and its just lovely to see him relaxed and doing well.
That concludes the final day of the Kent County Show, lots of sun, lots of fun and heaps to see and do. I’ll just make sure to pack myself some drinks to take with me next time.
