A Visit To The One Hundred And Sixth Exford Show

I found the objects of my desire in the pony rings in the lee of a hedge. There were two rings and they were divided into the ridden and in-hand classes. Not only that, but there was obviously other distractions namely that the ponies were distinguished by being bred on the moor or were from up-country i.e. bred anywhere else.

Naturally this being the Exmoor Pony Society Breed Show it was only to be expected that the breed would be represented in depth and I was not disappointed since there was over 120 entries. Some of the classes were extremely well filled and judging took considerable time and expertise on behalf of the judge the admirable Mrs McElligott who seemed to have a kind word for all the exhibitors. A very dedicated lady, she worked extremely hard all day and expressed her delight at seeing so many very nice ponies.

Supreme Champion 'Ice Cream'.

The in-hand star of the show was unquestionably Ice Cream, a 6 year old stallion owned by Mrs R Wallace and shown by her farm manager Mr Derek Sparkes. Ice cream won the Supreme and the Moorland Championship and it was soon obvious that nothing was going to lower his colours on this occasion. He exuded star quality and had already been a prolific winner of in-hand classes at shows in the Exmoor area. He stands "in-ground" at Ashwick Farm, home of the famous Anchor herd.

'Chalkywood Merlin' - winner of the Olympia Qualifier.

Another star was Chalkywood Merlin - this time under saddle. A 7 year old, the pony is owned by Mrs Anne Nicholls and won the qualifier for the National Pony Society/Baileys Horse Feeds Mountain and Moorland Ridden Pony of the Year at Olympia, and will no doubt represent his breed at that show in late December. He was well ridden by Mrs Nicholl s daughter Hannah and earlier in the year he had represented the Exmoor breed at Essen Equitana in Germany.