We didn’t manage to get Regent to a show last year, he was sold but we bought him back when his new owner suddenly experienced a huge personal challenge. I did regret selling him in the first place but he was supposed to be a filly to be retained (because I ordered a filly 🙂 ) we have no use for a gelding in our breeding programme!  As time has gone by, we have grown very fond of Regent, maybe because we don’t know who his sire is (a very nice Spanish Stallion in Spain somewhere) and we feel sorry for him or is it the excitement of the unknown, or maybe because he’s just so perfect? Who knows but he’s very correct, has lovely paces and an adorable personality, a fine horse.

As he lives out with our other two-year-old gelding Reality, its taken time for his coat to come right for our first show of 2019 and we haven’t had time to do much with Regent because foaling duties took all of my time outside a full-time job during April but we did manage to squeeze in a few very late nights a few days running up to the show. A week prior to the show Regent looked ready for a fluffy coat competition!

All our horses load and travel from a very young age, I never have to worry about this, he was frequently bathed and trained as a yearling to walk, trot and stand in hand and all this stayed with him…

So his début outing was ROYAL WINDSOR, a huge equestrian event, a daunting experience for a baby and to be honest any first-time show can go either way, make no mistake if it had proved too much for him we would have happily put him back on the lorry and come home. Regent took the walk to the ring with eyes on stalks, he kept a little too close to me for reassurance but 20 minutes walking around the pre-ring he soon switched off in the company of a familiar sight – other Appaloosas.

His stride is big, he covers the ground and entering the ring with 13+ other horses we soon began to lap them at a gentle walk!

Separated into young stock and over 3-year-olds, Regent stood quietly in line although a few balloons and pushchairs with umbrellas did make him jump, a sneaky hand of grass sorted this out. His show was straight, calm and professional with a lovely extended trot, we felt great and the Judges comments were very flattering.

Into the Championship and what an absolute star, we came Reserve to an extremely well-known Multi Champion called Desired Edition, certainly an award that holds status.

Despite a blow out on the lorry and despite a two-hour journey home taking five hours due to the M4 closing two lanes, our Debut Outing with Redheart Regent was certainly a day to go down in history at Redheart Appaloosas.