An amateur rider from Gloucester, Ellie Markey has qualified for the prestigious Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in Birmingham this October.
Ellie and bay gelding, Fosters Road, owned by M R Channon, attended the SEIB Insurance Brokers Search for a Star qualifier on the 6th August at Arena UK in Lincolnshire. They will now go on to compete under the bright lights of the HOYS Arena at the NEC in Birmingham in early October.
The pair competed in and won the Riding Horse Hack class under top judges Richard Ramsay and Jordan Cook to earn their HOYS qualification.
Ellie said: “This is amazing to have a childhood dream come true! I’ve always been trying to qualify for HOYS but it’s never been a realistic goal. Foz is a thoroughbred ex-racehorse, he’s sixteen-years-old now and has always had his issues. I’ve had him for nine years now and got him after he’d come out of training and been on box-rest for injuries. Foz won several races back in the day and we’ve competed in showing and dressage since I’ve had him. I work as a dressage groom and we’ve competed up to medium level. In the show ring we won the Hickstead Retraining of Racehorses flat class and we’ve also done Search for a Star several times. Our best result before this was being placed in 2022.”
SEIB Search for a Star organiser, Nicolina MacKenzie said: “Search for a Star is all about the journey and learning and improving over time. Our team of judges and stewards are all invested in providing support and encouragement to help competitors and their horses and ponies perform to the best level they can.”