The Royal Windsor Horse Show proved to be a very happy experience for Dujardin, Hester and fellow British rider Michael Eilberg.

They achieved a  one, two, three in the Grand Prix Freestyle  much to the delight of a full house looking on.

Charlotte Dujardin and the stallion Uthopia comfortably topped the leaderboard with an energetic freestyle (83.675%). The Olympic Gold Medallist made full use of Uthopia’s powerful extended trot and passage and produced immaculate passage to piaffe transitions and bold riding to a Tom Hunt compilation of music from ‘How To Train The Dragon’. The pair left the arena to huge applause from the 4,000 strong crowd.

Eilberg and Jon and Julie Deverill’s grey mare Half Moon Delphi (79.4%) produced a personal best score with a foot-tapping freestyle to ‘Shake it like Shakira’, making best use of her huge passage and flying changes.

Hester and the huge Nip Tuck (75.725%) took third place with a well managed freestyle – the same one he used at this venue in 2009 at the European Championships – to a compilation of Tom Jones music.

Visitors to the Royal Windsor Horse Show (14-18 May 2014) were treated to a wealth of Pony Club activities, including mounted games and tetrathlon.  

Daily sessions of the DAKS International Mounted Games proved very popular with the crowds who were entertained by teams from England, Wales, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.  England took an early lead, winning the first two sessions, but Wales pulled out all the stops to win the third event and close the gap on England who were leading by just three points going into the penultimate session. Once again Wales were victorious resulting in them taking overall lead with a total of 121 points heading into the final. England were just one point behind on 120 points and the Republic of Ireland were lying in third position with 79 points.

Sunday saw a closely fought final, with England and Wales trying especially hard to benefit from the double points on offer. The teams played seven games including ‘Spell DAKS’ and the ever popular ‘Milk Race’ which requires teams to dress in cow costumes. Eventually the Welsh team, trained by Lisa Pearson, triumphed to victory with England taking second place and the Republic of Ireland third.  Just a few points separated Scotland and Northern Ireland who came fourth and fifth respectively.

The Welsh team, comprising of Lilli Antcliff (Banwen & District), Frankie Lee (Berwyn & Dee), Grace Dalton (Llangeinor), Victoria Dakin (Sir Watkin Williams Wynn), Gwen Williams (Neath) and George Knight Eddins (Monmouthshire) were delighted to receive their prizes from HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. Wales also won the Tack and Turnout Trophy, awarded for a high standard of turnout, exceptional behaviour and attitude and for demonstrating excellent stable management throughout the week. Stable management was judged daily by officials from The Pony Club and celebrity guests including dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin.

For the first time in its history, the DAKS Salver Award was presented to an individual from Northern Ireland. Mickey McCann was thrilled to receive this special accolade from Mr Paul Dimond, Deputy Chairman of DAKS, in recognition of over twenty years dedicated commitment to the activities and values of The Pony Club which has inspired a remarkable succession of Iveagh Branch and Northern Irish success in National Championships both in Ireland and the UK.

Scotland retained their title in the Tetrathlon competition, held over Saturday and Sunday. The team, comprising of Anna MacFadyen (Moray and Nairn), Lewis Khan (Bennachie) and Daniel Woods (East Stirlingshire) scored 13,884 points in total, just ahead of the Wales and Borders team who took second place and Southern England who came third. Jack Stephens (Brecon and Talybont) took first place in the individual competition; Lewis Khan (Bennachie) and Josh Raw from (Zetland Hunt) were second and third.