‘It’s rare to find them like him nowadays’: versatile horse continues winning streak at Windsor

A grandson of the super-sire Ricardo Z reaffirmed his versatility by winning The Trembath Family Royal Windsor small hunter class at the 2024 Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Tidy Town (Guinness) and his jockey Alice Homer will return to the showground on Sunday to compete in the intermediate working hunter pony class.

“So far this season he’s done four shows and won them all,” said Alice, 22, who is due to finish her degree in geography at Bristol University next week. “He’s qualified for Hickstead as an intermediate worker, a small hunter and as an intermediate show hunter type.”

Alice also placed in all three of those classes at Horse of the Year show (HOYS) in 2023 with Guinness, having won five qualifiers altogether over the summer show season.

“For the last three years I’ve come back from university to compete at the weekends,” said Alice. “I’m very lucky to have a great team back at home who have enabled me to continue my studies while showing.”

Guinness, an eight-year-old dark bay gelding, was found in Ireland when Alice’s grandfather, David Tatlow, was searching for an event horse for the McKie family.

“He was only a foal at the time when we first spotted him,” said Alice’s mother, Loraine, open hunter champion earlier in the morning aboard Bloomfield President, whom Alice had won the open lightweights with. “While we were driving around Ireland looking at horses, we noticed that all of the towns we passed through had ‘Tidy Town’ awards under their name plaques, hence why we called him Tidy Town.”

Guinness had been intended for the event field, but he didn’t grow big enough, as Loraine explained: “So he was sent back for us to sell on, but he didn’t go anywhere. Alice took him over and started off by hunting him with the Warwickshire. He’s the most perfect boy; he’s a fun show horse who has more than one job, and it’s rare to find them like him nowadays.”

Alice achieved a hat-trick on day two at Royal Windsor; as well at Royal Windsor small hunter and lightweight hunter titles, she also picked up the heavyweight hunter accolade riding Bloomfield Distinction.

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