‘He took us past Big Ben’: family’s driving pony off to HOYS and London International under-saddle

A family’s much-loved driving pony has flourished in his new career under-saddle, qualifying for both the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) and London International Horse Show (LIHS) during his first season.

Staffordshire-based Eve Meer’s traditional stallion Puzzel, who stands at 14hh, qualified for the traditional, native and cob pony of the year final at HOYS at Denbigh and Flint County last month with his rider, Eve’s friend and neighbour Ellena Thomas.

“It was Ellena who said he was far too good not to be doing the ridden job,” says Eve, who bought Puzzel solely for driving.

Puzzel was bought out of a field in Wales. He’d done very little and Eve and her family introduced him to being driven.

“He is a true Gypsy driving cob; he’d usually drive between seven and eight miles per day, regularly taking us to the pub on a Thursday night for dinner,” Eve says. “We also took him on the London Drive where we drove around the city with 130 other outfits. He was perfect and didn’t bat an eyelid, driving us down Oxford Street, and past Buckingham Palace and Big Ben.”

Puzzel, who has also covered a handful of mares, had done very little ridden work prior to eight months ago, as Eve explains: “He couldn’t even canter earlier this year. Ellena is just up the road from us and she regularly came to ride him. They’ve had some big wins together, though we can’t believe he’s going to both major finals in his first year.

“We’re just a family who aren’t majorly competitive,” Eve adds. “Puzzel is our family driving cob, our pet really. I hope this proves that it is achievable to anyone. He’s a true Gypsy cob who has made our dreams in the show ring come true.”

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news throughout the National Dressage Championships, Blenheim Horse Trials, Horse of the Year Show and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

You might also like to read: