A last minute team effort paid off for west Wales based Rose Sinclair James and her ladies hunter, Cloneyhea Clancy.

Rose and Clancy secured their RIHS ladies hunter ticket at the Wiltshire Spring Show despite spending over an hour sat on the M4’s hard shoulder, waiting for recovery. 

Rose and her mother Kay were forced to take the unscheduled break on the way to the show after a blowout. 

“After the blow out, a great big STOP sign came on in the lorry with a lit up image of a battery as the alternator was failing. So stress levels were pretty high,” said Kay. 

To add to the stress levels, they had left home intending to plait Clancy once they got to the show. Luckily, Rose had alerted her friend, Jimmy Hooker who was already at the show. 

Rose said: “Jimmy was waiting for us when we arrived armed with needle and thread”. Jimmy’s willingness to plait left Kay and Rose able to rush to get Clancy ring ready. “It was a huge team effort getting him in on time so I’m thrilled to have got our ticket as a result,” said Rose.

Kay said: “I will never leave in plenty of time to plait when we get there again. Needless to say, working in was a quick trot to the ring!”

Luckily, Rose and Clancy are an established duo, with Clancy winning an enviable two ladies horse qualifiers for HOYS last season. He won the first at Stoneleigh under Faye Ludlow as Rose was recovering from two broken elbows, and the second with Rose after her return to the ring at the BSPS Summer championships. They went on to be 6th at the final, much to Rose’s delight. 

Look out for the full report in the upcoming Showing World.