Man vs Horse success…

Amazing results…congratulations to Marie, Tina and their New Forest ponies!

The New Forest pony has a proven record in many disciplines, but certain riders seek their thrills and challenges outside the show ring! The Man vs Horse race will be on the radar of these riders and quite a few have made the journey up to Wales to participate…Mark Adams for one, who won it in 2019 on his part-bred Woottonheath Herbie.

What is Man vs Horse? An extraordinary and unique 24 mile race across the tough, mountainous landscape of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales – roughly 600 individual runners or relay teams, compete against about 60 horses. Just to highlight the level of this competition, this year Olympic athletes formed 2 relay teams to run that included Cycling Gold Medalist Jason Kenny. Vet checks at the beginning, middle and end of the race monitor heart rate and soundness, so your pony MUST be fit and have the cardio ability and stamina to get up and down the very steep elevation profile of the Welsh mountains.

Marie rode last year on her relatively freshly backed Brookshill Brandy in a time of 5 hours and sought to improve on that this year…and came 12th in a time of 3.27! Her partner Jamie Brown ran the race this year too. I raced my pony Mylor Diamond for the first time and came 8th in a time of 3.05!

Both ponies finished in fine form, with significant and competitive times. Adequate training is crucial…we both started back in February and sometimes trained together, seeking out the hillier side of the New Forest. Preparation is key, as with a runner doing a marathon…so simply hours and hours of training!

Tina Campbell