Isle of Man equestrian Anna Higgins and her six-year-old gelding Millmount Maestro have qualified for the prestigious Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in Birmingham this October.
Together, the pair have recently returned from competing in the BSJA Show at the Aintree International Equestrian Centre in Merseyside.
The duo were in fine form at the event, jumping consistent double clears to be placed in the top four.
Anna and Millmount – also known as Rory - then travelled to Greenlands Equestrian Centre in Carlisle, Cumbria for the SEIB Search for a Star qualifier.
The duo competed in and won both the working horse class and then went on to take top spot in the show hunter class as well to earn their HOYS qualification.
Speaking afterwards, Anna said: ‘He’s a great traveller, it takes about four hours on the ferry to get over but he just sleeps and eats his haynet as he goes. I’m so excited that now our next trip over will be for HOYS!
‘On the Isle of Man our horses need to be good allrounders as there aren’t too many specialist shows. We both really enjoy showing and jumping.
‘We travelled over competed at Aintree yesterday and here today, he’s qualified for the London Horse Show too in the working hunters so it’s proving to be an exciting season!’
Higgins works for Horse and Rider tack and feed shop in Douglas. Millmount Maestro recently turned six and has been owned by Anna for one year.
The pair have also qualified for the London International Horse show in the working hunter class. This due to take place in December.
As Search for a Star competitors are only able to compete in one of the HOYS championship classes, she made the decision that she and Millmount Maestro will go forward to the Working Horse Championship.
SEIB Search for a Star organiser, Nicolina MacKenzie said: ‘What a truly wonderful day we had in Cumbria. The unique spirit of SEIB Search for a Star and SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse was in full flow.
‘Thank you to all our fabulous competitors who joined in, supported and celebrated the winners and each other.’
SEIB Search for a Star first took place back in 1996 and over the years has provided thousands of opportunities for amateur riders to compete at HOYS.
Each of the SEIB Search for a Star qualifying shows offers opportunities for a full range of show horses to earn a place at the series championships at Horse of the Year Show and Your Horse Live.