Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2006/January 2007 | Page 53

Sponsored by Froghill and Brickfields - EQUESTRIAN

Poppy made it to
top national show
Horse-mad teen set aside an
earlier disappointment to take her
place in the national arena.
An Island teenager who’s been
riding since she was just two years
old finally achieved her dream
of competing in the Horse of the
Year Show at Birmingham NEC in
October.
Poppy Green, 15, and her latest
pony Salty’s Top Babe came in at a
very respectable fifth place in the
Newcomers Class for juniors aged
under 16.
The experience of competing at
national level and achieving a good
placing was especially exciting
for Poppy because of the huge
disappointment she suffered five
years ago.
That was when she first qualified
for the horse world’s premier show
at the age of just 10 – but ended up
not being able to compete because
her horse went lame just before
the event.
“She was devastated at the time,
so finally going through to Horse
of the Year this year has been a big
thrill for her” said her mum, Nikki.
Poppy, who has been riding
competitively since the age of
seven, competed last year in
Ireland for the English 138 team
and spends most of her spare time
with horses.
Because she suffers from dyslexia,
she doesn’t attend school, but
has home tutoring for her GCSEs
– which frees her to ride each of
the family’s five horses every day
and to have weekly riding skills
training
with
Newport-based
instructor Robert Booth .
“This is where her real talent
is,” says Nikki. “She is totally
dedicated and wants to go into
working with horses full-time
when she’s finished her exams”.
Of course, taking part in the
competition
circuit
–
with
mainland events 3-4 times a
month - is an expensive business
and Poppy has been fortunate

to
have
sponsorship
from
Dominic Chappell of waterfont
development company Island
Harbour. She is also thankful to
Andy and Wendy Turney of dairy
farmers Tapnell and Aston, near
her home at Catnall, Freshwater,
who allow her to ride in their
fields &F