'The Yorkshire is a big ask for a young horse'

Katie Duxbury on her judging appointment at the 2023 Great Yorkshire

- Alex Robinson

IT was an honour to judge the novice hunter classes at the Great Yorkshire with my co-judge, Margaret Hopkins.

This was my first time judging at Harrogate and the novice classes really are exciting and special; these horses are the future and you hope that the winners from both the lightweight and middleweight/heavyweight classes will go on to do great things during their careers.

I judged conformation during the lightweights and our winner (Say No More) was a classy, true lightweight who never faltered or put a foot wrong. However, we were disappointed that out of more than 25 catalogued entries, fewer than half were presented for judging.

It would seem that as the entries close so early in the year, competitors are entering their horses and making decisions later on, which is surprising given the cost of a class. But, the show is still one of the busiest in the calendar, and the number of spectators at the ringside proves that people are still keen to get out and about to proper county shows.