Justine Armstrong-Small

The showing producer on her regular county show blunder, a dreamy middleweight and how she hates running late on competition day

- Alex Robinson

JUSTINE is a leading show horse producer based in Essex. She has won at all the major county shows, as well as the Royal International and Horse of the Year Show (HOYS). She was supreme at HOYS in 2003 with the working hunter Zin Zan.

WHEN I was starting out, I wish I’d realised that showing is about having the right horse to produce. I’ve always tried to do the best I possibly can with horses I have bought or been sent. My introduction to county showing was with an ex-showjumper who I showed as a working hunter. He always jumped clear but would lose marks in the other sections. You can’t turn a horse into a mover or improve its conformation. You have to start with the right raw product.

These days, I don’t jump the horses at home as much. I used to practise on a more regular basis and would possibly overjump them before a show. I was helped a lot by Mary Broome when I was younger and she was all about the flatwork; this is what makes a worker. I now spend lots of time getting the horses supple and rideable; the jumping will follow.