Ronnie Lee Jones: ‘Young stars of the future have hard lessons to learn’

Successful and well-respected showjumping rider, producer and trainer, Ronnie Lee Jones, shares his thoughts on unclaimed HOYS tickets and producing young horses

Hickstead has become the place to be in Britain to produce horses and it’s only going to get better. The venue has just started on groundwork for new permanent stables and it is going to be some set-up. They manage to strike the right balance between keeping the showground traditional and keeping up with the rest of Europe.

Organisers did a great job coping with weather conditions during their recent All England September Tour and the ground was looked after exceptionally well. Start times were moved in response to the forecast and when the classes had to be relocated to the all-weather arena on the final day, they opened the ring up and it still felt like a championship atmosphere.

A lot of thought went into it all and everyone I spoke to was very happy.

I took some green young horses there and they learnt so much during their two weeks of jumping on undulating ground and facing good courses. Even just riding round, taking in the Hickstead environment, teaches them manners both in and out of the ring.

It was great preparation for this week’s FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championships in Lanaken to have the young horse championships at Hickstead followed by another two weeks of competition.

I have a five-year-old stallion who is going to Lanaken and, after jumping the young horse qualifiers, we came back to jump the five-year-old classes on week one of the Hickstead tour, followed by some 1.20m classes on a surface the second week. It was like fitting in six weeks of really good foundation education in a much shorter space of time.

I’ve jumped him at every Hickstead championship this year, then he goes home, goes in the field, covers a couple of mares and goes hacking. He goes round like a horse two years older from the education he’s had there.

The right direction

This year there have been a lot of unclaimed Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) tickets in the 128cm qualifiers and British Showjumping (BS) have moved in the right direction by deciding to give them to the kids who have just missed out on a place.

At most of the shows, at least two tickets have been left unclaimed because you have to jump the first round clear in order to qualify, ruling out those who have had a pole or picked up time faults.

I don’t think this is an issue with course-building. The kids do need to learn to ride at a championship canter, step up and jump trickier distances, and learn to ride by their eye. If we’re producing riders for the future, they are going to have hard lessons to learn.

But if they’re capable of jumping two winter clears to qualify for second rounds, then some minor faults shouldn’t rule them out of going to HOYS. We’re not talking about handing out tickets to kids that have fallen off or had four or five fences down, it’s those who have been consistent but unlucky and it’s good that we’re rewarding consistency.

The JA ponies aren’t getting any younger and there aren’t a lot of younger ponies coming through, so it’s important that some of those who have had an unfortunate fault don’t miss their chance to gain experience in a championship atmosphere.

Sometimes we see a lot of the same riders claiming the tickets and, while you do have families with resources, it’s not a closed shop. There are also kids from working class families competing at a good level. The special thing about showjumping is that it is inclusive. I am an example of it – I come from a travelling background and grew up on a council estate – but if you have a passion you can achieve your ambitions.

HOYS is every kid’s dream. The parents and children put a lot into it, so it’s nice when they get something back. I hope it’s a policy BS keeps in going forward.

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