Shropshire girl celebrates pony contest success
[gallery] Many little girls dream of owning a pony but 10-year-old Kinvara Garner is taking that dream a step further.
For Kinvara is making a name for herself in two very different disciplines, show pony riding and Shetland pony racing.
Earlier this month the pupil at Moreton First School, near Oswestry, celebrated success at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, winning the Show Hunter Pony Championships on her pony Woodview Cadenza.
The win qualifies the talented youngster for the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead in July.
Kinvara, who lives in Worthenbury, near Whitchurch, also competed in the Novice Show Pony – in which she came second – and the Shetland Grand National.
The former requires her to ride with the utmost style while the latter has her racing round a miniature Grand National court, complete with jumps.
It means Kinvara not only has her show pony, but also a Shetland pony to ride and look after.
Parents, Bridget and Sebastian Garner, said they were extremely proud of their talented daughter.
Mrs Garner said: "She is competing against professionals while we are amateur and so has to give 110 per cent all the time.
"There is such a lot of work in show ponies and Kinvara does a lot of the work herself including all the riding.
"She had her first pony when she was two years old and also won her first competition when she was two."
Mr Garner, who is the head steward at Royal Windsor, said the two disciplines of show pony riding and Shetland pony racing were completely different.
"Royal Windsor week was incredibly busy for Kinvara.
"At one point she competed in the Shetland pony racing, jumped off and had to change from her riding silks straight into her show jacket and then put Woodview Cadenza through his paces."
Staff at Moreton First said that everyone at the school was watching Kinvara's progress in the pony world with interest.
