British Hanoverian Annual Show & Presentation Evening Celebrates New Young Horse Classes and Outstanding British Breeding
The British Hanoverian Horse Society’s Annual Show and Presentation Evening was a resounding success, marking an exciting milestone with the introduction of the new Young Horse Classes for 2025.
For the very first time, the show featured a combined Young Horse Class and Mare Performance Test, attracting an exceptional line-up of horses that impressed both judges and spectators.
Our distinguished judging panel for the show — Sara-Jane Lanning, Matt Hicks and Maren Schlender — praised the overall standard, remarking on the strength, quality and potential of the horses presented across all age groups.
Young Horse Class Winners
4-Year-Old Champion – D’Avril (D’Avie x Royal Hit x Cardinar)
Owner/Breeder: Dan Henson
Rider: William Roberts
The judges were very impressed with the quality of D’Avril’s paces, her balance and suppleness. She showed excellent adjustability and a great deal of potential for the future.
It was a particularly memorable event for breeder and owner Dan Henson, who enjoyed an “absolutely fantastic show.”
Dan said,“an absolute highlight of my year and breeding life so far. D’Avril, my fantastic homebred mare by D’Avie out of Retro-Hit, was absolutely incredible. So proud — we came home with Best 4-Year-Old Test, Best 4-Year-Old, Premium Mare Performance Test, 1A Award, and Reserve Champion Mare… a day I will never forget. Not forgetting Retro Hit, the best mare in the world, for becoming Reserve Champion in the ’10 year and older’ class and winning the Mare Family class. I haven’t beamed so much for a long time… I can’t thank everyone enough.”
5-Year-Old Champion – GF Devoto (D’Egalite x Soliman de Hus x Likoto xx)
Breeder: Sandy Senior
Owner/Rider: Jess Thompson
GF Devoto was described as an “exciting prospect for the future” by the judges, who praised his expressive paces, natural balance, and the lovely harmony he showed with his rider. He was also the Highest Placed Ridden Gelding at the show.
6-Year-Old Champion – Catherston Zahara (Zack x Breitling W x Laurentianer)
Breeder/Owner/Rider: Charlotte Dicker
Catherston Zahara impressed the judges with her natural self-carriage, rhythm, and high-quality paces. Her adjustability and composure were exceptional, earning her both the Mare Champion title and the overall Supreme Champion of the show.
Foal Championship Highlights
The foal classes provided an exhilarating finale to the event. The beautiful Newton Quintessential emerged as the star of the day.
From a particularly strong class of 11 filly foals, she was crowned Champion Filly before returning for the overall championship, where she claimed the title of Supreme Champion Foal.
Newton Quintessential impressed with her calm and confident manner, demonstrating outstanding movement and temperament from start to finish.
A Celebration of British Breeding
The Society extends heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended and supported the event. It was wonderful to see so many high-quality, British-bred horses showcased throughout the day.
It was lovely to see so many outstanding young horses this year, the standard continues to rise, and we couldn’t be prouder of the breeders, owners and riders representing British Hanoverians.
