of Sonny Hillier & Stapleford Lady Rose

 My first year of competition with my new horse Stapleford Lady Rose.

 I bought her from Gary Haffended in Kent in August 2005 and broke her in over the following winter she was rather challenging to break but the results were more than worth it. Our first outing of the year was a training day with Georgina Frith at the South of England show ground which she coped with really well. We then took a trip in April to the Unicorn Equestrian Centre in Gloucestershire for the BHDTA young drivers tranining clinic which was staged over 3 days, myself and 'Tilly' as I call her at home trained with Karen Bassett and after an initial bucking session and Karen describing her as an unexploded bomb we made real progress and everyone was suprised just how far we got by the end of the clinic! Our first competitive outing was at Ashfields Carriage Driving Centre near Stanstead where we won the novice horse class by a good margin. We have also competed at Borde Hill 2 day event near Haywards Heath where we won the marathon section and were placed second overall. Also we took part in 2 one day events organised by Brockham Harness Club in Surrey in the first event we were second in the novice class and in the second event we won the novice class and also won the championship of all classes which was a real achievement this was obtained mainly with the help of our storming marathon round Tilly has no fear and really goes for it in the marathon obstacles she is a real pleasure to drive. We have also done a lot of tranining this year with top class drivers such as Anna Grayston, Georgina Frith and Karen Bassett to all of whom I am extramly gratefull for their help and support! Our last event of the season was the young drivers National Champs at Escrick Park in York where tilly did her first full 3 section marathon and also we drove the same dressage test used at the world championship which was a real challenge for the both of us.

  Tilly is now turned away in the field untill the new year when she will come in and have some ridden training working towards club events over the summer with possibly a couple of national events and I aim to compete in national novice classes in 2008. Since buying tilly I have become a complete Hackney convert and am keen to promote the breed in driving trials, I also beleive that Tilly is currently the only Stapleford hackney on the HDT circuit