There were many happy returns as a pony bred in Pembrokeshire was named reserve champion at the 2010 Sports Pony Studbook Young Pony Dressage Championships.

DeLaRoche Birthday Girl was the four-year-old winner at the championships held at Vale View Equestrian Centre, Nottinghamshire on Sunday October 31st, and the pony, bred by Lucy Sheldrake at the DeLaRoche stud, Simpson Cross, also went on to be the reserve champion for all ages.

Lucy said: “Birthday Girl, so named because she was born on the morning of my son James’ 6th birthday, was one of our very first sports pony foals. I am absolutely thrilled with this fantastic result so relatively early in our sports pony breeding programme.

“Birthday Girl’s natural dressage ability is no great surprise as her sire is the gold medal winning FEI dressage pony stallion Bernwode Brokat. Her dam was a very small athletic thoroughbred mare by Itsu, who prior to becoming a brood mare was a successful 15hh show hunter pony. She was graded into the WBS head studbook and subsequently with the SPSS once her potential as a sports pony brood mare was recognised.”

Birthday Girl is now owned by Elaine Coleridge-Smith, of Windmill Farm Dressage, and the pony was ridden at the championships by Alice Perry. Windmill Farm Dressage are no strangers to dressage success, with Susie Coleridge-Smith representing Great Britain at the 2010 European Junior and Young Riders Championships in Kronberg, Germany, in June.