My Sporting Companion: Churchill the pony

In this article from My Countryside magazine, eleven-year-old Hamish McGregor tells us about his sporting companion - his hunting and racing pony, Churchill.

I've been riding for 11 years – I was put on a pony before I could walk – and I've been hunting with the Warwickshire for eight years. I go on weekends and holidays. I like to see my friends and I love jumping which is why I hunt. Churchill is really good too; he stands and he jumps and he loves water. He loves everything. I started pony racing last year because I wanted to go fast and I wanted to race. I've made lots of friends at the pony races. It's great because lots of other boys do it too. Hunting helps to get him fit for racing and also helps me learn more about him as I've only had him since November. He gets quite excited before a race but he's very good. He loves the start and he loves the finish too, probably because that's when he gets Polos. I reckon he likes competing and he likes going fast. I haven't found anything that he doesn't like so far.

We race him probably once every two weeks and I have to keep him fit by galloping at home. He's won over 60 races, which is amazing.

If I had to pick between hunting or pony racing, I'd probably choose hunting but only because there's jumping and because I have longer to ride him when we hunt than when racing.

Churchill is loving, he likes to race and hunt, and he takes care of me, so I always feel safe on him. He's just a great pony.

Image: Jake Wainwright