Shire Horses The Farmers' Country Showdown

Across the country, thousands of farming families work tirelessly

around the clock.

Bring them up, Isabel. Well done.

Here they come.

Shake it, baby, shake it.

But there's one day each year...

Come on, girl. Up you go.

..when they get to leave the daily routine behind.

Yoo-hoo!

These are show days...

Welcome to the Pembrokeshire County Show.

..when they come together as a community...

To the right!

..to showcase the fruits of their labour...

Had a quick look at the competition. I'm in with a chance.

..and try to win prizes for their breed champions...

Well done. Wahey!

It's show business, folks.

..and award-winning produce.

-I got first!

-SHE LAUGHS

And the last two jars.

There will be highs...

..and lows...

No! No, no, no.

..for the dedicated farmers who give everything to walk away a champion.

No way!

For centuries, shire horses have laboured side by side with farmers,

working the land.

Steady, Cedric.

But there are now less than 2,000 of them worldwide,

making them one of the most endangered species in the farming world.

They're not something that you want your feet trodden on by.

These gentle giants were famously used as warhorses

and were the essential carthorses for 19th-century breweries.

Today, a handful of farmers are devoted to keeping the breed going.

Molly Langley and Jackie Shearman

are both getting ready for one of the biggest shows

in the horse calendar - Edenbridge & Oxted, in Surrey.

The last thing you want is poo stains on nice white feathers.

It's not just pride at stake,

but the chance to show off their highly prized animals.

-Many congratulations.

-Thank you.

-That's your rosette.

At the edge of the North Downs in Kent

is the picturesque village of Westerham.

Come on, then. Come on.

It's home to Molly and her family,

who've worked the 200-acre Southwood Farm for 34 years.

On the farm, we've got about 30 shires, 50 Hereford cows.

-We've got seven dogs.

-SHE LAUGHS

And then 20 light horses. So, in total, there's about 50 horses here.

Despite the other animals on the farm,

23-year-old Molly only has eyes for the shire horses.

I got bought my first shire when I was ten,

and then ever since then, it's just been shires all the way.

I particularly love the heavy horses, but the shires are

definitely my favourite. They stick out to me.

They're just special, they're one of a kind.

They're so good-natured, they're generally very big.

They're just...I don't know, they have a sort of presence about them.

The farm is a family affair.

Working alongside Molly is her sister Sally,

mum Margaret and dad William.

We all have different roles on the farm.

Molly, Sally and myself mainly do the horses.

You really sort of do the properties, don't you?

Yeah, I'm mainly on the building side.

School runs, keeping the house clean.

-Yeah.

-Food shopping.

-All has to be done.

19 years ago, mum Margaret bought their first shire horse.

Today, there are 30.

Good girl. Good girl.

Head up, Annie.

It started in, I think '89, we got our first shire...

and we've just sort of gone from there.

This is Annie. Aren't you? She's four. Eh?

You a good girl?

It's just a passion. It really is a passion.

Kent may be the Garden of England,

but farm life is anything but relaxing.

It's midday, and Molly's been at work since daybreak.

This sort of time of year, we're looking at

six o'clock in the morning, we come out, feed,

although Dad is normally up about five.

Even Christmas Day.

A lot of people say, "Oh, it's a job."

It's more of a lifestyle, really.

-A mad choice, to be honest.

-SHE LAUGHS

I'm not sure we're all that sane.

When all of our friends are lying in on weekends,

we're up at 8.30, mucking out, doing our ponies.

You know, it's just... it's always been the norm.

COWS MOO

While the women look after the horses,

William's got his hands full with the cows.

All right, then. All right.

These are just some of the Herefords we've got here.

Like the shire horses, really,

I've just always had an interest in Hereford cattle,

and they've just always been a favourite,

and we've sort of ended up just with Herefords, really.

There's a few crossbred cows amongst them,

but the majority are pure Hereford cows.

-I'll wait for her to finish, shall I?

-HE CHUCKLES

Keeping shire horses also has its challenges.

Growing up to ten feet tall and weighing over 1,800lb,

even the easiest of jobs can prove difficult.

Obviously, everything's so far up, so if they don't want to play ball,

then you're not going to get, you know, head collars, saddles,

anything on them, really. Head down, buddy. Good boy.

But we make sure, from a young age,

you know, they're all taught that they put their heads down when

they're asked and they never learn their size, so they never use it.

Obviously, you have slightly more lively, stubborn ones that fight it,

but if you kind of get the groundwork there from, like,

when they're foals, they tend to remember it the whole way through.

Don't you? Eh?

And the person who is responsible for the life the family now lead

is Molly's 86-year-old grandfather Bill.

He has always wanted to farm.

You know, he had animals in the back garden when they lived in London.

So I think that kind of pushed him to make it a reality, but, yeah,

you know, we're very lucky he did have this dream because, without it,

I don't know, you know, what we'd be doing right now, really.

Bill's love for the countryside started when he was evacuated

to a farm during the Blitz.

One day, I'm in my office in Croydon.

A pamphlet comes through about a farm for sale, which was this.

-Mm-hm.

-So I came down and I make them a good deal.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-So I bought it there and then.

-Dad didn't see the farm, did he, before you bought it?

-No.

-No.

He went...He always thought I'd never buy a farm,

-but I said I would, yeah.

-LAUGHTER

Just 12 miles down the road, in the village of Merstham in Surrey,

is another passionate shire horse breeder - Jackie Shearman.

There's a good boy, aren't you? There's a good boy.

Jackie was a secretary, but in 1985, along with husband Frank,

she made a life-changing decision -

she left her job to buy Oakley Farm.

We saw this house, which was totally derelict,

and nobody in their right mind would have taken it on,

but my husband sort of saw the potential,

and I think that was 32 years ago. 1985, we bought it.

You couldn't even come up the drive. It was totally derelict.

It had been empty for eight years.

All the hedges were overgrown.

And we lived in a caravan in the garden for the first year.

They've been working on it ever since,

to establish their vibrant 35-acre farm.

After a few decades of rearing cattle and sheep,

Jackie and her husband decided just to focus on the horses.

Somebody once told me that horses is like a disease you never get rid of,

and I started riding ponies when I was four,

so I think it's quite true.

These days, well, we've only got the horses.

Getting up, feeding, mucking out, turning out -

in the past, I used to have horses that I would ride,

so I would go out riding as well,

but the roads are too dangerous for that any more.

It's empty.

Like Molly, it's the shire horse that captured Jackie's heart.

She now devotes her time to breeding and showing her six shire horses.

We started looking, and I got my original one, which is Rose,

which we bought probably about eight years ago,

and it sort of escalated from them.

There's a sign on the wall over there that says,

"Horses are like chocolates - you can't just have one."

SHE CHUCKLES

When Jackie decided to show her horses,

she roped in retired policeman and fellow enthusiast

Paul Bower to help.

-I'm sure she's got bigger again.

-Yeah, she's a big horse.

She's a really big horse. She's nice.

I got involved with a show in Kent...

-Was it eight years ago, Jackie? I think eight years.

-Yes, about that.

Eight years ago, and I was wandering around, minding my own business,

and this lovely lady came up to me and said,

"We've just bought a shire horse

"and we're looking for somewhere to show it." And I gullibly said yes.

HE LAUGHS

When I've been buying barrows in the past,

lots of stuff goes missing at shows.

So I bought pink barrows,

cos most people don't like to be seen with a pink barrow.

Paul included! In fact, at one time I think you refused

to have anything to do with my pink barrow,

-didn't you?

-I'm comfortable with it now, though.

-LAUGHTER

I'm comfortable with it now.

We had pink brooms, pink forks, pink barrows, pink feed bins.

Paul now comes to help Jackie out twice a week.

We've become good friends,

and obviously I've got my own shire horses as well, so...

been involved with shire horses for probably...

probably getting on 30 years now. We get on quite well, really.

She can be a bit bossy at times, but it's not too bad.

Back in Kent, preparations are under way for show day.

There's a lot at stake,

and the shire horses need to be dressed perfectly.

First stop - new shoes.

So, today, actually, it's quite a sedate farrier day,

cos it's only five coming in to have shoes done.

At up to £150 a horse, this doesn't come cheap.

Obviously, the shoes are judged. So they judge the best shod.

But it just...it does complete the turnout.

It's like the little things.

Each little detail just gives you that little bit of edge,

and, like, having a good set of shoes on is one of them.

There are easier ways to earn a living

than shoeing a one-tonne horse.

Oi!

It's hard to find a farrier that wants to take on the shires.

As you can see, it's like, it's not easy -

even just holding the foot up to trim it is a feat on its own

without having to hammer the shoes on.

We do a lot of heavy horses, but, you know,

lots of people don't like to do them because they are too heavy.

But, you know, we love them.

So...I was born and bred with them.

In the late 1800s,

farriers and blacksmiths were kept busy,

maintaining this essential footwear,

with London's brewers alone using almost 3,000 shires

to pull heavy loads.

-Get your shoes fitted for school. It's a bit like that.

-SHE LAUGHS

New shoes sorted, now for the shampoo and set.

-Good girl.

-HORSE WHINNIES

Annie.

We travel all over the country, but Edenbridge is like...

That's our local county, so it would be really nice.

Yeah, it would be a really good win.

It's definitely one we aim for each year.

But it's all up to the judge on the day,

and there's a lot that can go wrong.

Molly is competitive, but you've got to have an element of, you know,

wanting to win to do it.

If you're just going along there to make the numbers up...

it's...it's a great deal of work and expense just to go and stand there,

isn't it? You've got to want to do well.

Edenbridge is especially important if you're a horse breeder.

You have the bonus now of, it's got a HOYS qualifier there,

so that's a big draw.

HOYS is the prestigious Horse Of The Year Show,

and only one horse from Edenbridge will qualify.

This year, I'd love to qualify, that would be the main aim,

but obviously I know the competition's going to be very tough there.

With the show just two days away,

retired police officer Paul is preparing Jackie's horses.

Come on, girls.

We've got to wash the horses, bath the horses,

get them to the showground.

Then, once we're at the showground, before the showing classes,

up early in the morning and we again have to wash all their feet

and their feathers, and then we, what we call, plait the horses.

We put flights into their mane, decorate their tails...

generally groom them,

which is probably three hours' work before we even get into the ring.

So it's not just a case of taking the horses from the farm

to the showground. There's a lot of work that happens in between.

The foot is very important.

They say, "No foot, no feather, no horse."

You want a nice, big, round foot, because when they're working,

that big foot was on the ground and pushing and pulling weights.

It's fantastic. You know, a good strong foot.

It sits in that way. And the feather, when you're judging,

the judge likes to see a lot of feather around the foot,

nice and silky and clean and white.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Whoa! All right, Charlie.

Now, you will behave.

-Have you done, Charlie?

-No.

While Paul deals with her horses, Jackie has a lot more on her mind.

I've got 34.

I've... There's four of them that are mares and foals.

She is the Edenbridge Show secretary.

I oversee just about everything on the showground.

We deal with all of the horse entries, livestock entries.

There's also about 300 trade stands,

and everything is dealt with through this office.

When Jackie first took the job 30 years ago,

she worked alone, out of her dining room.

Two or three people have come on to me this morning

and said that they wanted this, that and the other.

Like the show, Jackie's office has now grown to house a team of five.

It is 365 days a year.

At this time of year, most mornings,

I start, sort of, four, five o'clock in the morning

to try and get some work done before the phone starts.

If they took Jackie away from the Edenbridge & Oxted show,

say, took her away or she retired, I think the Edenbridge & Oxted show

would struggle to find anybody to do the job the way she does.

She's brilliant, she's organised, and she is the backbone of the show.

And the stress levels up until the show are quite immense.

My responsibility is to make sure that the show runs smoothly,

but I'm also very thankful

that I can have my horses exhibited there,

only due to Paul doing it for me.

And I do allow myself a little time off to go to the ringside

to watch them being shown.

After months of preparations, it's finally time to set off.

All the hay needs to be loaded, the feed, the bedding.

Pick up. Pick up.

It's a big list, and you've got to make sure everything's done

and, obviously, Mum likes very high standards,

-so we have to make sure we comply to that as well.

-SHE LAUGHS

And it's not just about packing up the horses.

Jackie needs to transport her whole office to the showground.

All these desks have got to be clear tonight.

Then we get a trailer to load them all in, take them to the showground,

and we should be working down there tomorrow.

OK, Jackie, we're all ready to go.

Horses are loaded. Everything going all right?

No, ask me tomorrow.

-I'll ask you tomorrow. The horses are looking great.

-Are they?

-They're looking superb. We'll be...

-So you're hopeful?

-I'm hopeful.

-We'll give them a go, we'll try hard, yeah.

-OK.

-We'll have a go.

-All right.

-I'll see you at the showground in the morning.

-Yeah.

In you go. Come on, up you go.

There's going to be some tough competition there,

so, you know, fingers crossed, one of them might do it for us.

Show day has arrived.

Surrey's Edenbridge & Oxted Agricultural Show is a cornerstone

of this farming community.

Edenbridge & Oxted, it's just a really nice show to come to.

It's one of the largest two-day shows,

and there's just so much to do here.

This year, it falls on a bank holiday weekend,

and around 35,000 visitors

are expected to come and enjoy the best of country life.

I've never been to Edenbridge before,

but I have met a number of wonderful people here,

and most importantly, the caterers are exquisite!

It's a foggy 5.30am.

The gates aren't open yet, but in the Heavy Horse Village,

it's already busy.

Most of the owners have been up for hours.

4.30 I was awake.

But then we were in bed quite a while.

We got to bed reasonably early, around 10pm,

so we got some sleep.

There's no point in getting up

and not being ready to do things.

Before the madness kicks off,

Jackie finds a moment to check on her horses.

Just giving them the feed. They're just finishing off their feed.

-Sorry.

-They we'll start on the job of sorting them out.

-She's not too bad.

-Good girl.

She hasn't laid down and laid in any muck, so we're OK.

-Breakfast is her priority.

-Yeah. She likes her food, Lady Jane.

So, we'll see. Anyway, as you can see, they're all up here, so I think

there's going to be a queue this morning for the washing out,

-so we'll have to fight our way in.

-All right.

-But we'll get there.

-If there's any problems, I'll give you a shout.

-OK.

-All right.

-I'll crack on.

-Good luck.

-See you later. Yeah.

-We'll do our best, as always.

-SHE CHUCKLES

With the rising sun come the first visitors of the day.

It's already predicted to be a scorcher,

with temperatures expected to reach 28 degrees.

In her mobile office, Jackie is already sorting out problems.

Jackie? I've put the police by the other side of that,

because there were loads of cars and loads that didn't have, like,

-didn't even know what cars they were.

-Down by the llamas?

No, I put them on the other side, you know, where the sheep man was?

Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten that was a space.

-There was a bit of a gap and they said that would be enough space.

-OK.

-So they're happy.

-All right, that's lovely.

-It fills that gap.

-OK.

There's been a few issues overnight

and then gates haven't been unlocked this morning that should have been.

So, if anybody's got any problem at all,

it's usually me they come to,

cos they don't know where else to go, really.

This time of the morning, I tend to stay upstairs,

because all the judges and the stewards are meeting downstairs,

and if I'm there, they all just home in on me,

so I'm up here, and then if the girls have got any problems,

they'll call up and ask.

-Jackie?

-Yeah?

-Oh, thank you. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

-LAUGHTER

There's not long to go until the first competition,

so it's all hands on deck to get these horses ready.

Right, stand still.

Braiding the shire horses' hair

is a tradition that pays homage to their past.

-You haven't got enough hands sometimes, so...

-HE LAUGHS

Used as warhorses over the centuries,

it would keep their long locks out of the way of swords, muskets

and, eventually, rifles.

These are Molly's colours, because you have your own colour.

We've always been green and yellow.

Molly, for some reason, went orange and white,

so it looks like a giant Liquorice Allsort.

In more peaceful times,

it's used to show off the horse and distinguish between competitors.

We're quite traditional with the yellow and green colours

that we chose, but then Molly's a lot younger than us,

and she's got a few wacky colours.

Not helpful. OK.

Trying to smarten myself up, to look smart.

The horse must look smart, but the person showing it must look smart

as well. There's no point going in like, you know, scruffy

to impress the judge. And I always do this and get my tie too short,

so I'm going to start again.

Competition time is fast approaching,

and Paul's 15-year-old helper Nathan is feeling the pressure.

Lost a brush.

Where's the blue brush?

Luckily, it's hidden in plain sight, and work can carry on.

-Got it.

-Eh?

-Got it.

-What are you laughing at?

-I'm laughing at you.

He's right to be nervous, as there are old rivalries about.

Because it's such a small, small, sort of, group of people,

we're often against Jackie and Paul.

-It's good for banter, shall we say, between each other.

-LAUGHTER

Even though the focus is on the competition,

the talk of the Horse Village is the new judge in town.

Well, I can never remember if it was Winston Churchill or Will Rogers,

but one of those clever men said that the outside of a horse is good

for the inside of a man, and they were, they were spot-on.

Experienced breeder Brit McLin has flown in especially

from Colorado, USA, for today's show.

I'm here today, judging the heavy horses, all breeds.

I expect most of them to be shires.

We want exquisite feet and hoof heads, and the hocks need to be flat

and clean and offset

at approximately a 13.5 degree angle from perpendicular.

Even Jackie is curious about the new judge.

Checking out the American judge. He seems to want to see them trot more than walk.

-OK.

-So he's going to be all about action, I think.

-OK.

-So I just hope Jane's not having one of her lazy days.

But we'll crack on.

I mean, he's coming all the way over from America,

so it's quite nice to get a judge from a different place.

It probably means he's looking for something different

to what the normal judges over here would look for.

I think he'll probably, like, going off the top of my head,

a big horse with a bit of movement, but I could be completely wrong.

-We'll see.

-SHE LAUGHS

It's 9am. The show is coming to life.

COCK CROWS

So this class is open to colts, fillies and geldings.

Paul is showing Jackie's horse, Lady Jane.

When they're in the ring, I just take it in my stride, really.

I get excited if they're winning,

and if they go on to win, sort of, championships,

-I have been known to burst into tears, but...

-SHE LAUGHS

It's not just the horses being inspected today.

Mr Roper, you should smile, it's more becoming.

No extra points for looking grim.

Molly's dad William and horse Malcolm

are first up for inspection...

There.

You're being a silly.

-All right, that's perfect.

-Thank you.

..and judge Brit is determined to put them through their paces.

Our turn.

-Nothing's acceptable unless she wins, really.

-SHE LAUGHS

Judge McLin has seen all he has needed and lines up his shortlist.

You're not allowed to scowl when I do this,

but I need to swap these two.

It's announced until they go up to the main ring.

Different judges do it different ways. Put her down to third.

Whoops.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-APPLAUSE

First place goes to Molly's dad.

It's a brilliant start to the day.

Really, yeah, really pleased with that.

Really good class of horses.

And third place for Jackie's horse Lady Jane

is also a respectable result.

It would've been better if she'd been higher placed,

and Paul won't be happy, but...

It's a real quality class, top quality.

So you've got to be reasonably happy.

You're fighting with the best, so, move on now.

Next class.

And you don't know you've come third, do you?

Malcolm just went in and won the class.

We're really pleased, it was a really strong class.

Yeah, we're really happy with how he performed. He behaved himself.

You can't ask any more than that.

So, hopefully he'll go on and behave for the rest of the day -

-fingers crossed.

-SHE LAUGHS

-The second filly...

-Yeah.

-..was the one that beat her at Norfolk.

Oh, right, OK. So you sort of expected that?

No, not really, I thought...because I don't like it.

-But it's show business, folks!

-LAUGHTER

-All right.

-I'll go and get the next one, get sorted.

-She looks lovely as well.

-She does, yeah.

It's almost midday,

and the temperature has peaked at 28 degrees.

This year is the 180th Edenbridge & Oxted show.

It started the year Queen Victoria came to the throne.

Morris dancers date back even further and, today,

this group are already on their third performance.

I am Terry Wyatt.

I'm the bagman for the Royal Liberty Morris from Havering.

So I deal with all the money.

It's important to keep Morris dancing alive.

Because it's our tradition.

Like anything folk, wherever you go, it's our tradition.

ALL SHOUT

It's our second year here and we enjoy it so much, you know,

cos of the atmosphere, the...

..well, the animals. Everything.

We just really love it.

A lot of people ask me how do we get recruits and I always say to them,

"We breed them." We don't need to go out and sort of get people.

Everything is all family.

Thank you very much.

Over in the horse village, Molly's family are getting set

for the next competition of the day.

Goldie's going in next.

She's my only horse here today, but my sister Sally is going to

show her for me. I was originally in the class with my other mare,

so obviously Sally's been practising with her, so she's got the...

She's going to take her in.

This is a mare class

and the two families are competing again.

The hopes aren't as high for her as for Jane in the previous class.

I thought Jane was the better of the two horses,

but you never know. We've got to go and give it a go.

Paul is also up against one of his own horses,

which is being shown by his family.

-TANNOY:

-So, here we have the shire barren mares,

four-year-old and over.

So these are mares that are over four years old

and don't have a foal this year.

They refer to them as "barren mares".

Some of them might be foaled, but they've not got foals at foot,

so they're always classed as barren mares.

Brit McLin is back to judge and nothing is going to get past him.

It costs nothing to smile.

There you go.

If you have a look at these mares,

you'll see that they do have a very feminine appearance.

They are slightly more curvy, I would say,

than the male counterparts.

To get into the Horse Of The Year qualifier, Paul needs to do well.

Ooh, I know, you're a good girl.

Lift up, lift up. She's a bit funny on her front legs.

She's a bit... I don't know why.

The judge is still inspecting them.

He inspects their legs, their bodies, their conformation,

the whole thing.

Next up is Molly's horse, Goldie.

We know what we're doing, right?

All of these people pay the same entry fees,

all these people put in the same amount of work,

all these people have the same extreme pride of ownership.

And for them to come out and...

..offer themselves up

to some judgmental old cowboy from Colorado...

..speaks well of them.

-TANNOY:

-We have number 273.

Back to work.

-TANNOY:

-And that's Leap House Lisa, owned by Mr J Bower.

Thank you. Got it?

It's a good result for Paul.

He gets second place with Jackie's shire and one of his own gets first.

Yes, it would have been nice to have come first,

but you can't win them all.

That's a little bit better. In the championship, we won, anyway.

So not too bad. And the boys are up at the front, so...

..I'm smiling a little bit more now.

Molly's horse is also in the rosettes.

And gets an extra little bonus.

She got third in the mare class and then the best shod out of the class,

as well, so, very pleased.

She was a good girl.

The Edenbridge and Oxted show boasts many activities,

including the lesser-known traditional crafts.

My name is John Carnell.

I've been a trug maker for the last 40 years

and I've still stuck to the traditional method of making a trug.

Well, a trug is a traditional old Sussex basket.

What's very special with the trug, it's very durable, very strong...

..and very light.

Trugs were put on the map when Queen Victoria ordered a batch

for members of the Royal family in the 1800s.

Once, this skill was crucial to the agricultural industry

to sow grain or feed livestock.

Nowadays, they're still loved and admired and have other uses.

This is the smallest size we make.

It's nice for eggs, children.

They love going blackberrying with something like that.

Well, I've been coming to Edenbridge show for the last 25 years and,

get the right weather, it's all very nice

and, if I get a few sales, even nicer.

Lovely, thank you.

-Enjoy it.

-Present for my friend, and she'll be really pleased.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

The most anticipated event of the day has finally arrived.

The chance to qualify for the Horse Of The Year Show.

Even to just place somewhere in the qualifier

for the Horse Of The Year Show would be good today.

It is going to be a real tough one, I think.

There'll only be a handful of horses

that go forward to the qualifying show,

which is at the NEC in Birmingham,

so it's a huge honour for anybody to qualify at these shows.

People are here to win.

We may be good friends, you know, off the showground,

but when you're here, you are here to win.

If you're not excited when you qualify for Horse Of The Year,

it's going to take a lot to get you excited.

It's the competition both the crowds and the competitors

have been building up to.

It's down to judge Brit to put forward

the best of the best from today's entries.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls and all the ships at sea,

this is the class.

If we could do just an easy walk around, please.

This is it, this is the big one.

Step back a little bit.

Yeah. Just as far or as short as you feel suits you.

Come on. Let's go.

-Thank you, Paul.

-Thank you, sir.

We're in the lap of the gods.

Or the lap of the Americans.

And the nice thing is, whatever the result is,

Mr Langley says he's going to buy me a beer afterwards.

It's always Mr Langley that buys him a beer.

HE LAUGHS

We've been going since five o'clock,

and all the preparation that's gone into it, we're getting to the...

..the main part now.

-TANNOY:

-Very well done to the winner of this qualifying class.

A very worthy winner.

And it's Molly's horse that's won the qualifying place

for Horse Of The Year.

He's smiling.

Absolutely thrilled to win it, to be honest with you.

Not expected, but, yeah, really, really pleased.

I'm absolutely over the moon with him. I've had him since a foal.

I bought him as a foal...

..never really with the intention to show him,

to use him as a stallion.

But, yeah, I'm really thrilled with him.

He's done us proud.

Good day. Very good day.

Absolutely brilliant.

Absolutely. Yeah, didn't expect that one today.

So, very happy.

We're going to HOYS!

-It's like the golden ticket, isn't it?

-It is the gold.

Yeah, out of that bar, is it? The chocolate. The golden ticket.

-That's the one.

-Even better that it's local to home.

-TANNOY:

-A very worthy winner.

And we all look forward to seeing his progress at the NEC in October.

Although Jackie's horse didn't win,

Paul is always the first to offer congratulations.

Well done, Margaret. Congratulations.

-Thank you, Paul.

-Congratulations, Molly.

Well done. You're pleased with that, aren't you?

-BOTH: Yeah.

-Very pleased with him.

The Edenbridge and Oxted show is almost over.

-ANNOUNCER:

-So, if you'd like to do your lap of honour, gentlemen.

If you would like to stay in for the parade, we'd like to keep you, please.

The last of the rosettes are handed out.

Lovely. Just stand where you are.

For our farmers, judging is now over.

We haven't had a bad day. Jackie's horses have come second and third.

Yes, I am a little bit disappointed with Jane.

She's been winning everywhere else.

Today she's come third. But that's the nature of the game.

That's what they call show business and you have to crack on.

Despite a lack of red rosettes,

Jackie's hard work has ensured a wonderful day out

for tens of thousands of people.

This is very satisfying, seeing it all come together.

You know, the show, the horses, everything together.

A year's work goes into it and it starts again,

maybe not tomorrow, but on Wednesday.

And Molly and family have walked away with the dream result.

The highlight of the day was definitely winning the HOYS qualifying class

with a two-year-old colt.

It was a strong class, wasn't it?

-It was a strong class.

-It was, you know...

I think today would have been good for the business side with the shires,

because, obviously, if they see you out doing rather well,

they're more likely to come and have a look at what you've got for sale.

This year has been full of hard work...

..planning, toil and triumph.

There's now only one last thing to do.

Cheers. Well done, Molly.

Careful you don't fall over with it.

End up wearing it!