It is difficult to imagine anyone taking Ysbrand Chardon's world title from him later this year; and he has made clear his intention to return to Windsor next year. He could well be on his way to stringing up a long sequence of events at this Show, which he seems to be making all his own. Ysbrand admitted to having had "a fantastic weekend" and to really enjoying competing at Windsor, describing it as "a great event".

Georgina Frith & her welsh ponies (*)

The British did have some cause for good cheer - Di Hayes apart - as Georgina Frith confirmed her status as European Champion in the Pony Teams. With her team of grey Welsh ponies she easily established her lead in the first two phases over Tobias Bucker of Germany and the Belgian Champion, Edwin Flerackes. Despite having one mishap in the cones driving, her victory was never really in doubt. Prince Philip drove The Queen's team of Fell ponies in this class but did not have a very good run on the marathon section and this put paid to his chances. He eventually finished in sixth place behind Britain's Emily Bennett and Aart Kamp of Holland with his delightful team of piebald Shetland ponies.

The Horse Pairs class was a highly competitive affair. Boyd Exell, representing Australia, emerged the victor, driving a pair of very smart black Gelderlanders. Although he led throughout, he had both Frederica Beck of Portugal and Bennie Gosschalk (see 'Holland's Rising Star', this issue) snapping at his heels - only 10 points separated them before the cones driving. Only Bennie managed a double clear and Boyd must have breathed a sigh of relief when Frederica had one cone down - only to do so himself! He had less than one cone in hand at the finish.

Australia's Boyd Excell on his way to winning with his pair of Gelderlanders (*)

Overseas visitors had less of a presence in the remaining classes but Germany took the Ponies Pairs class with Ulrich Spennemanns, who had one cone in hand over the British Champion, Vivienne Horne. Vivienne had a brilliant marathon section but had been disappointed with her dressage test. British entrants dominated the Single Pony class - Rachel Stephens, also a British Champion, had a fairly comfortable win from Heather Kinner. At 18 years old, Rachel's dun Connemara, Buttons, may have been one of the oldest equines in the competition, but she took a great 'hold' on the marathon and the duo took home the trophy which they had also won in 1999. Finally, in the Tandem classes, two more champions held sway. Colin Allen had a good win in the horse section from Philip Owen, and Anna Gilbert had an easy victory in the pony class. The winning times in these classes were noticeably slower than in the others - confirming the extra difficulty of driving a tandem through hazards.

A smiling champion Ysebrand Chardon (*)

The final trophies to be decided were those for the groupings of three - i.e. a nominated team, pair and single horse or pony, based on their combined penalty points.

The Asprey & Garrard Trophy, presented to the winning 'group' of horses, went to the Netherlands first team comprising Ysbrand Chardon, Jacob-Jan Kramer (pairs) and Yvonne de Ruyter, who beat GBRI - George Bowman, Adrian Puddy and Di Hayes.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Trophy went to the best pony combination of Georgina Frith, Trevor Kimber and Rachel Stephens, who just beat the German entry.

The Queen, resplendent in golden yellow, made the presentations and it was all over for another year. Who knows what 2001 will bring? One thing is for certain though; the Dutch have won the Four-in-Hand Trophy for 4 years in succession and are not likely to give it up without a fight!

Continues........

Photographs © Sue Wingate except (*) Helen Revington