Flemington

23 The popular ex-racehorse, re-trained and ridden in the show ring by Katie Jerram-Hunnable, returned to the Royal Windsor Horse Show the following year for a special retirement celebration. It was his second retirement; the first had been from his National Hunt racing career during which he was trained by Nicky Henderson, winning eight races between 2006 and 2012 and more than £143,000 in prize money. “Barbers Shop was a very easy horse to retrain, thanks to Nicky Henderson,” says Katie Jerram-Hunnable. “He came to me in October 2012 when he was 11 years old and by March the following year he was already winning classes and won his first Royal Windsor in May.” There were a few little things however that the ex-racehorse had to get his head around before becoming a showing star. “He was an amazing horse to ride and compete – his only weakness was his canter transitions. He could take quite a hold in them! We spent four months just doing canter right, canter left but you could never drill him. Eventually he got the idea, and it was very easy once he understood what was being asked,” says Katie. “Barbers Shop is still with us now, he’s still in work and looks a million dollars!” says Katie fondly of the horse. “IT IS SUCH AN HONOUR TO RIDE HER MAJESTY’S HORSE,” ADMITS KATIE, “SOMETIMES I HAVE TO PINCH MYSELF.” First Receiver performs in front of his owner, Her Majesty The Queen, at Royal Windsor (Image Credit: Nixon Photo)