Meet the Supreme Team- Penny Hollings

In this feature, we introduce you to our team members - whether it be head office personnel or our Sponsored Riders.  In this edition, we introduce to you :  Supreme Products Sponsored -  Penny Hollings

Tell us about your team and the different roles that people play?

I oversee the yard and work with Stacey to ensure that the horses receive the best care, looking at diet, exercise and constantly monitoring them. I am in charge of schooling and teaching, formulating exercise regimes to suit each animal.

How many horses are currently on your yard (for 2014 season)?

We have Hermits China lace (NCT pony), Whittakers Prince (Large hack/PBA), Pendle Mattina (148cm sp)Ninfield fable (138cm sp/PBA) Pendle First Light (153cm SHP) plus 1 part livery, several DIY and animals who come to us for pre show prep and short term schooling

What is your earliest riding memory? 

Riding a donkey in the park in Eastbourne where my grandparents lived. I was so horse obsessed I used to sit on the back of the settee with a bridle on one end of it!

Which is your favourite horse or pony from years past?

Fair Breeze, Royal Bronze, Royal Angel ,Deaconwood Goldprint & Dutch Dame. I am extremely lucky to have had some fabulous animals to produce so my list really could go on and on. Some have been special as they were big winners and some were just lovely people.

Which horse would you love to ride (any discipline, past or present)? 

Valegro

What is the make or your horsebox and how many can you transport?

We are in between lorries at the moment but will have a 7.5 ton to take 3 as two of our clients have their own wagons so we don’t need a massive one. These days I’m strictly lo-tech....the less extras they have, the less can go wrong!

Which is your favourite restaurant or favourite meal? 

Tiggis Italian at the bottom of our road. My favourite meal would be Seafood Ravioli followed by Chocolate ice cream

What’s your favourite holiday destination?

Anywhere really hot but I do like Tenerife

What is your essential piece of kit that you cannot live without? 

My Samsung Galaxy note....when it broke I was bereft!

What is your greatest memory from competing? 

Winning the supreme championship at the BSHA Champs in 2006 on Dutch Dame, she was amazing!

How do you unwind after competition? 

Glass of wine and a chat with friends

Favourite music / band? 

Muse, Florence and the Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian plus I’m partial to a bit of dance music as my friends will testify!

What is your favourite Supreme Product and why?

Sparkle spray, you can use it anywhere!

Sweet or savoury? 

Sweet & savoury!

Do you have pets and if so, what are they? 

A 15 year old Cavalier King Charles called Libby and a 2 year old Jack Russell called Luna. We have a big fluffy cat on the yard called Sweep who we acquired from Chelsea Foster and a couple of semi feral ones too.

Do you have a lucky charm and if so, what is it? 

You make your own luck!

Twitter or Facebook? Both!

Book or i-Reader? Book, i read too fast

What would your dream car be? I love my Peugeot 207, I’m not into ostentatious cars

Do you have a nickname? Pen but my staff probably have others!!!!

Penny and Alex Hollings with Pandora at Great Yorkshire Show

A month on from our makeover - an update from Kerry Dawson

After the brilliant Supreme Products makeover day with Team Hollings I started to use the Supreme Products Mane & Tail Builder from the Heritage Collection on Quest’s rubbed out mane and he is enjoying the massage down his mane every few days! To be honest I am also enjoying it too as it smells really nice and is starting to work already. 

Since the visit to Team Hollings, I have been thinning out Quest’s mane a little at a time. I was advised to do this by Stacey as Quest has such a thick mane I need to thin it in small amounts each time. Stacey took a lot out on the day, so it is just a case of keeping an eye on it. Hopefully I am doing it correctly as I don’t want to make it too thin and I have to be careful that the frustrated hair dresser in me doesn’t strike again!

It is most definitely an art form and one that I need to master before the showing season gets underway.

We have been suffering like everyone else with the adverse weather conditions of late, the ice and snow have been that bad that my usual 15 minute trip to the yard was taking in the region of 35 minutes. I even had to dig my car out on the Saturday as it was a good eight or nine inches deep with snow, not to mention the snowplough that had gone through the village and pushed all the snow against the cars! 

Quest in the snow

At the yard, the ice on the farm track leading to the other stable block and sand paddock from where my stables are was so icy I dared not risk either of my ponies slipping and injuring themselves when walking to the sand paddock so I have been working Quest in-hand in the field next to the stables.

It was not an ideal situation but needs must so we have been working on our in-hand development, standing correctly when in front of the judge, long-reining and working on the lunge with roller and side reins, ready for backing in the next few weeks.

I had planned to sit on Quest and to have walked him off the lunge by now but if I am honest I didn’t want to hit the deck in the big freeze that we have had as the sand was as hard as concrete and I don’t bounce like I used to.

My plan now is to work him every day. When I am at University he will be working in the morning before I go to my classes and on my days off I will be able to spend more time with him and hopefully have him under saddle and walking solo with rider by the end of February! Fingers crossed that the weather improves!

 Apart from that this month has been the usual round of hospital appointments as my son badly broke his leg at the start of December and he has just had the cast removed after being in it for the past 10 weeks, so now we start the physio stage, although he is wanting to get back in the saddle now that the cast is off!  

My youngest and I are planning our showing seasons. My daughter will be doing her first ever season ridden as she now has a pony that will do the things that she wants to do. 

We have been looking at her joining the local Riding Club so she can do dressage and showing with her pony, and she may do a few other shows as well as a few clinics to improve her skills. 

As for me, well I have sent Quest’s passport off to be over stamped with Chaps and have become a member.

I hope to get him graded with CHAPS in April as a stallion, he is already a licensed stallion with the WPCS. I have also booked my transport for Cheshire County Show, I just have to decide which classes to do with him now and have been looking at doing the spring LWPCS show which is a bronze medal event. 

As yet I am still undecided as to which shows to do and where, not having my own transport is an issue, but I have always managed to get round that with hacking to local shows, walking Quest out in hand along the roads means when backed we will have no issue hacking out or troubles with traffic.

So the biggest issue I have had this month is deciding who I should apply for membership with and what shows to do!

Will write soon Kerry.

FOLLOWING the CHAPS Spring Grading, Team Supreme Products rider, Sue-Helen Shuttleworth has a great team of horses and ponies to produce this season.

Sue & Del Boy V

The two-year-old colt Hermits Pride will compete in youngstock in hand classes and is owned by Sue-Helen’s husband, Andrew.

The novice team will include Beau Diddley, a four-year-old Traditional Stallion owned by Michelle Cuerden.  Sue-Helen will ride him this season for the Cuerden family.

Too Smart is a five-year-old Traditional Stallion owned by Jennifer Taylor, and Sue-Helen will compete him in novice pony classes.

Boston is another five-year-old Traditional Stallion belonging to Sue-Helen and Andrew, who will begin novice classes this year.

Doylan Yves St Laurent, a 15hh Non-Native Pony will contest Novice classes before moving on to Royal International Horse Show and HOYS qualifiers with her owner Lorna Waite with help from Sue.

The open ponies include The Freak, an eight-year-old stallion who will compete in RIHS and HOYS qualifiers this year as well as stud duties as he has several mares to serve this spring.

Heartbreaker, the six-year-old stallion (Sue-Helen’s famous stallion with the black foot!) has had a long holiday after HOYS last year and will contend RIHS, HOYS & TGCA classes.

In your Dreams, the five-year-old Traditional Stallion owned by the Kimico Stud is also aimed at HOYS qualifiers this year.

The multi-award winning Del Boy is now being spoilt rotten in his new home with the Cuerden family and will be out competing at all major shows.

The team’s first show of the season was a great success, with Sue-Helen busy grooming for her owners!

At the BSPA Northern Spring Show at Northallerton - Del Boy ridden by Mrs M Cuerden, Not a Patch, owned by the Cuerden family and ridden by Lizzie Barton, and Doylan Yves Saint Laurent ridden by Lorna Waite - all qualified for this year’s RIHS, while Del Boy went on to be Champion Ridden.

A Bright Spark for HOYS

Supreme Products sponsored show rider Alexandra Hollings is riding high with Snaafi Bright Spark claiming their ticket for HOYS.

The pair were pulled in top of the line in the HOYS Ridden 138m class at the CHAPS Championships.
Snaafi Bright Spark and Michaela Wood were due to make their HOYS debut two years ago but after a terrible accident leaving Snaafi with severe concussive injuries, could not make the event.

Snaafi was on box-rest for six months and then sidelined for a further year before making his comeback in the showing world.

Now paired with Alexandra, owners Sandra and Martin Wood are over the moon with his progress and his
latest victory.

Said Sandra: “We could hardly believe it; we honestly thought he would never show again. He looked fantastic at CHAPS. All the hard work grooming, mane plaiting and using invaluable products such as the coat shine  from our collection of show ring presentation products paid off. He looked and went like an absolute star. We are so pleased with him."