Horses have been part of Ruth Darling’s life for as long as she can remember.
Growing up alongside her twin sisters Lindsay and Rachael, ponies were very much a family affair, with their mum Barbara, now 80 and still riding most days, heavily involved in the Pony Club. The girls enjoyed winter hunting and summers travelling around shows.
The family moved to Leaston Farm, Humbie, East Lothian, 24 years ago, but Ruth still remembers those early years fondly.
“There are only three years between us all, so at one point mum had us all on the lead rein,” Ruth laughed.
Barbara was district commissioner of Dalkeith and District Pony Club, while Ruth’s father Eric helped with the practical side of things, including building cross-country courses.
For the family, showing was as much about the day itself as the results.
“You took your picnic, and you were there for the day and then you trundled home,” said Barbara. “If you got a rosette, not even a red one, you were happy.”
Ruth feels showing has become more focused on reaching the biggest shows and achieving results, with some of the enjoyment of smaller local shows lost along the way.
“It was just really nice to see” a recent local show, she said, where there were “a lot of small ponies and children having a great time”.
It was not, however, Highland ponies that Ruth initially grew up with.
Her first ponies included Connemaras and Welsh ponies, and it was almost by chance that she became involved with Highlands.
In 1997, she was asked by the late John and Kate Dykes, of the renowned Mendick Stud, to produce Moss-side Campsie Glen, bred by Willie and Jean Ralston.
As a three-year-old, he had been overall Highland champion at the Royal Highland Show, but the breed had not really been on Ruth’s radar.
“I remember watching him in the parade and thinking, wow, what a lovely pony,” she said.
Ruth brought on Campsie for two years before buying him when he was six, having been given first refusal by the Dykes family.
It proved to be a significant turning point.
Campsie went on to Olympia, where he was reserve champion on his first appearance, and gave Ruth the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the equestrian world.
He was crowned champion at NPS Scotland and was later ridden by Jennie Loriston-Clark at a lesson Ruth had with her.
“At the Royal Show that year Jennie was judging the supreme at the end of the day and she was standing at the side of the ring shouting instructions to me,” Ruth recalled. “Having somebody like that was just fantastic.”
Campsie also taught Ruth an important lesson in preparing a pony for the big occasion.
Knowing the noise at Olympia could be overwhelming, the late Margaret Runcie of Rosslyn Stud gave Ruth a recording of the Last Night of the Proms and told her to play it to Campsie in his stable each night.
“When the applause came, that pony just stood like a rock,” Ruth recalled.
Campsie became the first real Highland star of Ruth’s career, but over the years she has produced many others, taking young ponies from being unbacked through to walking, trotting, cantering and hacking before returning them to their owners.
One Highland she worked with was home-bred Chesterhill Forrester, who was, in Ruth’s words, ‘seriously hot’.
“He just kept bolting every time he went up to one end of the school.”
Despite his temperament, he was incredibly gentle and ultimately went on to advanced medium dressage, finishing second in the Scottish Regional Medium Restricted Final.
That combination of character and ability is something Ruth sees strongly in Islesman of Mendick, a 14-year-old sired by Moss-side Ian Mor and out of Gissings Luscardene.
Islesman was sent to Ruth by the Dykes family to back and ultimately sell, but after hearing many complimentary remarks about him, Ruth’s non-horsey partner John surprised her by buying him as a birthday present in 2017.
He has since become one of the most accomplished Highland ponies Ruth has worked with.
His show ring wins include reserve champion ridden Highland pony at the Royal Highland Show, Blair Highland Pony Show in-hand champion and Breed Show reserve ridden champion, as well as four HOYS qualifications.
“When he moves, it’s like, wow. He’s got that lift. He’s got natural cadence.”
At 13.3hh, Islesman is not a big pony, particularly with Ruth standing at 5ft 11in, but she says his build is deceptive.
“He’s got amazing bone, but he’s actually still very light on his feet. He’s very true to type. When you immediately look at him, that’s what he is.”
His natural balance has also proved valuable as Ruth has taken him into dressage, with help over the years from Jenny Leggate, Jane Bartle, Charlie Hutton and Harry Payne.
Islesman’s character means he is not always the easiest ride.
“He’s not a happy hacker. He’s very naughty, but that is when I channel his exuberance to train for more advanced movements.”
Put him into an arena, however, and it is a different story.
“He’s the safest one in the arena. He needs that bit of character for dressage, for the level that he’s competing at.”
That level has seen Islesman compete against purpose-bred dressage horses. He has qualified for the Winter Championships at Hartpury and Addington, and last year Ruth took him up to Advanced level.
At the time, British Dressage verified that he was the highest competing Highland pony.
For Ruth, it is not simply about proving a Highland can compete against other horses, but allowing the pony to show what it can naturally do.
“I want something that you just basically get on and it looks effortless,” she said.
“Suppleness, balance, self-carriage and with a smile on their face. I like a happy horse.”
It is also why she is wary of seeing Highland ponies pushed too quickly or ridden too fast in an attempt to create more impulsion.
“People think forward is fast and it’s not. Forward is with impulsion.”
Ruth believes Highland ponies need time to mature, but her approach starts from the beginning, getting youngsters used to having their feet handled, walking out, loading into a lorry and experiencing different situations.
By the time she gets on, she wants the groundwork to be there.
For anyone considering buying a Highland, Ruth’s advice is simple: think carefully about what they actually want the pony to do.
“What’s your end goal? And then you have to get the pony that suits that end goal.”
She also encourages potential buyers to watch a pony’s natural paces in the field rather than being dazzled by it in a show setting.
“You don’t want to force anything to do anything it can’t do naturally.”
That philosophy has clearly worked with Islesman.
While Ruth has now moved away from showing him regularly, she continues to compete him in dressage and will take him out when there is a final or qualification to aim for.
He is unlikely to do more than six or seven outings a year, but Ruth has no intention of stopping while he is still enjoying his work.
“I’m still doing dressage with him until such time that he’ll tell me when he doesn’t want to do it.”
There is also another chapter developing for Islesman as a sire.
A colt by Islesman was born in July, out of sports horse mare Pippa. Named Chesterhill Jonty, the youngster is already giving Ruth another reason to be excited about what Islesman can pass on.
Ruth also thanked Selena Ayling at Premier AI Services for helping get Pippa in foal.
One of Islesman’s oldest progeny, the stallion Strathleven Achiltibuie, owned by Sarah Gemmell, has successfully competed in affiliated dressage, eventing and showing. Last year, father and son both competed at the Petplan Winter Championships at Addington Equestrian, Buckinghamshire - a rare occurrence for any breed.
What started with a chance opportunity to produce one Highland pony in 1997 has taken Ruth from the show ring to Olympia, into dressage, judging and breeding.
She has also been asked to judge ridden Highland ponies at the Royal Highland Show, Highland Pony Society Breed Show and Scone Highland Pony Show.
And after all these years, she is still striving to improve.
Share