Girl, 12, leads way in show-jumping contest

A GIRL from Middle Assendon won first prize in the 1m show-jump at the Henley Farm and Country Show.

Harper Sharkey, 12, and her Irish Connemara pony Tokyo won the highest class in the competition on Saturday.

Harper, who is on a riding scholarship at Stonar School near Bath, has been show-jumping for three years, having ridden horses since the age of two.

She was supported at the competition by her mother, Amanda, who said Harper “absolutely adores” show-jumping. Mrs Sharkey said: “Harper’s an incredibly focused
12-year-old. You probably don’t get many of them — she’s very dedicated, she’s super organised and she knows what she wants. I think that all plays into the hands of her success.”

Harper has attended the show all her life and has won previous show-jumping competitions there on her pony Red.

She now competes at a national level with her school, often competing against 16- to 18-year-olds.

Harper had to get special permission from her school to bring her nine-year-old show-jumping horse up from Bath to compete in Henley.

Mrs Sharkey said it was important to her daughter to compete on “home turf” where she has competed “since she was tiny”, and where her grandparents can watch her.

Mrs Sharkey said: “It was the highest class in the competition, and she was the youngest girl. I was just delighted for her because you have to be quite brave, especially jumping on grass.

“These ponies are used to jumping on sand so when you take them out to jump on grass, if it has been raining or it’s muddy, they could just flip. I was incredibly nervous in case anything went wrong but she was so brave.

“It’s one thing being able to do the show-jumping but it’s another thing being able to look after your horse every day and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes is what builds resilience and makes me believe in her more.”

Mrs Sharkey said that show-jumping was a comfort to Harper while settling at boarding school with her sister Summer, which she said was “one of the hardest things” she has had to adjust to.

She said: “Harper is quite the little rising star and that has definitely helped. The fact that she’s good at what she does means they really champion her at school, and I think that makes it easier in itself.”

Harper said: “The win felt really nice because me and Tokyo have been stuck at 90cm for a bit and to win the 1m was a great achievement. We normally do shows in arenas, so we were both quite stressed and wound up but when it started it all went fine.”

Harper said that the Henley show was important to her, adding: “I’ve gone to every one since I was a baby. I have lots of memories there and it’s where my granny and grandad can watch me too. A lot of people I know go to it and I get to go and see the farm shows and the dancing.”

She added her favourite thing about show-jumping is the feeling of “gliding straight over the jumps”.

Harper is preparing for a qualifier this weekend that will determine whether she can progress to show-jumping individually at a national and international level once she turns 13.

She said: “I’m quite nervous but the weekend has given me much more confidence and makes me think that I can do it and I’ll be fine.”