‘This horse is my best friend’: ex-racehorse is off to London International

A former racehorse is set to make his debut at the London International Horse Show (LIHS) next month. Sonnetist and Emma Rhymer have qualified for the British Show Horse Association (BSHA) Rising Stars racehorse to show horse final.

Sonnestic, a 10-year-old bay gelding known as Theo at home, was in training with David Evans for his owners, Mr and Mrs Clifford. He ran 26 times under Rules with five top-three placings, earning £13,000 in prize money. He last ran five days before Emma brought him home in 2019 to her family’s farm in Somerset.

“He’d been such an honest horse for his owners, and he didn’t owe them anything when he retired,” explains racehorse enthusiast Emma, who formerly worked as a racing groom and now juggles work on the farm and in a local pub alongside raising her children.

Emma has retrained thoroughbreds for several years, and while most of her horses move onto new homes, Theo has a home for life with her.

“He was so easy to retrain, a real dream,” Emma says. “He has been a true asset to our small team of horses and ponies, turning his hoof to every discipline.”

The day Theo landed with Emma, her then seven-year-old daughter Holley – who is now 11 – was the first person to sit on him. Recently, Holley competed at her first unaffiliated show with Theo, winning and standing section champion.

“That very first day I knew I’d lost my ride to Holley; not long ago she was cross-country schooling him over 1m jumps,” Emma says. “When he first arrived, he was no jumper. He didn’t know what to do with his own body, but after a year of hacking and working in the school, we taught him to jump on the lunge. Now his jump is phenomenal and we’ve started doing workers.”

Theo is still low mileage, with 2023 being his first season in the show ring. Emma juggles showing Theo with taking Holley’s ponies around the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) qualifying circuit as she also vies for her dream. Earlier this year, Theo and Emma won the Retraining of Racehorses amateur championship at Hickstead.

“I will never forget that day,” Emma recalls. “I didn’t even recognise my number when the commentator called it out as I had so little faith in myself! It was a mad moment, proving that you don’t have to have £100s to live out your dreams and that you’re only as good as you believe you are, so believe it!”

Theo and Emma qualified for London at Dunster Show.

“London is a show I never thought we’d get to,” Emma says. “This horse is a true best friend, and I owe him everything. He’s giving my daughter and I opportunities and memories we will cherish for a lifetime. He’s our everything and my children look up to him. He’s true gold with the heart of a lion – he always gives everything 100%.”

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H&H showing editor

Born and raised in the Lake District, Alex has grown up on the showing scene. She has qualified and competed ponies at the Royal International, Horse of the Year Show and Olympia and has first-hand knowledge of the current issues in the showing world as well as the horses, ponies and riders who compete in the sport. Alex joined H&H in January 2018 since when she has cemented its place as the leading equestrian publication for both showing reports and current showing news in the UK.