She’s back! Yes, we are thrilled to share that Katherine Bertram, The Girl with the Jumping Arabs, is back. Read on for a huge catch up on Katherine and her jumping Arabian horses.
Upon finishing university and entering the realm of the employed, things quietened down for me until 2025, where a season of dreams was born. Seasons such as this don’t come around often, not for amateurs such as myself with demanding day jobs, and I imagine not particularly for the professionals either. I will list the long and short of it for those with little desire to read further but, if you find yourself interested in the details, do read on to see how my mum’s two fantastic horses achieved the following:
Avonbrook Odin (Marcus Aurelius x April) 50% part-bred Arab
6th Royal Windsor Horse Show: Working Show Horse
1st Hertfordshire County Show: Working Show Horse qualified for RIHS
1st Newport Show: Working Show Horse qualified for LIHS
2nd Royal International Horse Show: Working Show Horse Final
4th BSHA Championship Show: SEIB Working Show Horse Final
2nd BSHA Championship Show: Grand Prix Working Show Horse
Team 1st British Riding Club qualifier for BRC Championships: 90cm
Team 1st BRC Championships: 90cm
Marcus Aurelius (Aurelian x Fiesta Magica)
1st and Champion NPS Area XI: Senior Showing and Dressage Limited (SSADL) In-hand and Ridden Senior Plus
1st, Champion & Reserve Overall North of England: SSADL LIHS qualifier
1st, Champion Crabbet Heritage Show: In-hand Veteran, qualified for VHS
1st, Reserve Champion, Reserve Overall Veteran Horse Society Championships
1st, Champion SSADL Championship Show: qualified for LIHS
And that was only the boys! Super Sammy – Audace Encore (Marcus Aurelius x Avonbrook Green Rose) – made his debut at BD Medium, qualified for the Summer Area Festival and for the BD Associated Championships at Medium. This is the only level he is still eligible for after winning both the silver and overall sections with Sam Turner last year at Novice and Elementary! Meanwhile, Princess Penny – Annia Aurelia (Marcus Aurelius x Bint Zaehaebi) – is scanned in foal to the lovely young Legrande Son, Grande Cru (ex Beaujolais) after making it abundantly clear that she was “so over” my antics and wanted babies.
2025 began gently at Avonbrook Stud but, after a couple of early shows to blow the cobwebs away, I settled into my ambitious year of trying out open working show horse classes with 19-year-old Odin, and Veteran classes with Marcus, now a spritely 24. Devastatingly, one of my biggest supporters and my hero, my granny, passed away after a short illness two days before Royal Windsor Horse Show. Unbelievably, my friend and my partner were able to scrape me up and get me in the ring where Odin took over and looked after me for a clear round in a tough class. It was a bucket list moment for me, and being invited back into the arena for a go-round that was conducted by a hunting horn turned my tears of grief into a grin of joy as Odin rose to the occasion. Although the marks were initially added up incorrectly and our 6th place rosette was posted to us – followed by a replacement after Scampi, granny’s dog, shredded it – it was one of my proudest showing achievements to date and I couldn’t help but feel my granny’s strong presence as I navigated those early days without her. This season, despite its exhilarating highs, has experienced a lingering melancholy at the repeated reaches for my phone, only to place it back in my pocket when I realise that the person I am trying to call can’t answer me. I can only hope she has been able to see the achievements I always promised her, and I can only hope to continue anything resembling this fine form as of late.
After Windsor, Odin qualified for the Royal International Horse Show with the only clear round in an otherwise very strong working show horse qualifier at the Hertfordshire County Show. That was the show that forced my hand into buying an airbed after a very uncomfortable night’s sleep, a far cry from the hotel I had splurged on for Windsor. Back aching and teeth chattering, Odin ignored my griping and booked our first ever ticket to the Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) – another bucket list item ticket off. I thought, if that was the highlight of the season, I’ll take it! When we then qualified for the London International Horse Show in the rising star working show horse at the Newport Show, I was certain that the highlight of the season was truly behind me. It had been a strong qualifier with plenty of clear rounds to choose from, so I risked it all to win it all in my individual show and was pleasantly rewarded with the golden ticket. With our good form at this point in the season, we had also qualified for the British Show Horse Association (BSHA) working show horse final, so Odin had qualified for all three of the championship classes for working show horses, as they don’t culminate in a HOYS championship. As there was no need to continue in qualifiers as we had all of our tickets, I took him eventing to represent my riding club team, and we promptly qualified for the British Riding Club Horse Trials Championships at 90cm.
Marcus, meanwhile, was racking up good form from limited outings. After gaining his Senior Showing and Dressage Limited (SSADL) second round ticket by winning the in-hand, ridden, and championship at the NPS Area XI show, I took him on the long drive up the M6 to the North of England Show. Despite an unfortunate encounter with a couple of irate pony producers who saw fit to crack a lunge whip behind Marcus’ hocks and took a comical level of offence to being kindly asked to refrain – Miss Bertram from teaching assistant days made a reappearance with subsequent tone and facial expressions – we had a great show, even if it was a near miss. Marcus won his class, then won his ridden championship. So far so good; usually, the ridden champion qualifies for London International Horse Show. Not so good – this was a “mixed ticket”, so he had to go one better and beat the gorgeous 16-year-old in-hand Fell pony champion, which didn’t quite happen, and we settled for reserve. This was still a fantastic result, and I was able to successfully wait the four-hour drive home to open the bottle of champagne that Marcus won. In hindsight, I think Marcus quite astutely knew that, had he qualified for London before Odin, I would have stopped campaigning Odin to keep London simple with one horse. Alas, Odin qualified shortly after this show, and I stayed on the campaign trail with Marcus. There are far worse problems to have.
It was then time for the RIHS, my first time at the show although not my first time at the showground thanks to the National School’s Equestrian Association Championships there in 2017, where Odin and I jumped in our first 1.10 class. The jumps were mercifully smaller this time around, but I was more delighted with being able to jump in Ring 5, another bucket list item ticked off, and gallop up its hill with Odin’s tail fully flagged – confirming the judges’ grim suspicion that an Arabian horse had weaselled their way in! I jest, most judges have been able to look past or even enjoy Odin’s lineage, but there’s certainly no hiding it as he whips the back of my neck with the longest strands of a tail that can reach right over his back like the best of the purebreds. Even the judges that really didn’t seem to enjoy my “not a show horse” were all in agreement that he looks wonderful for his age, and I received some genuine and heartfelt comments about how his condition and schooling is a credit to me. Those mean a lot. After volunteering myself to jump second in the class and delivering the first clear round, I sat back and lost count of the number of poles that went flying in a star-studded lineup of some truly incredible show horses and riders. Despite the RIHS classics such as the bullfinch, the water splash, and the wall not being included in the course, clear rounds were hard to come by and it was only Odin and the defending champion, Oliver Hood and Firespell, who had gone clear.
Those who know me know that I’m something of a pessimist – I prefer realist – and I fully believed myself to be placed 9th out of the nine who were invited back for judging. That’s where I was pulled after the initial go-round where poles down weren’t being taken into consideration, and I wasn’t certain that I hadn’t missed a clear round or two, so I felt I would be incredibly lucky to make the top five. 10 penalties for a pole down isn’t an impossible margin to regain across the different judging sections, especially when the calibre of horses is so high. After leaving the ride judge smiling, we waited at the end of the line, and I did my best to take it all in – what an achievement to be standing in that arena. When the placings were called out in reverse order, and the horses near us walked forward, I got progressively more tense as the placings became higher. When the commentator moved past 5th, I felt like I was going to pass out. I felt very strongly that at least one of the faulting horses would beat me, so, when 3rd place was read out as “not Odin”, I was stunned. Firespell is one of the best Cobs in the country, and Oliver Hood one of the greatest show riders, so it was incredible to finish reserve to them at RIHS. Especially to come from the bottom of the line to do so. What an experience that was, and who better to take me around my first RIHS than Odin.
If this is where the season ended, I would have been perfectly delighted. I don’t think I have ever had such a successful year, especially not in the show-ring. After standing In-hand Crabbet Veteran Champion at the inaugural Crabbet Heritage Show at the AHS National Championships, Marcus had qualified for the Veteran Horse Society Championship finalist class for in-hand veterans aged 20 to 24. On the first day of the three-day show, Marcus won both of his style and performance classes, the 50cm with mum, and the 80cm with me. He then also starred in the Strictly Fancy Dressage class and thoroughly enjoyed our Joseph and the Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat routine. On the Saturday evening, he and mum partook in the evening performance in the Style and Performance Championship and, although he didn’t regain his championship title from 2023, he and Mum both entered and left the arena beaming.
Fortunately, Marcus was still sparkling on Sunday morning for his championship class as I had misjudged the timings and we arrived at the arena just as the section before us was filing out. 34 horses were present for the pre-qualified class, and we were, fortunately, in Section B. Unfortunately, I realised that my membership card was ‘somewhere’ in the lorry when asked to present it, so mum had to go back and tear my luggage apart to find it. Very fortunately, my long-suffering boyfriend arrived at the perfect time to have the freshly found card thrown at him and ran to the arena – where the last horse bar Marcus was trotting in. We made it by the skin of our teeth and, with how fried my brain felt, I barely remember the class. I do, however, remember visibly relaxing when they announced past 5th place, and I assumed I’d be leaving with the back line after another highly successful show. I assumed wrong, and we were called forward as the champion! After trying to eat the fake presentation trees and cantering the lap of honour, I was quite certain that the championship wouldn’t go our way, so was once again proved wrong when we were called Reserve In-hand Champion to the 15-year-old hunter who had also won the previous night’s Champion of Champions, the best horse of two days of classes.
Clearly not learning my lesson and assuming, again, that the judges would finally ignore the Arabian horse, we trotted in for the final time for the Overall Supreme. It appeared to be a hunter vs hunter battle between the 15-year-old in hand champion and the 16-year-old ridden champion. Marcus was the oldest in the ring at 24, and also the smallest, even if his presence made him appear far bigger. When Marcus overturned the in-hand placings and stood Reserve Overall Champion to the ridden hunter, I was in such shock that I appeared to be quite unbothered from the televised view. I just gave him a big pat and shook the judges’ hands as they gave Marcus the biggest sash I’ve ever received and a rosette that weighed down my number elastic! In reality, I was so overwhelmed by the comments Marcus had received all day and by how well he showed for me, trotting up into his bridle and carrying himself like a HOYS Price In-hand finalist. The judges loved his limbs, his movement, his temperament, and his history. These are all things I love about him too, so it felt good to have such high-level agreement. Reserve Supreme Overall champion from 153 pre-qualified horses. Thank you, Marcus.
After a long, emotional season, we were down to our last two shows. The first of which was the BSHA Championships with Odin, for the SEIB Working Show Horse Final and the Working Show Horse Grand Prix – where the jumps are bigger, the entries are smaller, and the chance to compete in the evening performance is higher. The evening performances at the BSHA have been on my bucket list since I attended the show last year. Nick Brooks-Ward, or “Mr HOYS” as I’ve called him since childhood, was commentating and I was almost as desperate to hear him read Odin’s name as I was for Carey Knox to read Marcus’ name two years ago at the Veteran Championships. Clear rounds were needed and, with the help of our long-time radionics practitioner Lara Parsons, Odin duly delivered despite some… interesting… riding from myself. Not only were we called forward to the top nine of the Working Show Horse Championship class where prizes would be awarded in the evening performance, we also placed second in a surprisingly large and unsurprisingly high quality Grand Prix class, entering us into another evening performance. Despite the dismal weather and the difficulty of producing him from the lorry, Odin’s spirits could not be dampened and his eyes lit up when he saw me approach in my evening attire. He particularly enjoyed propping up a corner of the warmup between championships after our leisure battery drained, watching the comings and goings, and rubbing shoulders with some showing legends. So much for “not a show horse”, Odin. After a fantastic spin and fourth in the working show horse presentation, he then positively danced around the Supreme Working Show Horse Championship at the end of the night. Although he didn’t feature in the shakeup, I was incredibly proud of him, and we got him home as quickly as we could, even if it was the wrong side of midnight!
It’s safe to say that we finished the showing season on a high. Having qualified earlier in the year for the SSADL second rounds, we took Marcus for the last qualifier of the season for the London International Horse Show. With Odin already qualified, I weighed up the stress and cost of taking two with the utter hilarity and fun that could also be had and left it to Marcus to decide whether or not he was willing to partake in the insanity. Of course, Marcus said yes. At his very last chance at a ticket, he once again took the win in his age division of 24+, and we went straight back in for the championship. Both of the other class winners were delightfully cute Dartmoor ponies, so I knew I had my work cut out for me to place above both and take the ticket. When one was called in reserve, I didn’t dare to believe that Marcus might beat the other so, when his name was read out as champion, I couldn’t help but turn to my beaming mum and mouth something unrepeatable before stepping Marcus forward to between the fake trees. He didn’t try to eat them this time, thank goodness. In conclusion, Marcus and Odin are both off to London for Christmas, my annual leave has been decimated by the competition season, and my bank account is about to take a massive hit. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What. A. Season.
Katherine Bertram is an English young rider who competes in a variety of different disciplines on her mother’s homebred pure and part-bred Arabians. Having achieved advanced rider status in Endurance after her first season at age 14 on Marcus Aurelius (Aurelian x Fiesta Magica), Katherine turned her attention to showjumping with his progeny, at which she currently competes at Senior Newcomers (1.10). As well as also delving into showing, eventing and, occasionally, dressage, Katherine juggles her studies while attending the University of Birmingham.
