And they’re off! Launched in 2015, the Sidmouth Horse Trials has rapidly become a firm favourite with Folk Festival goers, and now it’s an utter must-do to canter along to this hilarious fixture.
Billed as an 'all-comers event for hobby horses, unicorns, goats, Morris animals and other Beasts of Disguise', the Trials was attracting crowds to Port Royal more than an hour before this year’s event began on Sunday August 4, with people craning their necks to see the colourful collection of contestants.
Although essentially an extremely silly fancy-dress contest with various disciplines to determine the winner, the competition does have some links to folk tradition. Morris sides are often accompanied by mascots, such as hobby horses, often associated with mummers’ plays and May Day celebrations. More recently, other creatures have begun to appear with Morris sides.
This year a very large field – nearly 20 animals and beasts – competed for the special trophy, created and donated by Aardman Animations. Having been interviewed by MCs Stephen Rowley and Alex Merry from Boss Morris, entrants had to do a catwalk parade for the judges, then jump a broomstick, and, in a nod to the Olympics in Paris, perform a routine on some Olympick (sic) rings that had been drawn on the ground. Finally there was a spot of dressage.
Early favourites for the trophy appeared to be Bubbles (a bright blue seahorse), Admiral Jeffrey (a giraffe with an extendable neck and a former Trials winner), Big Pige (a large grey pigeon with flapping wings), Grim Bear (a fierce-looking black bear who did an amazing jump over the broomstick), Budranosaurus (the youngest competitor in a bright green junior dinosaur suit) and Bilge the Rat, but – after all the disciplines were completed amid an awful lot of silliness – the overall winner was Wildebeast.
Once the trophy had been awarded to Wildebeast and his handler by Peter Lord of Aardman Animations along with a special prize for Budranosaurus as the youngest competitor, the Trials were over… for another year. Make sure you don’t miss the 2025 Horse Trials. It’s Sidmouth Folk Week at its best!
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