The Royal Highland Show (RHS) was last week cancelled for the second year running due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with organisers heartbroken to admit it cannot go ahead in all its glory.
At the last event that took place in 2019, Matthew Davidson took home the prize for Miniature Shetland Champion and Junior Champion - and the pony handler and his prodigies are yet to have the opportunity to defend those titles.
“Winning Miniature Shetland Champion and Junior Champion in 2019 was the most fantastic feeling”, Davidson explained, who also saw success in 2018 with Junior Champion Milday Savanna Rose.
“RHS is a very special show and the one everyone wants a champion at.”
The show, organised by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), had been due to take place at the end of June at Ingliston outside Edinburgh.
And despite the thrill of holding on to the title for a year longer, Davidson explained it was heartbreaking to miss out on a chance to show.
“We were incredibly disappointed, as RHS isn’t just a show to us - it’s a chance to catch up with friends and enjoy everything that agriculture has to offer.”
For the Shetlands, their grooming upkeep isn’t too challenging to get them looking their best for show season, only needing washed the day before if they are kept in condition all through winter.
But with no chance to show last year, Davidson took the opportunity to let his mares spend some time with the stallion.
Now Milday Velvet bunny, Milday Love me and Parlington Autumn are expecting foals in the next few weeks.
When Davidson heard of this year’s impending cancellation, he asked, half joking - “does this mean Morse is unbeaten champion another year?”
But organisers have something up their sleeve.
Despite coronavirus restrictions leaving no option but to shelve plans for a traditional 2021 Royal Highland Show, they are planning a “behind-closed-doors” event which would be live-streamed to give a global audience a flavour of what takes place.
READ MORE: 2021 Royal Highland Show cancelled, but competitions and judging can go ahead
“We are keen to give the new live concept a go, especially if it supports RHS and gets us through this year.
“We really feel for the show team, because we know they put their heart and soul into the show - and it would not have been an easy decision.”
He added: “We love the atmosphere at RHS so not to have the crowds will be strange, but we’re keen to see what it’s like, and at least it’s a new experience!”
Along with livestock and equestrian, it is proposed that key elements of the traditional show would feature in the livestreamed event, including young handlers, technical innovation, cookery and handcrafts, together with farriery, forestry and sheep shearing.
Alan Laidlaw, RHASS chief executive, said: “At the time of the cancellation of the 2020 Show, RHASS directors made a firm commitment to do whatever was possible to enable the 2021 Royal Highland Show to go ahead.
“We have left no stone unturned in living up to this commitment and while it is not possible to deliver what we had planned, we are driving forward with the development of a fitting showcase of Scotland’s food, farming and rural sectors.”
READ MORE: NHS Lothian opens third mass vaccination centre at Royal Highland Centre
Bill Gray, RHASS chairman, added: “We had hoped beyond hope, particularly with the direction of travel before Christmas, that the vaccination rollout would enable the show as we know it to go ahead.
“However the prospect of extended restrictions, combined with advice from senior level Scottish Government officials, left us with no other choice but to seek an alternative to the staging of the traditional Royal Highland Show.
“While deeply disappointing, what is possible is genuinely innovative and exciting, and we are confident that with the power of the latest streaming technology and the finest elements of the show, we can create something truly special that is a true reflection of Scotland’s rural industries.”
For Mr Davidson and his cohort of stunning Miniature Shetland ponies, the challenge is eagerly anticipated.
He said: “We are looking forward to defending our champion title.
“We even have a few new star waiting to hit the show scene”, he teased, “and we can’t wait to get them out and about.”
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