WINNING the HOYS Puissance is my proudest moment so far,” says Tipperary man Andrew Hodgins about his recent victory at the Horse of the Year Show in the NEC in Birmingham riding John Glynn’s Shanaclough Luichew (Luidam x Coolcornan Wood).

Hodgins’s partnership with the now 10-year-old chesnut gelding, who was bred by Jill Twomey, mother of Irish international show jumper Billy, began five years ago on the recommendation of Gary Cusack. “Luichew is a really special horse with many excellent qualities, but he is a sensitive horse,” says Hodgins. “Thankfully, we clicked pretty much straight away.”