PUISSANCE classes are always exciting to watch and that held at the Horse of the Year Show last weekend certainly fitted that description, with Irish man Andrew Hodgins jointly winning the class and another, David Simpson, sharing third place at the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) in Birmingham.

Ten combinations lined up to take on the challenge of the big red wall in the Ripon Select Foods-sponsored class. The first round knocked out one of them, followed by another in the first jump-off. With the height of the wall steadily rising, the second jump-off was too much for another three of the competitors, leaving five going into the third jump-off with the wall standing at 2.13m.