An ex-racehorse which has amassed 90 dressage points in under 18 months, a 22-year-old with more than 2000 competitive endurance miles despite an earlier nine-year racing career and a third with more than £300 of prize money on his showjumping card are among the six winners in this year’s South Essex Insurance Brokers Racehorses to Riding Horses competition.

They were at London’s Grange City Hotel on January 8 to receive their awards during the prestigious British Horse Foundation’s Supporters of British Breeding dinner.

The competition is run by South Essex Insurance Brokers to encourage the re-education of Thoroughbreds bred for and out of racing. “We wanted to prove to people that these lovely horses are perfectly capable of doing more than gallop and jump at speed,” said managing director Barry Fehler.

And as Anne Parkinson, owner of the winning Dressage ex-racehorse, said: “They make wonderful riding horses. As long as the horse is temperamentally sound they have a good chance of a second career in the right hands.”

The winners (full details are attached separately) are:

Dressage – Miss Anne Parkinson’s Leap in the Dark

Eventing – William Halliday’s The Rising Scot

Showing - Mrs Hillary Curtis and Miss Julie Farrell’s Milliemeter

Showjumping – Jonathan Martin’s Swift Alliance

Endurance – Mrs Linda Burrow’s Rostreamer

Unaffiliated – Mrs Rebecca Wright’s Papatuu

Horses entered in Racehorses to Riding Horses accrue points for competition placing throughout the season and are assessed on the final total. The South Essex marketing manager, Nicolina MacKenzie, said: “All our winners seem to be adamant in their belief that racehorses can have a second career – and when they are good they are very good.

“This was only the second year we have run the competition, and already we have seen an increase in the number of horses registering. Next year, I am sure, we will see even more, which will mean that the message is getting across to people and that many Thoroughbreds are being given the chance of a second career.”