Will Hickman is the latest in a long-standing South East dynasty of pointing folk, the Hickman family. He rode his first winner in 2009 and has notched up another 37 successes in the ten years since. Not only that, he’s a fellow member of the fourth estate, as he reports on South East pointing for Horse & Hound! His fiancée Hannah Jones has been training a handful of pointers at their impressive Hogs Green set-up near Hythe in Kent since 2016 and they share the rides between them. I talked to them about their plans for the season ahead.
My visit starts with a varied work session involving Hannah on Max My Boy, Will on Cada Club and Julie Coulson – who used to work for Ray and Phil York when they had (Phil's first winner) Paco's Boy – on Out Of Coverage. The horses and riders start with trotting circuits of Hannah and Will's manege, stepping over poles and doing figures of eight. "They do ten minutes every day as a warm up," explains Hannah. "It helps build up their muscles, get them to use their back end a bit more and think about what they're doing."
I then watch a half-speed canter eight times round their undulating two-furlong all-weather surface before we climb the hill to their schooling field, across which they gallop three times. "We put in the all-weather in 2017," Hannah tells me afterwards. "And hadn't trained a winner from here before that! I trained Ballybrack Dancer, my first winner, from Phil York's." "We like the gallop because there's so much variety," adds Will. "There's a dog leg, hills, bends… the horses have to use their brains. We mostly get them fit here, although we do take them to Gary Moore's sometimes."
Hannah mentions 'grid work' a lot, at which I plead ignorance. "You line up the fences in the schooling ring," she explains. "We do 'bounces' – jump, land and take off again – then one stride, then two strides. It teaches horses to go both long and short, to extend and step back and improves their jumping – some horses are taught to gallop and jump but don't learn how to get themselves out of trouble.
Work over, Hannah tells me about her background. "My parents aren't horse-y at all," she confirms. "When I was younger, I'd annoy my Mum as I'd take up a sport, get all the gear, then move on to something else. So, even though I started riding lessons when I was six, I wasn't allowed a horse until I was 12 and had to work at stables to prove my interest. And, while all my friends had ponies, I had an ex-racehorse – Tia. She was a typical mare – nuts, but great to learn on. Some days she'd want to jump, some days not… I lost count of the number of times I fell off."
Hannah's introduction to point-to-pointing came through fellow Kent trainer Libby Lawson, who she met through hunting – Libby was Master of the East Kent hunt and Hannah was a groom. "I thought I was fit when I started riding out for her," admits Hannah, "But after 40 circuits of her indoor school, my legs turned to jelly and I felt sick. Then she asked, 'Ready for another go?' But I loved it!"
After Libby came Phil York. "When Will went to back to university, he was going to live at Phil's, I went up to visit – and after riding out one lot – Yorky said, 'Do you want a job?'" She laughs when I ask her what Phil was like to work for. "The man's nuts! But, because he's fearless, you don't worry – you can't say no because you know he'd ride anything! Before I went to Yorky's" Hannah goes on, "Libby found me Teenando – my first ride – then Will persuaded me to buy Ballybrack Dancer, who was my first winner, at Penshurst in 2015."
Hannah talks me through her debut victory. "We kicked on after the open ditch and went past Yorky as if he was standing still. I jumped the last alongside Charlie Marshall and went for it. The commentator said it was the best ride he'd seen all season, but I thought it was luck!" She confesses her limitations in the saddle, saying, "Will's a much better race-rider than me. I just do it for fun. If I win, it's amazing, but I'm happy if I get round – I've got no massive ambitions as a jockey."
Unlike Hannah, pointing is in Will's blood. He reels off his heritage. "My great-grandfather Charlie rode and trained, grandad John rode 79 winners in points, Dad Peter rode 20-odd and both my uncles – James and Andrew – rode. Andrew went one better than grandad with 80 and only stopped riding the year before I started. And my Mum, Alison, owned and rode Maltby Boy, a cheap buy who won 21 races."
"While we always had horses at home," Will admits, "I didn't massively enjoy riding when I was younger, but my parents bought me a pony – Timmy – when I was ten and he was a gentleman. I then got Spencer, a nutcase who used to bolt but would jump anything, which gave me confidence – riding him made me want to race-ride." Will's career started at Cottenham in December 2007, two weeks after his 16th birthday.
Although he had to wait until February 2009 for his first success, on his mother's Lord N Master, it was the first of seven in a campaign that saw him land the Wilkinson Sword trophy for the leading rider who had not previously ridden a winner. "I was lucky," says Will modestly. "Josh Moore was riding for David Phelan but got injured, so David gave me the ride on Prince Rodney as a local novice and I won three on him. The owner wanted Richard Burton to ride, but David said I was as good as him, which was a blatant lie! I originally wanted to get to 100 winners," continues Will of his career goals, "But 50's a more realistic target now. And I'd love to ride in a Foxhunters – either would do."
Hannah and Will's first winner from their current base was Lightonthemountain, at Parham in April 2018, which provoked different reactions from the couple. "I cried," admits Hannah, while for Will, it was more a feeling of relief. "I thought he'd win at Hackwood Park when he fell, then we were caught on the line at Charing. We'd been knocking on the door with the likes of Brogeen Boy and Probably George and thought we could only train seconds, but that win was followed by Cada Club, then Lightonthemountain won again a week later."
"We'd love more horses," says Hannah, explaining the vicious circle young trainers face, "But you can't get owners until you have winners and you don't have winners without owners!" Long term, the pair's aim is to have runners in Hunter Chases and, eventually, under rules. "We're hoping to get a permit next season," adds Hannah. "And, long term, we'd like a joint professional and pointing yard – we're working towards that."
All of Hannah and Will's horses run in the colours of the Hogs Green Racing Club, which anyone can join for just £10 per week. "The owners get weekly emails, videos and we hold Club days, when they can come and watch the horses," Hannah tells me. "We share out the passes – I do think it's an issue that syndicates only get one when they have a runner."
Hannah's final comment provides a nice link to our talk about the state of pointing – and the first thing both she and Will would do is involve the hunts more on the racing side. "I'd talk to the hunts and find out how best to help them," states Will firmly. "People forget that pointing's main purpose is as a fundraiser for the hunts – some are on the brink of folding and, if they go, the point-to-point goes. We need to share ideas on how to make meetings more profitable – hunts are amalgamating and we've lost lots of courses, like Catsfield and Detling."
"I hunt as much as I can – we used to hunt all our horses but now we're becoming more selective, as we've had a young horse go through wire fencing," adds Hannah. "It benefits some and freshens them up, but we also take ours cross-country schooling – they love doing something a bit different." Will sees both sides of the argument for the abolition of the need for pointers to hunt. "I used to hunt them and get my arms pulled out," he laughs. "Not hunting can be better for the horse's welfare, and hunts don't want racehorses going loopy but – on the other hand – it becomes a closed shop and hunting people don't get to see the horses until their local point-to-point."
Will wears his journalist hat with his suggestion on how to promote more interest in the sport, especially in his local area. "You need to make it easy to find out more information. I used to do profiles of jockeys and horses for the South East website. Stories are more interesting than statistics – and it makes it more personal." He tells me how his other career came about. "I volunteered to do some previews and reviews when I left school and it developed from there. Then Horse & Hound advertised for writers. There's nearly always a good story and, until I started writing, I didn't realise the problems other people have had with their horses. I used to think it was just us!"
Finally, I ask – apart from Will's writing – if they have time for anything else other than riding and training. Hannah looks proudly at her fiancé and tells me, "After the horses are done, Will works for a local architect. He's bright…" before spoiling her eulogy by adding, "But he has no common sense – the other day, I caught him trying to put a tin of baked beans in the microwave!" Will shrugs his shoulders. "We didn't have one when I was growing up…"
Hannah & Will's Fantastic Four
Cada Club (Hannah)
Missed last year with a small injury. When we got him, we were told he 'only jumps long'. I thought that meant he's a fantastic jumper but it was actually that he didn't have the ability to go short and he smashed through a fence at Parham – how he didn't fall, I don't know, but I came off! At Aldington, where we won, he just stood off everything. We've done a lot of grid work since and he seems to have learnt to put in an extra stride. He's ten now, but still has untapped potential.
Max My Boy (Hannah)
Unlucky last season to bump into (and finish second to) both Latenightpass and Vivaldi Collonges! I'll be on him and Will's going to ride everything else. We bought him for his super record of over 30 runs and no falls or unseats, which is amazing considering he's partially sighted in one eye.
Mere Peak (Will)
We bought him at Ascot out of Eugene O'Sullivan's yard. We liked his breeding –
he's by Kalanisi out of a Supreme Leader mare – but has raced in the last two pointing seasons in Ireland, as well as under rules over the summer, so hadn't had a break. We have given him lots of time and he'll make a late start – although we may put him up for sale to see if there's a market for 'ready to go' pointers in mid-season.
Out Of Coverage (Will)
A five-year-old we got from Monbeg Stables, the same source as Lightonthemountain. He was sixth in a good race in Ireland but was weak when we got him and we hoped he might strengthen up – he's been transformed in the past three months but still has some growing to do. He won't run until he's 100% ready, but may start at Godstone.