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Cynthia is first-class in the world of horse-riding
If there is one lady who is known above others in equine circles across Pembrokeshire and nationally then it is undoubtedly Cynthia Higgon.
She has been involved with horses all her life and is still as enthusiastic about our four-legged friends as ever, after a life time of service.
Amazing dedication
It is difficult to portray all the work undertaken by Cynthia but it goes some way by saying that she retired last Autumn as West Wales Area point-to-point secretary after 40 years (when Beverly Thomas took over) and for a quarter of that time she was also chairman of the National Point-to-Point Secretaries’ Association, travelling to attend meetings as far afield as Fife, East Anglia, Cornwall and Pembrokeshire. There were 213 different point-to-points held under her chairmanship and in the 10 years of her office she attended at least one at every venue!
Ask Cynthia for her favourite course and she would politely demur but when pushed would nominate Croome, near Upton on Severn, which is where she rode her very first point-to-point.
Other equine work – and the joys of being on a horse
After back trouble forced her to stop racing, Cynthia showed ponies and then competed in hunter and side-saddle classes, travelling down to compete at the United Counties’ Show in Carmarthen, which was a prestigious show in those days. She met and married Peter Higgon, who was secretary of the Pembrokeshire Hunt – and both have been involved throughout their married life. She has hunted with the Pembrokeshire and South Pembrokeshire Hunts, been honoured as Master and Field Master of them both – and says,
“I know the County far better from the back of a horse and there are some wonderful views I should have otherwise missed”.
Cynthia still rides regularly and adds that there is nothing like being on horseback for being at peace.
Back to point-to-point
She is still the West Wales representative for the Point-to-Point Owners and Riders Association and can often be seen with her clip-board in hand in the jockeys’ changing rooms, talking to jockeys and the horses’ owners about any ideas for change that they have. She has been actively involved since its inception 32 years ago and regularly attends National meetings at Warwick Racecourse.
Her role as secretary is to ensure the smooth running of things in the West Wales area, and she attends all the meetings and brings news from the Jockey Club and anything else that needs to be done, which again means no end of travel.
Talk to Cynthia about her involvement in point-to-pointing and she would underplay the work she has done but we talked to Dennis Reed and Dai Miller, both real characters who frequent local point-to-points, and the former would say that her work has been outstanding and the latter would add that without her enthusiasm and drive there might no longer be point-to-pointing in the area, which is high praise indeed from those who know best!
As well as her well-documented administrative skills, Cynthia has so far trained 96 winners in point-to-point racing and has her sights set on 100. She has a lovely horse named ‘Jenga’ which she bred and owned and is currently trained by Louise Skelton in Herefordshire.
Other areas of her commitment
Cynthia is also involved in the show jumping aspect of horses since she can be seen helping at the Pembroke County Show each year, and has helped to attract top-class riders to our area to compete in very good classes – and she has already sorted out the programme for the show-jumpers for 2010. She used to regularly attend Bowlings’ Riding School to help with Riding for the Disabled and another means of encouraging children is the fact that it was her innovation to have pony races at point-to-point meetings to help encourage the next generation of riders to take part.
And finally . . .
She is immensely proud of the fact that top trainers like Peter Bowen and Tim Vaughan started out as youngsters at the local point-to-point meetings and is eager that more follow in their considerable footsteps.
“I have been lucky to have had so much pleasure out of my work with horses and I wouldn’t have missed a moment of it,” says Cynthia, “with the lasting friendships and wonderful experiences.”
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