Barney has shown throughout his twenty year TREC career that small ponies with adults can compete with (and beat!) the full sized horses. His character and soundness have carried him to GB Championship wins and successfully from Level 2 through to Level 4. He is a great ambassador for tough native ponies ridden by adults enjoying TREC.

Barney joined the Thurnell family in 2001 as an extremely nervous seven year old Welsh Section C. He competed at Level 2 and 3 initially in pairs classes, gaining confidence from his much larger horse pair. At only 13 hands and ridden by adult Sarah, he was expected to do everything the big horses did despite his small size.

Barney continued to grow in experience and confidence and won, and competed at, numerous GB Championships from 2002 onwards, including Level 4 individual and night sections. He was placed 5th in the Level 2a class at the 2019 National Championships, his most recent competition aged 25. He has covered more than 1000km in TREC events and only retired once, after losing a shoe in a boggy river. A cheeky legend in his own lifetime, he is often the smallest pony at the vetting. He knows all the PTV obstacles and most of the judges personally.