It’s a little-disputed fact that just about everyone loves a horseback costume class. Except, maybe, the horses asked to participate in them (don’t worry, most get lots of treats when it’s all over!).
While you can generally count on your typical fare—Litte Bo Peep and her “sheep”, the bareback rider and her war-painted steed, the farmer and his pinto “Holstein” cow—every once and a while, you find a costume class duo that really does something special. And this year at the Fancy Dress Class at the annual Edenbridge & Oxted Show in Surrey, UK, that duo was seven-year-old Florence and her pony, Blackmountain Kit (“Kitty”) sporting a costume combination that was truly out of this world…
“We followed [British astronaut] Tim Peake’s journey into space and decided that would be the perfect costume for Edenbridge,” says Florence’s mother, Jocasta Fearn. The good news? They had one, very patient pony already in their possession. The bad news? Jocasta’s kid- and pony-sized space suits would eventually require five months of planning and three weeks of constant sewing to create the final effect.
“Florence and I made the entire outfit. It had flashing lights and everything! The first creation of the outfit was used [in May] at Heathfield Show, and it won.”
Tim Peake was launched to the International Space Station in December 2015 and returned to earth on June 18, 2016, after completing 3,000 orbits of the planet and even running the London Marathon in April from his treadmill in the space station. After winning their first costume class at Heathfield in East Sussex, Jocasta tweeted Peake a photo of Florence and Kitty:
And, to Florence and Jocasta’s surprise, Peake tweeted back from space!
Best International Space Station simulation/mockup yet, thanks!
— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) May 31, 2016
Of course, Florence and Kitty also went on to win their class in Edenbridge on August 28th, a hard-earned honor that was actually a few years in the making. “I think [our costume] at Edenbridge was even better than at Heathfield!” says Fearne. “Having come in second two years in a row, we were thrilled to finally get top spot.”