Rachel Proudley accomplished what she described as “the number one win” of her showjumping career by landing the Speed Horse of the Year crown at the Horse of the Year Show. A thrilling one-round class looked to be heading the way of Welshman Mark Edwards, who produced a blistering performance on Royale Tale, clocking 56.91 seconds. He had led from early in the competition, but everything changed when the final two competitors entered the arena – Jodie Hall McAteer and last-to-go Rachel. Jodie and Kimosa Van Het Kritrahof went more than half a second inside Mark’s time, leaving 19-year-old Rachel a Herculean task aboard Petitfour VD Wareslage, but they delivered

Will Fletcher added his name to the family’s Horse of the Year Show successes with victory in the British Horse Feeds Speedi-Beet Grade C Championship. Twenty eight years after his mother Tina claimed the first of her two wins in the same class, Will fought through considerable discomfort to land the concluding national showjumping competition of HOYS 2024 After being accidentally kicked by a horse in the warm-up area, Will defied a severe limp and bruising to take first place on Qian Van Heiste and third with Calixte Heartbreaker Z. He had four horses in the class, and three made the jump-off. His winning time of 31.61 seconds after being

Under the spotlights of a full house on the penultimate evening of Horse of the Year Show (HOYS), judges JJ Kemp (South Africa) and Gregory Gerry (Australia) welcomed back their first and second placed Cobs from this morning’s Lightweight and Heavyweight classes to select The Harrod and Coles Family Cob of the Year Champion. Cobs being few and far between in South Africa, ride judge JJ Kemp commented on how light these horses are to ride, which is of course the epitome of a good show cob; good manners and a comfortable ride.  The Heavyweight winner was crowned Champion; 11-year-old Taylors Hero ridden by Richard Telford and jointly owned by

History repeated itself on the penultimate evening of Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) as Alison Osborne was crowned Osborne Refrigerators Double Harness Scurry of the Year Championship with her formidable pair of ponies Osborne Refrigerators Woody & Buzz.  Ten pairs of ponies across the large and small sections of the Osborne Refrigerators Double Harness Scurry qualified over three days at HOYS to battle it out in the ‘World Cup final’ of Scurry driving on Saturday night.  Alison has dominated the leader board all week, winning both Small rounds with Osborne Refrigerators Woody & Buzz and both Large rounds with Osborne Refrigerators Chip & Dale. Hot on her heels all

Joe Trunkfield and Locomotion stayed on track through five rounds of power-jumping to win the Ripon Select Foods Puissance in thrilling fashion at the Horse of the Year Show. Oakham-based Joe kept the famous red wall intact to claim a clear win after he and Paul Sims aboard Kingfisher were the only two combinations to make the final round. With the wall built at two metres fifteen centimetres (seven feet, one inch), Joe went clear before Paul collected four faults and the HOYS Puissance for 2024 was signed, sealed and settled. Irish rider Commandant Geoff Curran had been biding for a hat-trick of HOYS Puissance titles with Bishops Quarter, but

The Equestrian Index HOYS Trade Stand of the Year Awards (TOTY) are designed to recognise exhibitor talents in trade stand dressing and etiquette throughout the show week. All trade stands by way of exhibiting are automatically entered into the awards which have two sections; Best Display 20sqm and under and Best Display over 20sqm. Judging for the awards took place anonymously over Wednesday and Thursday of the show during trading hours. Every trade stand (and team) were observed and assessed across four categories; best overall impression, warmest welcome, best use of space and best interaction with customers. The winner of the 20sqm and under category in 2024 was Chic Cheval