Commandant Geoff Curran and Bishops Quarter did it again to take the Ripon Select Foods Puissance class with an outright win at Horse of the Year Show 2023. Since making his debut at the infamous horse show last year, Curran got bit by the HOYS bug and returned this year to defend his title. Twelve initially came forward to face the big red wall and four riders made it through to round five in front of a rocking sell-out crowd at Birmingham’s NEC. The imposing wall stood at 2.20m, which proved too much for the other three competitors. Representing Ireland’s Ministry of Defence, it was a moment of Déjà vu 

Show producer Jerome Harforth’s homebred five-year-old mare Swan Lake won The Andrews Family Partbred Pony of the Year Championship with Sophie Staveley in the saddle on the penultimate evening of Horse of the Year Show (HOYS). By Llanarth Top Cat out of Dance All Night, Swan Lake has a number of HOYS connections to her name. She was shown by Jerome as a yearling and took reserve twice in the In-Hand Horse of the Year qualifiers, while her dam, Dance All Night, won here back in 2012 in the Children’s Riding Pony of the Year with Lucinda Elliott. After a quiet season last year, Sophie started riding Swan Lake this

Saturday night at Horse of the Year Show is always a fan-favourite and the packed-out crowd were in for quite a treat! The first class of the evening, the Grandstand Stoneleigh Events Cup, was hotly contested by the international showjumpers and the crowd were revelling off the electric atmosphere. Eight riders made the cut through to the jump off course set by course designer Kelvin Bywater. Despite Italian rider Lorenzo De Luca setting a tough time to beat of 37.47 seconds, Joe Stockdale was determined to do one better. Riding the striking chestnut stallion, Ebanking. Joe meant business from the off. He plotted his route to perfection, taking calculated risks

Ten pairs of ponies across the large and small sections of the Osborne Refrigerators Double Harness Scurry qualified over three days at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) to battle it out to be crowned Scurry Supremo this Saturday night. The final saw the fastest times of the week posted, but no one could catch Nelson King driving Gareth Roberts’ nippy pair of ponies, Omega Equine Darkhouse Fred & Barney. They completed the course in an eye-watering 40.59 seconds with Gareth as backstep. Hot on their heels were Jemma Millman with Piglet & Roo, finishing in 40.86 seconds, and Alison Osborne with Osborne Refrigerators Chip and Dale on 41.00 seconds.

On the 15th anniversary of The Leeman Family Maxi Cob of the Year Championship at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) Jo Baker’s Chestnut Irish Draught Chantilly Sandman (Teddy) stood Champion after settling for Reserve last year. Ridden by Jayne Ross, this was the 13-year-old gelding’s first HOYS centre line moment. “He was absolutely fantastic, he did not miss a beat,” said Jayne. “He’s always a lovely horse to show,but he was just perfect today.” Teddy is now based with show producer Clare Fitch and Jayne meets him at shows. “He comes to me a few days before, so it’s just a big joint effort”. Jayne now has two horses

Opening the proceedings on day four of Horse of the Year Show was the Equine Rescue Services 128cm and 138cm Championships. These finals see some of the show’s youngest competitors demonstrate an unbelievable standard of discipline and enthusiasm for their sport. 12-year-old Ella Kay and chestnut mare Red Alert III produced a thrilling round in the jump off which featured just four pony and rider combinations. The technical track asked some tricky questions of the young jockeys, but the experience of the 20-year-old mare shone through. Rising to the occasion for Ella, the pair came home nearly three seconds quicker than the second placed rider, eight-year-old Annabel Widdowson. Based in