The Widdowson family had another showjumping occasion to savour as nine-year-old Annabel Widdowson won the Enablelink Ltd 128cm Championship at Horse of the Year Show. Annabel’s grandparents Gary and Beverley reached the sport’s pinnacle as owners of Big Star, the superstar stallion that Nick Skelton rode to Olympic individual gold medal glory at Rio 2016 after also helping Great Britain win the Olympic team title in London four years previously. This time, it was Annabel’s turn in the spotlight with 23-year-old pony Bunbury Conquest as they produced a jump-off performance to live long in the memory. Anya Dewey Clarke, riding Jim, looked to have done enough for victory in a

Welshman Mark Edwards added another entry to his impressive Horse of the Year Show portfolio by winning the NAEC Stoneleigh Cup. Riding Dillinger NE – a nine-year-old that Mark rates as probably the best horse he has had – achieved victory by 23 hundredths of a second from French challenger Julien Anquetin and Flamby Des Forets, with Rachel Proudley and Quality Street in third. Mark won back-to-back international classes at HOYS in 2023, while he has also topped the winner’s podium in national classes, and that consistency again surfaced at Birmingham NEC. “We have been on a great run of form here the past few years. It is a great

Hollie Gerken completed a remarkable and historic hat-trick at the Horse of the Year Show by winning the STX-UK Pony Foxhunter Championship. A day after landing the Leading Pony Showjumper and Pony Newcomers classes, 14-year-old Hollie once again came up trumps. Not only did she top the podium aboard Ballycarrow Mirahs Sparrow, Hollie also finished fifth on Velini’s Silver Star and sixth with Livewire VI after all three of her contenders featured among a nine-combination jump-off. Across the two days of dazzling success, it added up to arguably the greatest exhibition of pony riding that HOYS has seen in its illustrious 75-year history. Even Hollie struggled to take in the

The Catplant Group of Companies Ltd. Show Hunter Championship has featured at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) since the show’s inception 75 years ago. This evening, the  top six horses from the three weight divisions judged earlier in the day were invited back to contest the title. The Middleweight winner Mulberry Lane, owned by Sue Tennant and ridden by Craig Kiddier, was crowned Champion, clocking up a first HOYS win for Craig. The nine-year-old is predominantly Craig’s working hunter horse, making the win even more significant, as Craig wasn’t expecting too much on the flat. They finished third on Wednesday in the Sport Horse Breeding of GB Working Hunter

Day three of Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) opened in the TopSpec Arena with the National Pony Society/Mole Valley Farmers Working Hunter Pony of the Year classes judged by William Fox-Pitt MBE and Chris Lawrie from Australia. Watching the ponies and riders tackle David Cole’s course, William said: “I’m very impressed with how well the horses are going… It’s a good hunting course with lots of questions.” All of those questions and more were answered by the judges’ overall Champion and winner of the Intermediate Section, Plato VD Donkhoeve, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood owned and ridden by Philippa King. This was their first HOYS win and a particularly special moment for Philippa’s

Irish rider Commandant Geoff Curran produced a dominant display to win The Dick Turpin Stakes as international competition began at the Horse of the Year Show in Birmingham. Puissance champion at HOYS in 2022 and 2023, and bidding for a hat-trick this year, he added another title to his collection by landing the one-round speed class aboard DHF Alliance. Their time of 56.86 seconds proved more than two-and-a-half seconds quicker than runner-up Paul Barker with Strides Maureen, while William Whitaker and Active Spirit finished third. “She won it very well,” Geoff said. “She is a very fast mare naturally, and if I do my job and keep it smooth, she