Following the publication of the Government’s roadmap we are pleased to announce that Horse of the Year Show showing qualifiers for the upcoming season, are now live on the HOYS website: hoys.co.uk/competitor-zone/showing-qualifiers . Please note that this is the present planned schedule, however, given the current environment we are experiencing show cancellations and rescheduling on a regular basis.
With the assumption that the country successfully moves from the current lockdown through the outlined steps, competitors can look forward to once again competing for that exclusive golden ticket, with the hopes of being crowned Champion at Horse of the Year Show 2021. This year’s show will take place from 6th – 10th October with a welcome return of Showing Championships to contest, concluding with the Supreme Horse and Pony Championships as the ultimate accolade of the showing season.
Horse of the Year Show has significant underlying costs whether the event is able to run or not, and this is the reason that we have taken a cautious approach when allocating qualifiers this year. We do not underestimate the huge task ahead of us and the organisers of the qualifying shows, as with your support we try to deliver a viable event that is reflective of the environment that we are in.
With this in mind, and in an attempt to be able to run as close as possible to the ordinary standard of HOYS qualifiers, we have ensured that ridden horse qualifiers do not take place before the step three outlined date, when we hope that there is an improved chance that ride judges of horse classes will be able to judge the qualifier mounted. This will of course have to be reviewed, as things develop; we want to be as confident as possible of a qualifying show being able to run, but we also want to make certain that competitors have a fulfilling HOYS qualifying season in 2021.
We recognise the huge responsibility we have to the industry, and that we have to make certain that the qualifiers can go ahead. With this in mind, we express our gratitude to those competitors that may have to travel a little further this year to attend a qualifier, to those sponsors that have supported classes, and to each show organiser for working on delivering an event during these uncertain times.
In anticipation of the 2021 season, we are pleased to confirm that we are honouring the new qualification opportunities that were allocated in 2020 to the Irish Pony Society Championship Show, in addition to introducing new qualifying shows – Warwickshire Working Hunter Show, Houghton International Horse Trials, Barbury International Horse Trials, Royal Lancashire, Aintree In-Hand, Aintree Working Hunter and NPS Area 7.
Our number one priority is, and will remain to be, the health and safety of all those that come together to make HOYS happen, as we continue to support the efforts to control the spread of this virus. With this in mind, we will be working hard with the societies and qualifying shows to ensure that procedures are in place, that are fitting of when the show is due to take place.
As we countdown to the start of the 2021 season, we want to thank you for your patience and understanding and we hope that many of you will join us in the return to HOYS showing qualifiers. We wish you all well this season.
For further updates and more exciting announcements ahead of Horse of the Year Show 2021, make sure you keep an eye out on our social media pages.
ENDS
For further information on Horse of the Year Show 2021 please contact the HOYS Press Office via email press@hoys.co.uk or call 02476 858205.
