SHOWING IS COMING HOME

There have been a significant number of  organisers requesting permission to run classes from the series at their shows in 2023.

Organisers of the Christmas London Show worked with the British Show Pony Society (BSPS), the British Show Horse Association (BSHA) and the Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations (ASAO), to create a series that consists of 20 different classes, which cover everything from Hacks and Cobs, to Cradle Stakes and Coloured Ponies.

The aim of the new series is to bring Showing to a wider audience.  Its emphasis is to be inclusive, with a focus on the amateur home-produced competitor, encouraging them to compete at their local agricultural and county show.  Entrants for the classes will not have to be an association/society member to compete in the qualifying classes but would have to join the relevant association/society if they reach the final.  It is expected that this open invitation will encourage many more competitors to ‘have a go’ at their local show.  All the BSHA classes are aimed at amateurs, whilst the BSPS classes are all performance classes and are not restricted to amateurs. These classes offer an ideal opportunity for ponies and horses competing in other disciplines to gain experience from the excellent educational competitive platform that showing provides.

The final list of Shows that will host classes for the series will be released mid-February. 

Paul Hooper OBE, Secretary of the ASAO and President of the Mid Somerset Show said; “Equine Showing is an intrinsic part of our member shows and we look forward to working with LIHS this year to expand this fantastic new series across the UK.  We hope all competitors enjoy competing at our member shows throughout the Summer and wish them all the very best of luck at reaching the finals of all the equine competitions on offer.”

Paul Cook of BSPS said, “It is very exciting that so many Show organisers have come forward to request permission to run these classes.  We are sure that this new format will make the classes more interesting for the public to watch as commentators will be encouraged to be much more informative for the watching public, describing what is required of the competitor and what the public should be looking out for.  The finals in London at Christmas time are going to be an event not to be missed.”

Nigel Hollings, of BSHA said, “I am so pleased that we’ve had such a fantastic response from Show organisers.  It will be a great experience for finalists to compete at The London International Horse Show in December – Showing started in the capital with The International Horse Show at Olympia, holding many classes when it started in 1907, so the circle is now complete with Showing coming home.  This is such an exciting development for the Showing world.”