Horse of the Year Show
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Horse of the Year Show - also known as HOYS (pronounced /hois/)- was founded to be a culmination of the equestrian events year. Because of this, the show needed to be held indoors, so it was decided to hold the show in a stadium, making it a unique event.
Its purpose was to be a championship of champions, and is therefore an event of stringent competition. It is difficult to enter and difficult to win. The championship title of Equestrian of the Year being the ultimate goal of each contender.
Due in part to its high standards of competition and its placement at the end of equestrian sports' year, the Show has become a sort of national treasure in the UK.
The show runs every October and incorporates a full programme of international show jumping, the British National Show Jumping finals and a range of displays and entertainment including the Pony Club Mounted Games for the Prince Philip Cup. It also hosts all the domestic finals of the UK's equestrian showing season.
HOYS was first held in 1949 at Haringay. It was held as an annual event which moved to Wembley ten years later. The show again moved to Birmingham's NEC in 2002 due to the impending new National Stadium being built at Wembley. The event has become larger and more complex each year in its larger venue.
