This award is to celebrate the equine heroes of the past decade (2011–2020), the horses who have been at the top of their game and a pure joy to watch
The shortlist has been chosen and voting for this award is open for one week only, until 11.59pm on 5 November, in accordance with these terms and conditions.
Big Star
17-year-old bay stallion
Quick Star x Nimmerdor
Rider: Nick Skelton
Owners: Gary and Beverley Widdowson
Breeder: Cees Klaver
This charismatic megastar, Nick’s “horse of a lifetime”, was a winning machine until his retirement in 2017. He amassed global grand prix victories, but his crowning glory was a brace of Olympic gold medals: at London 2012 he led the British team to victory, while at Rio 2016 he claimed individual honours. He really was the best in the world.
Chilli Morning
Died as a 20-year-old in 2020, chestnut stallion
Phantomic x Kolibre
Rider: William Fox-Pitt
Owners: Chris and Lisa Stone
Breeder: Rainer Schicketanz
A brilliant championship campaigner for Britain this decade with two individual bronzes and a team silver. He also became the only stallion ever to triumph at Badminton with his 2015 victory. Taking Chilli to the Rio Olympics was a major motivator in William’s comeback from his serious head injury; they finished best of the Brits.
Valegro
18-year-old dark bay gelding
Negro x Gershwin
Rider: Charlotte Dujardin
Owners: Carl Hester, Roly Luard and Anne Barrott
Breeders: Maartje and Joop Hanse
Valegro is the greatest dressage horse of all time. He took individual and team gold at the 2012 Olympics and individual gold in 2016. At Olympia 2014, he beat his own world record to achieve the highest-ever recorded grand prix freestyle dressage score of 94.3%.
La Biosthetique Sam FBW
20-year-old bay gelding
Stan The Man x Heraldik
Rider: Michael Jung
Owners: Jung Family, Erich Single, Joachim Jung and DOKR (German Olympic equestrian committee)
Breeder: Günter Seitter
A dazzling star – winner of back-to-back individual Olympic golds, European and world individual gold and four other championship medals, plus his victories at Badminton and Burghley helped Michael secure the Rolex Grand Slam in 2016.
Previous winners of this award include:
- 2019: Vanir Kamira, “ a pain in the arse 352 days a year” this true five-star horse “comes into her own at Badminton and Burghley”, ridden by Piggy French
- 2018: Arctic Soul, the former racehorse turned elite eventer, ridden by Gemma Tattersalls
- 2017: Nip Tuck, Carl Hester’s outstanding equine partner
- 2016: Valegro, the elite dressage star and world record breaker, ridden by Charlotte Dujardin
About the Horse & Hound Awards 2020
The H&H Awards, in partnership with NAF, are back – this year’s ceremony will be virtual, an exciting multi-media online bonanza. This innovation means equestrian fans around the world can be part of the celebration. We look forward to sharing the evening with you all.
This year’s awards will celebrate the heroes of the past decade (2011–2020) in elite equestrian sport, while honouring the unsung stars who have helped our industry, our horses and our spirits during this unusual year.
As previously, the H&H Award winners will be nominated and voted for by you. Anyone is welcome to nominate the person, group or horse they feel deserves recognition from Thursday 3 September.
Following the close of nominations at 5pm on 4 October, the H&H judging panel will decide on a shortlist of contenders. The panel will be influenced by the number of nominations and strength of the story of the nominee’s dedication and achievement.
On 29 October, we will announce the shortlisted candidates in the magazine and online, sharing their stories and inviting you to vote for your winners online, with voting closing on 5 November.
The winners will be revealed in our sparkling online virtual ceremony on 10 December, with guests joining us from around the world.
