Horse & Hound’s February Show Guide has long signalled the start of the core competition season, and this year’s essential guide to the season is out on 19 February.
Containing all the biggest equestrian show dates to help you plan your year as a competitor or a spectator, the issue also features training advice to give you the edge in 2026 – as well as top tips for having your most enjoyable year following horse sport.
Show guide features include:
Access All Areas – Matt Sampson and Kara Chad – we go behind the scenes at this popular showjumping couple’s new yard to find out how the best of the best manage their horses care and training to ensure happy equines and top results.
Are you ready to move up a level? Top riders and trainers point out the tell tale signs that you and your horse are ready to step up a level – and when you should wait – plus what to do to ensure a seamless transition.
How to navigate the rollercoaster ride that is being a pony parent – while keeping it fun for everyone.
When warm-ups go wrong: trouble shooting with the experts to ensure you enjoy the perfect competition day warm-up to ensure your horse performs at his best on the day.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Should we all be working with a sports psychologist? Once exclusive to top professional riders, now many grassroots riders are changing their mindset, enjoyment and results by working through challenges with qualified sports psychologists – here’s how you could benefit, too.
How to watch horse sport: equestrian competition is more accessible than ever – this guide will help spectators get the most out of their enjoyment for horse sport this year.
Plus: dates for your diary – plan your competition season by discipline: the championships to aim for and the events to watch in 2026.
H&H Editor-in-Chief Sarah Jenkins says: “Horse & Hound’s Essential Guide to the Season, a bumper, premium issue on sale 19 February, marks the eve of the competition calendar in the Olympic disciplines and showing.
“For decades we have celebrated this moment by bringing readers the dates they really need to help plan their competition season both as riders and spectators, plus essential advice and insight to give them their most competitive and enjoyable season to date.”
And that’s just the show guide, a supplement bound into the 19 February issue. Throughout the regular magazine’s pages you’ll find H&H’s weekly news, reports, interviews, advice, opinion, including Carl Hester’s column, vet advice on feeding for performance, international showjumping highlights, trail hunting and much more.
This issue typically sells out in shops quickly, so if you want a hard copy, find your nearest stockist using the link below and ask them to put one aside for you to ensure you don’t miss out.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Carol is an experienced journalist and editor, who is also a passionate amateur rider and dedicated horse owner, having ridden since childhood. She has a particular interest in the emotional well-being and ethical training of horses, alongside veterinary matters, having garnered extensive first-hand experience of numerous equine health conditions through more than 30 years of horse ownership.
