The road to HOYS
The 2023 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) qualifiers have been announced, including new opportunities and cost-saving measures for competitors. This year’s event will take place from 4 to 8 October, at the NEC, Birmingham, and a Grandstand Media spokesman said “reflective of the current climate” the upcoming season will include an “opening up” of membership requirements for some HOYS classes, with the aim of giving competitors greater choice. “We’re confident that showing at HOYS is developing and moving with the times to reflect a championship that encompasses all breeds and types and provides opportunities for amateurs and professionals alike,” said a HOYS spokesman. “We encourage the seasoned competitors to support the qualifiers new and old, and to be a role model and aspiration for those that are taking their first steps into the showing community.”
Time to get entering
Entries for the first fixtures of the 2023 British Eventing (BE) season opened yesterday (1 February). Balloting remains part of the BE entries system for the first events of the season. For later fixtures, event organisers will be able to decide whether to use this system or take entries on a first come, first served basis. This is a departure from plans announced in October 2022, when BE said balloting would be scrapped for 2023. Entries for Epworth (1) and Poplar Park, both running on the first weekend of the season (4 to 5 March), are open. Epworth has a ballot date of noon on 14 February and Poplar’s ballot date is set at noon on 7 February. Oasby (1) (9 to 12 March), whose entries open on Monday (8 February) will be the first event not to use the ballot system.
Find out more about how entries will work in 2023
Hope for riding schools
A new partnership with local government should help ease the pressures of the often “burdensome” and inconsistent application of riding school licensing regulations. H&H has reported on the frustration felt by many riding schools in relation to the process of licensing; owners said they are required to carry out vast amounts of paperwork and wade through endless red tape, which means a huge workload and less time to spend on horses and riders.
Read how this new partnership may help
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