GRAND BALOU 4 ridden by Victoria Gulliksen, Joint winner of Class 19, The Puissance during Horse Of The Year Show at the NEC Birmingham, West Midlands, UK between 07-11th October 2015
Young showjumpers have more chances to qualify for Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) thanks to the introduction of under-25 wildcards.
For the first time this year, HOYS organisers Grandstand Media Ltd will be offering wildcards to young riders between the ages of 18 and 25.
The first wildcard will be awarded to the highest placed young rider within the top 10 of the National Championship Show League that takes place at the British Showjumping National Championships 8-13 August.
Winners will be required to bring two or three horses to HOYS to jump the international classes, plus one for the puissance should they wish.
For 2017, due to the Young Riders Europeans running the same dates as the British Showjumping National Championships, a wildcard will also be offered to the highest placed individual medallist at the Young Riders Europeans.
“The decision to introduce the under-25 wildcard was made in conjunction with British Showjumping (BS) in order to support our British young riders and to offer them more opportunities jumping here in the UK,” said a spokesman for Grandstand Media Ltd.
Allocation of places
HOYS 2017 will take place from 4-8 October at Birmingham’s NEC. This year the international showjumping classes will be held across the last three days of the show; Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Out of the 32 places available, 16 are allocated to foreign riders and 16 are allocated for British riders. The foreign riders are selected from the Longines ranking list.
The qualifying process for the winter finals being
British riders qualify if they are one of the top seven British riders on the ranking list or the top two riders on the BS gold league table.
Wildcards are also awarded to the winner of the international stairway series, the national champion and the winner of the HOYS league at the Stoneleigh Horse Show.
Two other wild cards are up for grabs at Keysoe (4-6 July).
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
Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.
