Newbie's guide to Horse of the Year Show?

[AChickenCalledKorma]

DD2 has discovered riding and is hooked. Her 10th birthday is coming up and I've just discovered HOY show tickets are on sale. I know it's not till Oct, but I'm considered buying her and me tickets, as a birthday present.

Questions:

• How fast will tickets sell out? (i.e. how long do I have to think about it)
• How do I know which events we will actually see on a certain day? I can't find a programme/timetable on the website.
• How much can you see from the cheapest seats?

Or alternatively - is there an alternative show/event in London/Surrey/Sussex that I should consider instead. And yes, I know there are probably hundreds of such shows, but I'm thinking of something that has a bit of a "Wow" factor!

Hi, we go every year and both DD and I have ridden there. It's our favourite show of the year. It is quite hard core horse though - a mixture of show jumping and showing with little extra entertainment. We've already bought out tickets and we go for the cheapest ones because we mostly want to watch the showing in the Caldene (2nd) arena. It is free seating in there so we don't waste our money by buying fancy tickets to the main arena - just enough to get us in.

The timetables are up on www.hoys.co.uk and you'll also see the prices. You need to decide not only which day you want to go but also in the morning/afternoon or the evening.

I'm not sure how quickly they sell out because we always buy ours within a few days of coming on sale. If you go on it'll tell you how many tickets available in each section if you start to try and buy them.

There are fantastic horsey shops - best anywhere - so spend some hours looking round there as well.

I don't know what other events you'd fancy - the Your Horse Live show is good for newbies if they still hold that and of course there are county shows. The Royal International at Hickstead is fantastic in July. Brilliant show jumping and showing - the best outdoor show of the year.

For a present for a keen youngster I'd recommend the Olympia Christmas show - tickets on sale already and they go super fast..

That is a mixture of show jumping, dog agility and amazing performances - like an equestrian theatre show. You just sit there and are entertained for a few hours. It's a must do and being just before Christmas is a brilliant day out..

Let me know if you've any further questions..

Thanks Butkin - that's all really useful stuff.

I'd forgotten about Olympia. I used to love watching that on TV. Had also forgotten about County shows (can you tell I'm not really very horsey myself LOL!) Our local one is coming up, so that has answered another question about where to take her at half term

Olympia does sound like the best option for entertainment - think I'll try for that and see if we can still get tickets.

Yes Olympia is your best bet for a fun time.. Suffolk Show - our local - is in half term and DD is riding there. Always an enjoyable day out..

We compete at both - HOYS will have the pony club and a few other displays. May have driving. The showing is a bit specialist - if you are into showing (which I am) then it is fascinating. Otherwise, paint is more interesting. Show jumping is a high standard and you do get close to the action and can often be rubbing shoulders with the top stars.

Olympia has much better shopping. It is more entertaining and I would think more appropriate for you.