Horse of the year show - anyone been ?

[Nutellanjam]

Hi all
Ive never been but am considering getting dd tickets to the horse of the year show for birthday ( if they aren’t outrageously expensive). Has anyone been ? Is it a great experience for a horse mad 10-12 yr old ?
is it possible to get tickets for a day? ( they aren’t on sale yet) . What day is best ? Im guessing the last day ? And is that when the pony club mounted games are ?
thanks very much !

Following as I used to love watching this on TV as a kid and had no idea it still happened!
Imagine pony club games being shown on TV now!

I live in London now so could go.

They also had the puissance, I loved that.

Yea I've been, it's good. Groupon often has cheaper tickets for less popular times. There's shetland Derby or mounted games most days

V difficult to get to as a wheelchair user I found for my mum

I took my dd when she was 10 and she absolutely loved it. We went on the Sunday evening and saw the pony club finals which dd thought was amazing. Dd doesn't like big crowds and the Sunday evening wasn't as busy

Yes, I've been all be it a long time ago now.

Absolutely go for one day, most people do!

Have they published the schedule yet? Have a look at that while deciding. There's a main and a smaller arena. An absolute TON of shopping.

For a cheaper but still big and fun day out there is Your Horse Live - the focus for the arena stuff is more educational. Shed loads of shopping again.

Don't split up at either would be my biggest advice - way too hard to find each other again! Mobile phone signal is also non-existent at YHL, and I think bad at HOYS. Agree an emergency plan where to meet if you do get separated - at HOYS you will have allocated big arena seats (and you can upgrade to the same at YHL but I've never bothered).

Take COMFORTABLE shoes with a good amount of padding, eg trainers, as you will be on your feet on concrete at both. Bags to carry your shopping in, and packed lunch or be prepared to pay for pricey food and drink. Although YHL has a load of food vans, which means very welcome hot food on a cold day!

Its at the NEC now

I think you're thinking of Olympia - which is still on, but has moved to Excel and goes by London International Horse Show now (but casually everybody still calls it Olympia!). Still has the Puissance, and still usually on TV for bits of it - BBC red button and for paying members of Horse & Country TV. Still has Santa to, this a very scaled back version.

Much less shopping (and all a bit hott totty posh shyte) then HOYS or YHL.

At Olympia you go, sit in your seats and watch the whole schedule for the afternoon or evening. At HOYS there's much more drop in to watch the bits you fancy, wander out to do some shopping when you get a bit restless. At YHL you queue to watch the demos you really want to, and shop the rest of the time.

For a horse-mad preteen/teen I also HIGHLY recommend the London International Horse Show in December. We go every year and it's spectacular.

We’ve been the last two year’s, and will go again this year. In fact, I’ve booked the hotel ready.

We do the Saturday evening performance, stay over and do Sunday morning/afternoon. It means we’ve pretty much seen every type of class.

We love the shopping (always have a list) and my 10 year old loves it. Last year she met Harlow which made her day.

Travel wise it’s so easy as it’s an easy walk through from Birmingham International (last year DD had a medical boot on her foot and found the walking fine.

I also suggest (if you’re close enough) Windsor horse show. It’s a lovely little show, and when the weather is nice, it’s a great way to spend the day.

Classes are in hand as well as ridden and so a lot of variety.

Thanks very much for the useful info !

It is very good, the shopping isn't as good as at some other events but I would focus on getting tickets for a session that sounds fun and not bother too much with the shopping.

I wouldn't suggest going to see the puissance, it sells out quickly and although when it is good it is great, it can be a bit of a let down if it doesn't go to many rounds.

Look at all the classes, and think about what she will enjoy. I haven't looked at the program recently but speed classes and six bar classes are normally fun. The scurry is brilliant fun. Pony classes might be of interest. The displays are normally the same or similar each session.

I took a child at a similar age and they loved it.

No HOYS is at the NEC, LIHS has moved from Olympia to the Excel Arena.

OP wasn't asking about LHS and neither the post I responded to.

I took my daughter when she was about 12 and we had a great day out. She met loads of snow jumpers and we loved the stalls. We do Hickstead every year too which is a great day out, especially for the derby, you can often get free tickets too- I've literally never paid in over 10 years!