That winning feeling — HOYS 2019

Winner’s rug adorned? Check. Rosettes presented? Check. Spotlight on? Go!

As these winning Horse of the Year Show showjumping competitors show, nothing can match the feeling of celebrating in the spotlight at this annual equestrian extravaganza.

1. Angie Thompson and Fremont VDL celebrate a brilliant victory in the British Horse Feeds Speedi-Beet grade C championship.

2. Hats off to William Whitaker and the lightning-quick RMF Echo, who claimed top honours in the speed horse of the year international class on Sunday.

3. Blink and you’ll miss them — double champion Tabitha Kyle and her Azetec Diamond Equestrian 138cm victor Playboy Van De Zoetewei whizz past the cameras.

4. At the double, Robert Whitaker (Major Delacour) and Guy Williams (Mr Blue Sky UK) share their moment in the spotlight having both cleared 7ft2in (2.15m) to win the Ripon Select Foods puissance in front of a packed crowd on Saturday night.

5. Winners of the big one — the leading showjumper of the year — Ireland’s David Simpson and Gentlemen VH Veldhof.

6. The Blue Chip pony newcomers champions, Daisy Williams and Bermudez BDA.

Continued below…

‘Without the horses, we’re nothing’: rider salutes his HOYS winner

‘Everything we’re doing at the minute is for a very close teammate and friend of ours, Kevin Babbington, who’s fighting

Williams and Whitaker clear 7ft2in for HOYS puissance honours

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7. Three of the best — Jay Halim (Aragon Z) and Tim Davies (Lionel Van De Markieslanden) stop the clock at the exact same time to share the title in the Addington Equestrian 2019 Talent Seekers final, while the top-placed seven-year-old Green Grass joins the party under Paul Barker.

8. International winners and the show’s leading rider Georgia Tame on Quintella after the NAEC Stoneleigh Stakes.

9. In the red after being crowned the Connolly’s Red Mills senior newcomers champions are Nicole Pavitt and Southend.

10. This special moment belongs to Toby Fry and Zucan V after they triumphed in the Leading Pony Showjumper of the Year.

11. “I was 13th to go, which is my lucky number” — Simon Crippen and Premier Titanium gallop off with the goblet presented to the winner of the Equitop Myoplast senior Foxhunter Champion.

12. With ears pricked, Trevor H is clearly loving every moment, having helped his jockey Glain Watkin-Jones lift the title in the pony Foxhunter final.

13. Great Britain’s Harriet Nuttall is all smiles after claiming her first international success at HOYS with Galway Bay Jed.

14. Silver and Bronze League Champions Serena Kullich (Cooley River) and Stacey Cook (Gigant) take centre stage.

15. Is that trophy really for me? SFS Vincomte cannot believe his luck when this impressive silverware comes his way. Pat Hales’s nine-year-old headed the show’s opening international class under Irishman Anthony Condon.

Don’t miss the full 26-page report from HOYS, packed with all the action from Birmingham, in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 10 October

Jennifer Donald

H&H showjumping editor

Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.