Joe Stockdale as Cinderella and other top riders as you’ve never seen them before – welcome to the London International Horse Show fancy dress relay

The London International Horse Show fancy dress class was back in 2023 and certainly did not disappoint. Some of the world’s top showjumpers and eventers delighted the crowds at the ExCeL Arena on Sunday (17 December) with their fabulous costumes – which were pantomime-themed – and speedy rounds of jumping.

Following each pair’s round, a celebrity panel of Pippa Funnell, impressionist Rory Bremner and none other than Father Christmas gave marks out of 10 for the riders’ performances. The total marks were then deducted from the time, providing the final result.

Check out some of the truly iconic costumes worn by the competitors, and so gallantly carried by their respective mounts.

John Whitaker made a great Ugly Sister…

…His mount was elegantly turned out in silver tinsel too

Robert Whitaker teamed up with his dad to complete the duo of the Ugly Sisters (with some interestingly placed embroidered hands on his costume!). They finished fifth after Robert stole the “10” scoring panel from the judges.

There were cheers aplenty for a very game Joe Stockdale, who fully embraced his new persona as Cinderella

Joe teamed up with Jodie Hall McAteer, who was Prince Charming, and together they finished sixth

Representing the eventers, recent Maryland 5 Star winner, Austin O’Connor, quite literally flew around as Peter Pan (with some help from his wings, of course) 

Austin teamed up with Gemma Stevens, who fully embraced her role as Hook. Together they finished third 

Tim Gredley replaced his magic carpet with a horse when dressing up as Aladdin 

While Tim’s pairing was Lily Attwood, who was dressed as Azerbanana. Sadly they finished bottom of the London International Horse Show fancy dress leaderboard in seventh 

Laura Collett and Tom McEwen were brilliant (and quite convincing too) as Snow White and The Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 

Tom’s “frontage” was a sight to behold, and undoubtedly contributed to their second place 

The winners of the London International Horse Show fancy dress were Harry Charles and Matt Sampson, who, disguised as Dick Whittington and The Cat, blazed around and gained strong marks from the judges 

According to the commentators, although the concept of Mother Goose took some explaining to Portuguese rider Duarte Seabra, he embraced it and finished fourth with Shane Breen, who was the Goose

You might also be interested in:

Fake bosoms, a ‘Portugeese’ and a hobby-horse lap of honour: the madly brilliant London fancy dress returns

‘They could have put the jumps up even higher’: John Whitaker’s winning streak continues to London six-bar

‘When you come round the corner, it looks ridiculous!’ But top eventer can’t wait to do another puissance

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Gemma Redrup

H&H features, racing and point-to-point editor

Gemma is an experienced journalist, having been part of the H&H team since 2014, who is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at in August 2018. Gemma’s reporting talents have taken her to numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.