The nominations are in, the shortlists have been announced – and now it’s time for you to decide who wins in the first Horse & Hound Awards.
Voting opens today (15 September) in each of the 10 categories, all aimed at celebrating the achievements of the best riders, horses, vets, farriers, grooms and volunteers, who make a real difference to our sport.
The H&H Awards team have also decided to add an additional award – ‘Inspiration of the Year’ – which is to be awarded posthumously to Hannah Francis, who passed away on 1 August. Hannah’s parents, Rachel and James, are going to accept this award on Hannah’s behalf at the award ceremony at Ascot racecourse on 3 November.
H&H content director Sarah Jenkins said: “We received more than 1,000 nominations for the Horse & Hound Awards, an incredible response and testament to the strength of feeling from individuals regarding the impact each nominee has had on the horse world as a whole or their own equestrian experience.
“It was perhaps little surprise that our Olympic heroes, so fresh in everyone’s minds, received multiple nominations and we are delighted that they feature prominently in our shortlist.
“We read countless fantastic stories explaining the merits of each nominee and in many instances this made it extremely difficult to narrow down our selection to a shortlist in each category of just four or five.
“We now turn back to those who nominated, and thousands more of you, to ask which you think are the deserving winners. Please read these exceptional, emotional and often humorous stories and vote for your favourites today.”
Voting closes on 29 September and the winners will be announced at a ceremony at Ascot racecourse on 3 November, to which all finalists will be invited.
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- Horse & Hound; 15 September 2016
Sarah added: “For this to culminate in an evening of celebration reminiscent of the much-missed Horse & Hound ball will, I hope, be a fitting tribute to those worthy winners, chosen by our readers.”
“We’re very grateful to all our sponsors for helping us to make these awards a reality this year.”
For more on the finalists, see this week’s H&H magazine, out 15 September, or click here – where you can also cast your vote!
