Week Out From New Zealand’s Biggest Equestrian Event

Week Out From New Zealand’s Biggest Equestrian Event

It’s just a week to go until the Farmlands Horse of the Year Show.

This time next week the first horses will be cantering into the arenas, marking the start of six big days of competition.

HOY is the premier equestrian event in New Zealand, attracting the very best horses and riders from all over the country – as well as a few from across the Tasman – all of whom are chasing the top trophies in the land.

More than 1400 riders will compete across 14 disciplines – from showjumping to dressage, eventing to show hunter, mounted games to Pony Club and more.

Three riders are eyeing selection for the Rio Olympics, and HOY is particularly important for dressage combinations John Thompson (Hamilton) aboard JHT Antonello and Julie Brougham (Palmerston North) on Vom Feinsten who need vital qualifying marks to make them available for selection for New Zealand’s single individual place at Rio.

Also competing is New Zealand’s only onshore based high performance eventer, Clarke Johnstone and his horse Balmoral Sensation, who will head to the UK shortly after the show.

The CSI2* Olympic Cup, for Showjumper of the Year, has a prize purse of $116,000 and is the jewel in the crown of HOY. It has attracted New Zealand’s best along with Aussie raiders James Arkins and Clint Beresford.

Arkins and his New Zealand-bred horse Rosthwaite Vigilante II have already shown they mean business, by winning two big grand prix on this side of the Tasman in recent weeks. The CSI2* McMillan Silver Fern Stakes is the second richest class of the show with $46,000 on offer and again has a classy field.

Top Kiwi showjumpers Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) and Maurice Beatson (Dannevirke) have each won the cup five times and will be chasing a record-equalling sixth victory. But there are others in the talent-stacked field that will also be very much in the running.

The show is a key economic marker for Hawke’s Bay, pumping an estimated $12.5 million into the region each year.

While it is very much a celebration of all things equestrian, it is also one of the leading social events on the calendar and a big shopping destination.

What: Farmlands Horse of the Year Show

When: March 1-6, 2016

Where: Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds

For more info and tickets: www.hoy.kiwi

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