The London International Horse Show, formerly the Olympia London International Horse Show, is one of the UK's biggest

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

competitions. Previously held at

Olympia, London Olympia London, sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England. A range of international ...

, it has been hosted by

ExCeL London ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House, Newham, Custom House area of London Borough of Newham, Newham, East London. It is sit ...

since 2021. It is best known as the host of the UK legs of the FEI (

International International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Equestrian Federation) World Cup series in

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...

and

driving Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to fol ...

, however it also has multiple other showjumping classes, as well as fun competitions for example, The Shetland Pony Grand National and the Kennel Club Dog Agility. Each performance will also normally have two international equestrian displays. Some of the sessions are broadcast live by the

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each year, and all sessions are streamed. It is held over six days in the week preceding Christmas, and involves over 400 horses and ponies. The Show, and many of the events in it, are Christmas themed. The show is run by the HPower Group, with

Simon Brooks-Ward Major General Simon Howe Brooks-Ward, is a British event organiser and former senior Army Reserve officer. Through his company, The HPower Group, he is most well known for organising large-scale equestrian events worldwide. Military career Br ...

as Director. The event is owned b
Clarion Events

History

The first London International Horse Show in its current form was held in 1907; however an agricultural show (known as the first great horse show) was held at the Olympia venue from 1888. Reginald Gardiner Heaton, a horse breeder from

Chatteris Chatteris is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England, situated in The Fens between Huntingdon, March and Ely. The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency. The parish of C ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, is said to have thought up the Show. Early in 1906, Gardiner Heaton invited friends to dinner with the intention of persuading them to organise an international show on similar lines to those in New York, Paris and Brussels. The dinner was successful and Reginald Heaton became the managing director, a post he held for over 25 years. The inaugural show was attended by aristocracy and royalty including

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge Princess Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge (27 November 1833 – 27 October 1897), later Duchess of Teck, was a member of the British royal family. She was one of the first royals to patronise a wide range of charities. Mary Ade ...

The entrants were from countries including France, Italy, Belgium and Russia.

Lord Lonsdale Earl of Lonsdale is a title that has been created twice in British history, firstly in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1784 (becoming extinct in 1802), and then in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1807, both times for members of the Lowth ...

, then president of the

National Sporting Club The National Sporting Club was a club founded in London in 1891, which did more to establish the sport of boxing in Great Britain than any other organisation. Origins The club was founded on 5 March 1891 as a private club. Its premises were at ...

of Britain, was the show's first President. The directors listed in early programmes included many prominent and wealthy patrons, with at least 10 dukes, 11 marquises, 54 earls, 25 viscounts, 80 barons, and 28 knights who were made honorary vice-presidents. The show was closed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and suffered from the economic instability and industrialisation between the wars. In 1939 the last International Horse Show was held at Olympia. It was resurrected in 1947 at a different venue in

White City, London White City is a district of London, England, in the northern part of Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, 5 miles (8 km) west-northwest of Charing Cross. White City is home to Television Centre (previously th ...

. However, in December 1972, Reginald Heaton and Raymond Brooks-Ward decided to bring a horse show back to Olympia. "Olympia – The London International Horse Show" became a highlight of the equestrian calendar and part of the equestrian Christmas tradition. The Olympia London International Horse Show celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007 as "one of Europe's oldest equine competitions". In 2010 it was held as CSI 5*-W (

Show Jumping World Cup The FEI Show Jumping World Cup is an annual international competition among the world’s best show jumping horses and riders. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 14 leagues on all continents. The best riders from 132 preliminary competiti ...

event) and CDI-W (

Dressage World Cup The FEI World Cup Dressage Final is an annual international dressage series involving the world's best dressage horses and riders. It has been held since 1985. The World Cup is run in the form of a CDI. History The history of the World Cup ...

event). The 2020 Olympia London International Horse Show was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 2021 the show moved to a new venue at

and was renamed the London International Horse Show. In 2023, the organisers announced a new second full-size arena for the show which is named the New Horizon Plastics London Arena. This houses additional showing classes in association with the BSPS, the BSHA and the ASAO. It also houses additional Kennel Club Dog Agility Classes and various Masterclasses with key individuals from the equestrian world.

Competitions

The show has FEI competitions in

and

as well as showing and

mounted games Mounted Games is a branch of equestrian sport in which fast games are played on ponies up to a height of about . They require athletic ability, riding skills, hand-to-eye coordination, determination, perseverance, and a competitive spirit, which ...

Driving

There are three driving events, the Extreme Driving and two FEI World Cup classes. Teams of four horses drive round a set of obstacles against the clock, with two grooms also on the carriage. Faults are gained if an obstacle is knocked or the incorrect route is taken, the top score with least faults wins.

Dressage

The Show hosts FEI Dressage World Cup qualifiers, which usually take the format of a Grand prix on the first day, and Freestyle Dressage to Music on the second where riders are allowed to choreograph their own routine to music incorporating a number of compulsory movements. Dressage winners at the Show have included

Charlotte Dujardin Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin (born 13 July 1985) is a British dressage rider, equestrian and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era. She held the complete set of ava ...

Charlotte Fry Charlotte Fry (born 11 February 1996) is an Olympic, European Championships and World Championships medal-winning British dressage rider. Personal story A daughter of Laura Fry, who competed at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Cha ...

and

Carl Hester Carl Hester (born 29 June 1967 in Cambridgeshire, England) is a British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 8 August 2012 the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) rank him 12th in the world riding Uthopia. In 2012, Hester f ...

Showjumping

The show has showjumping classes on each day of the show, most with Christmas themed names such as the

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Christmas Cracker. These culminate in the 1.60m Longines FEI

on the Sunday and the London Grand Prix on the last day of the Show. Riders generally compete over the week and have the chance of gaining points in each class for leading rider. Many of the top showjumping riders in the world compete annually, as well as many of Britain's finest, including Harry Charles,

Ben Maher Benjamin Richard Maher MBE (born 30 January 1983, in Enfield) is a British show jumper. He represented Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2009 European Championships in Windsor, 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Oly ...

, Scott Brash and many more. The event also has non FEI competitions including the

Puissance Puissance is the high-jump competition in the equestrian sport of show jumping. Description The competition involves a maximum of five rounds - opening round followed by four jump-offs, not against the clock. The first round consists of four t ...

, the Six Bar, accumulators, the Mini-Major Relay and the Markel Champions Challenge where

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

s compete at showjumping to raise money for the Injured Jockeys Fund.

Showing

The show hosts the final for the

British Show Pony Society The British Show Pony Society (BSPS), formed in the autumn of 1949, is an organisation which oversees affiliated show pony, hunter pony and working hunter pony competitions for children's ponies in the United Kingdom. The Society offers three s ...

Mountain and Moorland championships and the London International Senior Showing Series Championships. In 2023, a new second arena was announced, and with it the London International Showing Series; the Finals of which take place at the Show.

Displays

In more recent years, the show also has equestrian displays which show different forms of horsemanship from around the world. Participants have included the

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

's mounted regiment, the

Household Cavalry The Household Cavalry (HCav) is made up of the two most senior regiments of the British Army, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons). These regiments are divided between the Household Cavalry Regiment st ...

and the

King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, is a ceremonial unit of the British Army, quartered at Woolwich. It is a mounted unit and all of its soldiers are trained to care for and drive teams of six horses, each team pulling a First World War-er ...

. Each year there is also a Shetland Pony Grand National in which a group of riders aged 8–14 ride

Shetland ponies The Shetland pony is a Scottish breed of pony originating in the Shetland Isles in the north of Scotland. It may stand up to at the withers. It has a heavy coat and short legs, is strong for its size, and is used for riding, driving, and ...

around a track over small jumps mimicking the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

held at Aintree. Many of these riders, such as

Sam Twiston-Davies Sam Twiston-Davies is a British National Hunt racing jockey. He was the retained jockey of ten-times British jump racing Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls. He won the 2015 Queen Mother Champion Chase on Dodging Bullets. His father is trainer Nigel ...

, have progressed to become professional jockeys. All proceeds from the event go to the

Bob Champion Robert Champion (born 4 June 1948) is an English former jump jockey, who won the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti. His triumph, while recovering from cancer, was made into the 1984 film ''Champions'', with John Hurt portraying Champion. The ...

Cancer Trust. Every season concludes with the Christmas Finale, a mix of theatricals, dancing and singing, ending with a visit from Father Christmas in a horse-drawn carriage.

Kennel Club Dog Agility

The Show hosts popular Agility classes from

The Kennel Club The Kennel Club ("KC") is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to oversee various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also opera ...

in several sections including ABC (Anything But Collie) and Small, Medium and Large dog breeds. These dogs run around racing and jumping over obstacles to compete for the fastest time.

Gallery

File:Line up in the veteran class at Olympia Horse Show 2017.jpg, Line up in the veteran class at Olympia Horse Show 2017 File:Fei Driving World Cup at the Olympia Horse Show 2017.jpg, Fei Driving World Cup at the Olympia Horse Show 2017 File:The Metropolitan police mounted department demo at Olympia Horse Show 2017.jpg, The Metropolitan police mounted department demo at Olympia Horse Show 2017 File:John Whitaker and Argento jumping at Olympia 2017.jpg, John Whitaker and Argento jumping at Olympia 2017 File:The Shetland Grand National at Olympia 2017.jpg, The Shetland Grand National at Olympia 2017 File:Pony Club Games team dressed as elves as part of the Christmas finale at Olympia 2017.jpg, Pony Club Games team dressed as elves as part of the Christmas finale at Olympia 2017

External links

London International Horse Show Website

London International Horse Show results
(search "London" in the input field)

References

{{Reflist, refs=https://www.usef.org/compete/disciplines/combined-driving Equestrian sports competitions in the United Kingdom Sports competitions in London Show jumping events Dressage events Equestrian sports in England Horse driving competition Olympia London Horse showing and exhibition