Rhinegold Inspiration of the Year 2024
Who has wowed you this year with their determination, spirited achievement or fight against the odds?
Nominations for this award open on Thursday 22 August, close at 5pm (UK time) on 19 September, and can be submitted via the link below.
Nominate an individual for the Rhinegold Inspiration of the Year award
Previous Inspiration of the Year award winners
Previous winners of this award include:
- 2023: Dylan Ward, eight, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer with less than 50% chance of survival, in June 2022. Dylan has gained lifelong disabilities from the damage the cancer has caused, but he has not let it get in the way of pursuing his dream of becoming a “champion dressage rider”. He took home three wins at the RDA National Championships and since joining British Dressage has qualified for the Quest regional finals and the Associated Championships.
- 2022: Nicola Wilson, the European champion event rider suffered life-changing injuries in a fall at Badminton Horse Trials in May 2022. Nicola spent more than four months in hospital undergoing intensive rehab and physio work as she relearnt basic life skills, before returning home where she has since been offering mentorship and coaching to other talented riders.
- 2019: Joe Stockdale, 20, put a flourishing career as a cricketer on hold to embrace the daunting prospect of taking on a string of top-class showjumpers when his father Tim died in 2018. In less than a year, Joe, transferred his natural sporting ability to the showjumping ring in phenomenal style, landing a grand prix at Royal Windsor and being picked for the young rider squad at the European Championships.
- 2018: Daisy Sadler, 73, she travelled nearly 1,000 miles from Banbury via Edinburgh to The Kelpies and back in a traditional horse-drawn wagon pulled by two Brabants (Belgian Drafts) Olive and Arthur, and accompanied by Tad the dog. She raised more than £21,000 for the Imogen Whitby Fund as part of The Brain Tumour Charity.
- 2017: Julie Payne, the former advanced event rider who was told by her doctor five years earlier that within two years she would be able to neither walk nor speak. In August 2017 she claimed two individual golds at the para dressage European Championships, as well as being on the gold medal-winning team.
- 2016: the late Hannah Francis, who died from bone cancer in August 2016, but whose charity Willberry Wonder Pony has raised thousands for cancer research and granting horsey wishes to those with serious illnesses.
About the Horse & Hound Awards 2024
The Horse & Hound Awards are back for a ninth year in a row, in partnership with NAF and Agria.
As ever, the H&H Awards winners will be nominated and voted for by you, with the exception of the Horse & Hound Lifetime Achievement award, which will be decided by a Horse & Hound panel. We will recognise both the big names who have made 2024 special and the unsung heroes who make it possible for all of us to enjoy equestrian sport and our horses, at whatever level.
This year we will be returning to Dallas Burston Polo Club in Warwickshire, where some 300 people, including Olympic and Paralympic superstars, can look forward to a glamorous evening of champagne, winner reveals, Oscar-style speeches and dancing on Wednesday 27 November. If you’d like to join us, you can book an individual ticket or a platinum table for 10 people at www.hhawardsuk.com