Gill Thompson: ‘As stressful as HOYS can be, try your best to enjoy the occasion’

Gill Thompson, who has shown ponies and horses at the highest level and is a leading producer of ponies, looks back at the BSPS championships and ahead to HOYS

With the British Show Pony Society (BSPS) Summer Championships behind us, and Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) just around the corner, it feels as if the season is almost at a close for most of us.

I came away from the BSPS championships with mixed feelings and food for thought. The new class for young ponies, judged by Yogi Briesner, Jane Nixon and Richard Davison, was excellent. It was a great idea that was well supported and well judged, as were other new initiatives.

I was saddened to see some more traditional classes were poorly supported. This was even the case in some of the Blue Riband leagues, which used to be the strongest sections, and in some 128cm show pony classes, which have been strong qualifiers. Reflecting on this, I wonder if these traditional classes need a rethink, too, and perhaps the schedule needs a reshuffle altogether.

In Stuart Hollings’ most recent column, he outlined some of the benefits of using a marks system, and questioned their continued absence at Hickstead.

A few competitors have since spoken to me about this, and I wonder actually whether a further reversal to a 60/40 split in marks in favour of performance would be even better?

This would definitely ensure combinations were better rewarded for excellent performance. We may also see fewer results where conformationally excellent ponies come to the fore even with a blip, which is something that seems to incense the masses and put off newcomers to the discipline.

“The final throes of preparation”

As HOYS is a heartbeat away, we’re in the final throes of preparation, which doesn’t get any easier! I try to remind myself that as long as the ponies look and go as well as possible, I can do no more.

It’s impossible to truly replicate the atmosphere there, but there are things you can do. If you’re competing at HOYS for the first time, make sure you’ve practised indoors, and try to replicate the conformation phase with a narrow strip in the arena.

It’s also important to make sure that you don’t underestimate the length of time it takes to get from the lorry to the arena. I always have a photo of the arena familiarisation and working-in timetable on my phone – it’s easy to forget these. And always have your bridle number with you – it’s needed even when you’re in the outside arena working in, but it’s so easily forgotten and it can be a long run back for it!

An uneven split for show ponies

As predicted, the show pony classes will be uneven this year in light of the new mixed qualifiers, all of which were awarded to 148cm ponies, including at The Showing Register’s (TSR) amateur-only show.

There were no 128cm ponies eligible for a TSR Amateur League ticket, either, so the smallest ponies will have the smallest numbers forward, which is such a shame as they really have been strong in qualifying rounds, and this won’t be reflected at the final. While I appreciate that HOYS must make changes and try new initiatives, I hope that they rethink this one next year.

I’ll also be keenly watching the final of the new intermediate show horse final. I haven’t had an intermediate this year, but I feel the new format where the winner rather than champion qualifies is a step forward. It will be interesting to see the split between small and large types qualified, and also whether the new height rules will have encouraged new horses into the fold.

Finally, we all work so hard to get to HOYS, it’s sometimes easy to forget that this is the pinnacle of the showing calendar, and as stressful as the preparation can be, the show itself is also to be enjoyed. So if you are competing, try your best to enjoy the occasion, and the best of luck.

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