Katherine Bertram provides her annual report from the Arena of Dreams at the 2025 Horse of the Year Show.
Sleep deprivation, floodlit fog, and cheese toasties in a car-park can only mean one thing – the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS)! Now in its 23rd year at the NEC, Birmingham, HOYS is an annual five-day marathon of the top of equestrian showjumping and showing. Ridden Arabians have been shown at HOYS since 1998 – the first champion being L Horwell’s Azrael – and they are still going strong 27 years later. This year’s class was held on the final afternoon of the show, which meant our champion only had a short wait for the Supreme Championship preliminary judging. Credit must be given to the stewards, judges, competitors, and organisers who were able to bring the tightly scheduled programme back to order after delays had caused the TopSpec Arena to run an hour behind and threatened the ability to transfer all Supreme competitors to the main ring final on time. HOYS, although fundamentally a horse show, is akin to live theatre, constructed magic that makes the exhausting appear effortless. Sincere thanks, therefore, to those who kept the magic alive and enabled the Andrews Bowen International Arena to run, almost, to time.
After a long and dramatic season of qualifiers, 14 horses were presented before judges David Bennett (ride) and David Froggatt (conformation) to vie for the Needlesmart, John Illingworth and Cliff Kirby Ridden Purebred Arab of the Year Championship. There were two previous champions in the lineup; Georgina Rees’ homebred Valletta Hunters Song (Silvern Surprise x Silvern Sheena), who was back to defend his 2024 title having taken the final ticket at the Cherif Championship, and the 2023 champion Cipriana (Mascot Des Alpes x FS Cinderella), owned by Tracey Hateley and ridden by daughter Jade. The Royal International Horse Show winner, Waliandro (EKS Alihandro x Walena) qualified early at HoCoN for Sian Warman, and were riding high after a good performance in the RIHS Supreme Championship. The Meads Show Team once again presented three horses for the final, as they have done for the past four years, and both Clare Fitch and Georgina Rees presented two horses apiece in this championship. Although there were unfortunately no new riders in this year’s championship after both Jodie Gibson on Husam al Muwad (Emerald J x Falcon Song BHF) and Ella Clare on LME Raphael (Emerald J x Lavinias) were sidelined, Kandy Pody’s homebred Notorious KK (Vivegas x Adeeba) made his debut in the arena of dreams this year, partnered by the experienced Christian Hendrickson for the Meads Show Team.
Every other horse was familiar with this corner of Birmingham and, for better or for worse, had experienced the shocking buzz that permeates the NEC’s Hall 1. Under the watchful eye of the two judges, the horses were split and proceeded in their go-rounds in two separate groups. While one group was individually assessed by David Bennett for their ride, manners, and way of going, David Froggatt had the task of assessing conformation, type, and freedom of action. Both scores were out of 50, but it was Froggatt’s section that took precedence in the event of a tie, of which there were several. Although competing at HOYS must seem a blur to competitors, regardless of external factors, the class was judged rapidly, and the results were in with minimal waiting – instrumental in bringing the arena back up to scheduled time.
With a runaway lead was the seven-year-old grey stallion Ghaali (ES Sarab x Gezaana), ridden by Clare Fitch for owner Jassmin Paton. Ghaali was bred in the UAE by Jassmin’s mother, Julie Kennedy, and he won the first qualifier of the season. He was next brought out for the big occasion where he led the impressive field by 10 marks. Remarkably, his score of 48 for conformation was eight points higher than the next competitor! This victory made Clare a seven-time winner of this championship, a truly impressive feat. Ghaali won both the Arab Horse Society Perpetual Trophy for the win, and the Cantsfield Perpetual Trophy as the Highest Placed Stallion in the lineup, as well as a spot in the Supreme Horse of the Year. Ghaali performed a lovely show in the preliminary judging and soaked up the atmosphere in the final judging in the main ring (45/48).
Eventually winning the Supreme Championship on her coloured, Jayne Ross piloted Hadiat Qayima (Vivegas x Psynammon) to the Reserve position in the Arab class to round off an incredible week of titles. Jayne is not known for riding in the Arab classes, and this eight-year-old gelding is normally partnered by Clare Fitch for owner Joyce Robertson, but it was fantastic to see Jayne’s expertise in action. Hadiat Qayima won the Elastarius Perpetual Trophy for the Highest Placed Gelding, and scored the second highest conformation mark of the day, which gave him the advantage over the two other horses tied on his final score of 83 (43/40).
Taking third was Arimathea (Makisa Adaggio x Misteeqa) and Louisa Biles, owned by Katie Gore and bred by Amy Southworth. After taking the stallion ticket at the AHS National Championship Show, Arimathea gave a positive and workmanlike show to stand two places better than his fifth in 2024. Taking two Top Five placings in two HOYS appearances is no mean feat, so congratulations to the connections of this eleven-year-old grey. Arimathea, among others, was not over campaigned this year and looked to be enjoying the job at hand, leading to an enjoyable class to watch (44/39).
Cipriana (Mascot des Alpes x FS Cinderella), bred by Chris and Joanne Lowe – took fourth place this year, having taken the penultimate ticket at the British Arabian Championships from limited appearances. A previous Champion and Reserve at HOYS, ‘Raj’ was ridden by his usual partner in crime, Jade Bermingham for mother, Tracey Hateley, after a year away from the NEC in 2024. After floating around the ring in the go-round and for the judges, the thirteen-year-old chestnut gelding brought home another front-line placing on the same mark as the two above him (45/38).
Rounding out the Top Five was the Royal International winner Waliandro (EKS Alihandro x Walena), who gave a mannerly show to secure the highest ride mark of the class. This nine-year-old grey stallion, bred by Husted Arabians, took the ticket at HoCoN for rider Sian Warman and owners Daniel Botwright and Anne Bevan. The quality of the exhibits presented could not be denied with a lineup such as this, and it was evident by this point in proceedings during the prizegiving that the rosettes were hard fought and won among our top riders (46/36).
In sixth place and taking the highest place for amateur riders was Karen Mustey and her own Guadeloupe (AV Montoya x WW Grenobla), bred by Sue and John Bundy. The ten-year-old grey gelding qualified at the Showing Register Summer Show and looked to give a supple and forward ride. ‘Loopy’ and Karen celebrated their best result together under the lights so far, after a commendable eighth place in 2022 (42/36).
Last year’s champion, Valletta Hunters Song (Silvern Surprise x Silvern Sheena) had to settle for seventh on this occasion, ridden by Darren Crowe this year for owner/breeder Georgina Rees. Georgina won the Kellythorpes Leading Breeder Award from only a handful of qualifiers, but it wasn’t to be a fairytale back-to-back victory for this thirteen-year-old dapple grey gelding, despite showing a rousing extension and mannered return for the ride judge (42/35).
The Highest Placed Mare and recipient of the Berugia Perpetual Trophy was Amanda Miller’s TM Gwendolyn (Adawy x Gardenja), who placed eighth with John Osbourne in the saddle. Qualifying at the Royal Norfolk Show, ‘Dolly’ did it for the girls and began class proceedings with the first judge ride of the group. Bred by Tina Atherton, this twelve-year-old grey mare is sired by the 2013 HOYS champion Adawy (Borneo x Ashiqa) and gave a free-moving ride to start the judging. (36/40).
It was third time’s the charm for Amy Warden’s H Papageno (Santorini x Exotic Pearl), who finished ninth on his third consecutive HOYS appearance. At only seven years old, this Claire Chillingworth bred bay gelding looked wise beyond his years with Maria Pook in the saddle for Meads Show Team and is surely a future contender for the ultimate title after qualifying this year at the Bucks County Show (40/32).
Between the drama unfolding outside of the ring – the clock was ticking for the exhibits in both Supreme finals – and the drama of judging inside the ring, there was only time for a quick champagne toast, or a stiff gin, depending on how the day had gone, for those connected to the competing horses, before it was Supreme time for Clare and Ghaali. Positive feedback was received after their classy individual show, but the title this year went the way of Jayne Ross, who had jumped back aboard Diane Stennett’s coloured champion, KBF Lucia. The winning combination left everything out on the arena surface and earned their well-deserved tricolour for their efforts.
What a fantastic win, though, for Team Fitch and for the UAE, from where Ghaali was born and then journeyed to the UK a couple of years ago. It is hoped that his win here at the world’s most famous horse show may go some way to promoting the ridden show Arabian back home in the Middle East.
Congratulations to all combinations who qualified for HOYS, whether or not you were able to make it to the Arena of Dreams this time. Thank you to the generous sponsors, without whom this class would not be possible, and to the competitors, owners, and grooms who supported the qualifying classes throughout the season. The drought of entries has hit showing hard, and the Arabian classes are no exception. The Amateur Pathway ticket from The Showing Register was not awarded in this class, among others, as the eligibility criteria prevented some, and others were not aware of the pathway’s existence. Hopefully, this can be remedied for 2026, and we will see a resurgence in amateur interest in showing. Both the qualifying season and the HOYS final made for some interesting and entertaining viewing this year, and the attention now turns to the 2026 season. Before then, however, one final congratulations to our runaway winner. He took the first qualifier of 2025, then he laid in wait and took the championship title. The Needlesmart, John Illingworth and Cliff Kirby Ridden Purebred Arab of the Year Champion: Ghaali!
Katherine Bertram is an English young rider who competes in a variety of different disciplines on her mother’s homebred pure and part-bred Arabians. Having achieved advanced rider status in Endurance after her first season at age 14 on Marcus Aurelius (Aurelian x Fiesta Magica), Katherine turned her attention to showjumping with his progeny, at which she currently competes at Senior Newcomers (1.10). As well as also delving into showing, eventing and, occasionally, dressage, Katherine juggles her studies while attending the University of Birmingham.
