Horse of the Year Show at Birmingham's NEC
2 days - by Coach

Of the tens of thousands of competitors who each year between March and September enter for a qualifying place, only the top one percent are successful. Most of these will have stood champions at major county shows, so it’s no surprise that ‘The World’s Most Famous Horse Show’ has become known as the ‘Show of Champions’. It even has its own poem.

Horse of the Year Show, HOYS to its friends, celebrates the end of the competitive season by crowning the Champions of the most prestigious National Championships with five days of thrilling action packed classes. 1,500 competitors and 1,600 horses will compete in front of a record 65,000 visitors this year at Birmingham’s NEC.

The HOYS poem

Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy or beauty without vanity?
Here, where grace is laced with muscle, and strength by gentleness confined.
He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.
There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent, there is nothing so quick, nothing more patient.
England’s past has been borne on his back.
All our history is his industry; we are his heirs, he our inheritance.
The Horse!

Ronald Duncan, 1954

Saturday 12 October - Evening Programme†

- Show Opening

- International Show Jumping - The Accumulator
Competitors gain points for every fence they jump clear. No points for a fence knocked down, and points deducted for a refusal. A risky double-points advantage may be had by jumping a final ‘Joker’ fence… but there’s a double-points deduction for knocking it down!

- Osborne Refrigerators Double Harness Scurry of the Year Championship
The ‘Ben Hur’ of HOYS, real edge of the seat stuff! High-speed obstacle racing by pony teams and scurry vehicles where time and accuracy is of the essence.

- Display - Luma the Lion

- Equimax Pony Club Mounted Games

- Cob of the Year Championship

- Kathleen Wood Children's Riding Pony of the Year Championship

- Display – details to be confirmed

- International Show Jumping - The Puissance
Considered to be the most famous show jumping competition in the world, pushing both horse and rider to their limits, this is one of the most popular classes at the Show. The audience watches in awe as the riders scale the ever-increasing heights of the famous red brick wall in this thrilling knockout competition!

† The programme was taken from the Horse of the Year Show website (hoys.co.uk), and was correct at the time of placing online. Please visit the website for the most up-to-date information.

This tour is organised and operated by Omega Events Ltd ABTA Y590X

• Return coach travel from your chosen local departure point
• Overnight stay in a twin / double bedded room* at a 3 or 4 star West Midlands area hotel with full English breakfast
• Category C ticket with a face value of £47 for admission to Horse of the Year Show 2013 on Saturday evening. (Ticket upgrades are offered at a supplement, subject to availability)
• Free time at the Birmingham Bullring shopping centre
• Services of an Omega Holidays coach driver / tour representative
• VAT at the government's prevailing rate at the date of travel

Day 1: A morning departure from a pick-up in your local area and then travel by coach, with a stop for lunch en route, to a 3 or 4 star West Midlands area hotel for check-in and bag drop. We then proceed by coach to the NEC for the evening performance. The coach will transfer you back to the hotel afterwards.

Day 2: Start the day with a full English breakfast, and then you can enjoy a spot of leisure time and some shopping at the Birmingham Bullring until just after lunch. We rejoin the coach for the homeward journey in the early afternoon.

Here are some example hotels or similar ones that we use for this break, actual availability may change with the travel date you choose.

Some hotels have an additional supplement per person, as shown below. Supplements are stated for the break (not per night)

To be confirmed 3 or 4 star West Midlands hotel,
	3 or 4 star hotel in the West Midlands area.