Olympia London International Horse Show is one of the UK's biggest equestrian competitions, held at Olympia, London. It is best known for its showjumping, however it also has competitions in horse showing, driving, mounted games, dog agility and more recently dressage. Evening sessions are broadcast live by the BBC each year, with the puissance. It is held over seven days, in the week preceding Christmas, and many of the events are Christmas themed. The show is split into ticketed morning, afternoon and evening sessions.
History
The first show in its current form was held in 1907 , however an agricultural show has been held here since 1888. Reginald Gardiner Heaton, a horse breeder from Chatteris in Cambridgeshire, 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 much of the upper class including Edward VII, Alexandra of Denmark, George V, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge The entrants were from around the world; France, Italy, Belgium and even Russia. Lord Lonsdale then president of the National Sporting Club of Britain was the Show’s first President. The roll of Directors listed in early programmes included many prominent and wealthy patrons with at least 10 Dukes, 11 Marquises, 54 Earls, 25 Viscounts, 80 Lords, and 28 Knights who were made honorary Vice-Presidents. The show was closed during World War I 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. 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 has since become a highlight of the equestrian calendar and part of the equestrian Christmas tradition. The 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 and CDI-W.
There are three combined driving events, the extreme driving and two FEI World Cup classes. A driver drives a four horse carriage, 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
On the first day of the modern show, there is an FEI Grand Prix invitational class. On the second day there is an FEI dressage to music class where riders are allowed to choreograph their own routine to music incorporating a number of compulsory movements.
Showjumping
The show has showjumping classes on each day of the show, each with Christmas themed names such as the Longines Christmas Cracker. These culminate in the 1.60m FEI Show Jumping World Cup on the Saturday and the Grand Prix on the Sunday. 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 Ellen Whitaker, Tim Stockdale, Ben Maher, Nick Skelton and many more. The event also has non FEI competitions including the Puissance, the six bar, accumulators, mini-major and the Markel Champions Challenge where jockeys compete at showjumping to raise money for the injured jockeys fund.
In more recent years, the show also has exhibition guests which show different forms of horsemanship from around the world. Attendees include the Metropolitan Police Service's mounted regiment. Each year there is also a Shetland Grand National where a group of riders aged 8-14 ride Shetland ponies around a track over small jumps mimicking the Grand National held at Aintree. Many of these riders have progressed onto becoming professional jockeys such as Sam Twiston-Davies. All proceeds of the event go to the Bob Champion cancer trust. Every session concludes with the Christmas Finale, a mix of theatrics, dancing, singing ending with a visit from Father Christmas himself in a horse-drawn carriage.
