HOYS 2013: Dates, Qualifiers, Horse Show Schedule and Preview

The Horse of the Year Show 2013 opens its doors at the Birmingham NEC on Wednesday, October 9th for five days of equestrian showcases and competitions.

Now in its 65th year, the show will once again feature a number of blue-ribbon events to mark the climax of the year's domestic showing and show jumping seasons.

Alongside such long-standing and prestigious attractions as The Puissance and the Leading Show Jumper of the Year competition, this year Dressage makes its long-awaited return to the show's programme, attracting even more global from the riding world.

Amongst those set to compete in the 11 International jump classes will be two Olympic medallists and a former Word Champion, as well as British and World No. 1 show jumper Ben Maher. 

Maher will compete against a top-class line up featuring Constant Van Paesschen and Jos Verlooy of Belgium; Canada's Kara Chad; Colombian Daniel Bluman; Egypt's Abdel Said; Julien Epaillard of France; Germany's Daniel Deusser; Ireland's Dermott Lennon, Denis Lynch and Olympic Bronze medallist Cian O'Connor; Italian Lorenzo De Luca; and from the USA, Aimee Aron, Lauren Hough, Olympic gold medallist Laura Kraut and Alise Oken.

With a joint prize fund of £150,500 up for grabs, and four of the show-jumping classes carrying official Longines FEI World Ranking Points, there are plenty of incentives to help bring out the best in this world-class field of competitors.

In total, this year's Horse of the Year Show is expected to attract around 1,600 horses and ponies, 1,500 competitors and 65,000 spectators, reaffirming its status as one of the world's largest, most popular and most important gatherings on the equestrian calendar.

Taking into account the various fringe attractions and stalls, the show will cover over 50 acres of the NEC, with the highlight events split between the Andrews Brown International Arena and the Caldene Arena.

A day-to-day schedule of the show's key show jumping, dressage and scurry events, including qualifiers and finals, can be found below:

Show Jumping

Currently ranked as the World No. 1, Ben Maher will enter this year's show as the favourite for the top prize, the 2013 Leading Show Jumper of the Year which will be decided on the final day of proceedings on Sunday October 13th.

Based on the latest standings, World No. 16 Daniel Deusser of Germany looks to be his closest competitor, but there are many other champions and former Horse of the Year Show winners that will look for wins across the five days of events.

Laura Kraut won the 2006 Leading Show Jumper of the Year title, which she followed with an Olympic gold medal two years later at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The field's other medalist, Cian O'Connor, won bronze at London 2012, and shared a win in the Puissance with Maher back in 2006. Both riders could well threaten the home favourite.

Speed Horse of the Year title holder Abdel Said and last year's Dick Turpin Stakes winner Dermott Lennon are also outside bets for glory, while the 2012's Leading Show Jumper of the Year, Julien Eppaillard will be looking to defend her title. 

Mount St John Dressage Future Elite Championship

The inaugural Mount St John Dressage Future Elite Championship takes place on the first day of the show and will feature seven of the world's leading dressage riders.

These include such stars of the circuit as Charlotte Dujardin, Sarah Millis, Emile Faurie, Michael Eilberg, Spencer Wilton, Andrew Gould and Dan Greenwood.

Riders will be required to perform the Intermediate I Freestyle to Music test before the judging panel, who will be casting their eyes over the accuracy, control and skill of such high-level movements as canter pirouettes, half pass and flying changes.

Dujardin is perhaps the favourite for the title, but considering the unfamiliar setting and novelty of the event's inclusion in the Horse of the Year Show programme, it should be a very open contest.

The show's organisers hope that this new music-backed crowd favourite will be a big hit at this year's show.

Osborne Refrigerators Double Harness Scurry Racing

Reigning champion Jemma Millman returns to the Horse of the Year Show to defend her title in one of the most exhilarating events at this year's show.

Requiring riders to weave their way through obstacles at high speed without knocking any balls from the top of multiple pairs of cones marking the course, there's zero room for error but plenty of potential for excitement.