THE Horse of the Year show is Britain’s Dublin Horse Show. It’s the aim of every British rider to qualify for one of the prestigious national finals and the quality certainly doesn’t disappoint.

It’s most unusual getting off a Ryanair flight at Birmingham airport and not even having to step outside to get to the show. Located in the NEC, a 60-second train transfer from the airport terminal gets you there with little or no hassle – that is depending on Ryanair’s mood, of course.

The Genting Arena gives you a theatrical feeling, with complete silence when the riders are jumping their round or doing their show, and while sometimes it feels like it is lacking atmosphere, the crowd erupts after every single rider, regardless of nationality, but especially for John Whitaker. They are mesmerised by him, so it was great to see him win two classes and collect the leading rider awards.

It was a little disappointing to see that despite it being the ‘be all and end all’ of British equestrian, the international show jumping has been downgraded to three-star level and hence it didn’t attract the big stars.

Scott Brash was at the show on foot, while Ben Maher was in Spain at a three-star show. It’s hard to compare it to Dublin in that regard – every single Irish rider in the world would bite their hand off to get into Dublin. It throws up the old age question of money versus the sport and saving horses for bigger (more lucrative) days.

In saying that, there were three Whitakers – John, Michael and Robert – and newly crowned Global Champions Tour winner Harrie Smolders made the journey, albeit with his second string while Don VHP Z and Emerald rested at home.

It still feels very much like a traditional show, with the VIP area confined to a small area at the top end of the main ring, and hundreds of trade stands with everything from bed sheets to luxury horse trucks.

At most modern shows these days up to half the ringside is taken up with private tables. HOYS celebrates 70 years in 2018 and I bet they will put on an exceptional show.

The showing arena, which was sponsored by Top Spec and branded to perfection, saw some real stars pass through, and a massive Irish contingent travelled over to see ponies they bred, produced or sold, strut their stuff.

As you can see from the reports on these pages, Irish-bred horses continue to dominate in both the showing and show jumping ring – an Irish Sport Horse won both the Puissance and the Grand Prix, as well as the show hunter championship.

Long may it last!