HOYS Ridden Arab Championships attract passionate sponsors

Competition on the Arab horse front will be fierce this year at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).

An exciting new format for the Ridden Purebred Arab of the Year and the inaugural running of the Partbred Pony of the Year are both scheduled for this year's Show, which will take place from 8th – 12th October at Birmingham's NEC.

The classes have also attracted support from a number of ardent sponsors.

The Metalwood Fencing and The Arab Horse Society Partbred Pony of the Year Championship is an exciting opportunity for previously unseen talent to come forward and compete at "The World’s Most Famous Horse Show". The class is open to ponies no bigger than 14.2hh, whose breeding, in part, is Arab, Welsh or a combination of the two.

Metalwood Fencing is a specialist fencing and security contractor. Its own Nina Hutton-McKenzie breeds partbred and purebred Arab horses at her base in Bedfordshire. The Mettlewood Stud name has become well known on the national Showing circuit. The Arab Horse Society encourages the breeding and importation of purebred Arab horses, but this year will also support the partbred ponies at HOYS when they take centre stage on Sunday, 12th October.

Earlier on in the week at HOYS, the Hutchinson Domestic Staff and Barley Hill Show Team Ridden Purebred Arab of the Year will up the ante in the Arab horse stakes. Unlike in previous years, there will be one mixed-sex Championship, in which visitors to the Show will witness the season's eighteen very best purebred Arab horses contest the final.

Committed to the promotion of the ridden Arab in the UK, Barley Hill Show Team has some of the finest Arab horses in the country based at their Somerset establishment.

Christina Roebuck, Chairman of The Arab Horse Society, commented: "The Arab Horse Society, as the UK Registry for both Purebred Arabs and Partbred Arabs, is delighted to join the other sponsors in supporting the Ridden Purebred Arab of the Year and the exciting new Ridden Partbred Pony of the Year Championship".

Stud owners Rick and Edwina Warner even had their own taste of HOYS success back in 2012, when their stallion Patros HB clinched the Ridden Purebred Arab of the Year title. Frances Atkinson, founder of Hutchinson's Domestic Staff, has also enjoyed great success at HOYS over the years, including wins with Muzonomy in 2005 and Elastarius in 2009.

Hutchinson Domestic Staff has been a sponsor at the Show since 2008. With offices in London, New York and the French Riviera, this Domestic staff recruitment agency boasts a top-class reputation with clients and staff.

Helena Pettit of Grandstand Media, organiser of HOYS, added: "There have been some positive changes made to the Arab showing schedule for 2014 and we're delighted by the sponsorship support these two classes have received".