One of equestrian’s most prized amateur events awaits one equestrian rider from Keysoe, after she qualified for the prestigious Horse of the Year Show at the third time of asking.
Harriet Ensor-Clinch and her bay gelding, Midnight Melvin won the ‘Search for a Star’ qualifying event on Friday, 31 July held at the Olney Grounds Equestrian Complex in Rugby, meaning they will now appear in October’s grand finals.
‘Search for a Star’ was one of 16 qualification rounds for the main event, and the pair will now go on to the NEC in Birmingham, after riding in the competitive ‘Riding Horse Hack’ class to earn their spot in the Show Championship.
The eligibility rules for amateur riders in ‘Search for a Star’ had been updated since last year.
To take part, competitors must not have appeared at the prestigious Horse of the Year Show within the previous five seasons, giving Harriet and her mount a far greater chance of making the showpiece event.
And after two failed attempts, Harriet is delighted to finally make it.
What is the Horse of the Year Show?
Taking place this year from 7-11 October, the Horse of the Year Show (or HOYS) is a five-day indoor equestrian event encompassing the pinnacle of show jumping and other equestrian disciplines.
Spread across two different smaller arenas, the Andrews Bowen International Arena and the TopSpec Arena, the event in its entirety features a huge range of national and international equestrian events from show jumping through to dressage.
The ‘Search for a Star’ section is part of the ‘Showing’ class, where a panel of judges judge the horse’s quality, manners and “way of going” amongst other attributes.
“The judge gave me some really helpful advice on Melvin’s way of going ahead of the Horse of the Year Show”, adds Harriet.
“I bought Melvin as an unbroken three-year-old, as we liked the look of him and he was nice to handle, he’s half thoroughbred and half Connemara.
“Melvin came from a rehabilitation and pre-training yard. They had bought Melvin’s mum when she was in foal with Melvin to be a companion for the racehorses.
“I did ‘Search for a Star Working Pony’ about ten years ago and we knew we wanted to come back and have another go!
“I’m delighted to have qualified!”
You can find out more about the 2026 Horse of the Year Show here.
