Horse of the Year Show

We had a long day at the NEC near Birmingham, starting with the Grand Designs Live exhibition (mainly stalls with people selling things and services), before a meal and then the evening session of the Horse of the Year Show.  It really is  very good value with more than 5 hours of back to back entertainment, ranging from show jumping, to exhibitions of equine excellence, the pony club championships and it finished off with the Puissance.

This was from one of the presentations, where we were to watch all sorts of acrobatics, on (and briefly off) the horse.  It was atmospheric, so not necessarily best for lighting, hence the high ISO level in this shot.

The puissance was the finale to the show with the final round requiring horse and rider to clear the big red wall at 2.19 metres (7 ft 2 1/4 inches) and the extra is the winning jump by Geoff Curran of Ireland, riding Bishops Quarter.  It was no lie to say that you couldn't even see the horse as it approached the fence, so high was the obstacle.  Utterly amazing and a fitting end to the day.