Holiday magic this week at London’s Olympia Horse Show

With its competitive classes like the Snowflake Stakes and Christmas Cracker, there is always a festive, playful atmosphere at the Olympia Show, which bills itself as ‘The Best Equestrian Christmas Party.’ But many of the top riders in the world are in town this week, and they are here to win, as Sweden’s Patrik Kittel already did on Delauney OLD in the FEI World Cup Dressage Freestyle competition. The World No.12 collected €13,750 for the pair’s victory, with Great Britain’s Emile Faurie taking second place on Delatio — good for €10,000.

Also already having taken place this week at the equestrian extravaganza — which runs until next Monday, December 18 — were Dressage masterclasses by British stars Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester. And among the many events still to come  are this weekend’s FEI World Cup Driving and 1.60m Longines FEI World Cup Jumping class, the eighth of 13 qualifiers in the Western European League as riders aim for a spot in next spring’s World Cup Final in Paris.

Alongside a strong British contingent for the Show Jumping CSI5*-W, which includes Scott Brash, are big names such as Ireland’s Bertram Allen, France’s Simon Delestre, the United States’ Laura Kraut, the Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders, Italy’s Lorenzo De Luca, Germany’s Daniel Deusser, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, Sweden’s Peder Fredricson, Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander, and Belgium’s Olivier Philippaerts. The full entries list is here. 

All of those riders will be taking part in a long equestrian sports tradition in the capital, dating back to 1907. As one historical account describes, “Demand for the tickets for that first Show exceeded all expectations. According to a feature in the 1934 edition of ‘The Horse’ magazine, some sold to ‘eager visitors for as much as £5.00’ – the equivalent of around £415 today! The same feature also records that ‘boxes were in keen demand at 100 guineas and over’, not far short of around £7,000 at today’s prices. The seemingly lavish budget showed that up to £4,000, the equivalent of roughly £335,000, was spent on decorations, the cost of flowers alone around £1,000 (about £83,000).”