OLYMPIA
THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL
HORSE SHOW
David Simpson Award Winning Lap
T
he London International
Horse Show, best known in
equestrian circles as ‘Olympia’,
returns to the capital on 15-21
December 2015, to host the world’s
biggest, most incredible equestrian
Christmas party. The show, which
hosts the UK’s only show jumping and
dressage International Federation for
Equestrian Sports (FEI) world cup
qualifiers, promises to showcase amazing
horsemanship skills from around the
globe and is eagerly anticipated by the
equestrian world each year.
The Olympia showground, designed
by architect Henry Edward Coe, has had
a wonderfully colourful history since
opening to the public on 26th December
1886. Initially called The National
Agricultural Hall, after its inaugural
event in 1886/87, the arena hosted The
First Great Horse Show in 1888 which
eventually went on to become ‘Olympia,
The London International Horse Show’.
In 1907, showjumping was
44
introduced, with most early competitors
being of military background. Later,
civilian riders joined in, and the
numbers were soon such that separate
categories were formed for military and
civilian riders. The rules, however, were
considered to be lapse and ‘questionable
decisions’ prompted the formation of
The British Showjumping Association
(BSJA). Different countries held their
show jumping competitions under
different rules and it was not until
the formation of the FEI some years
later that consistency of rulings for all
countries came into effect.
The London International Horse
Show has been the show of choice
for many of Britain’s great monarchs,
including Queen Victoria who is
believed to have attended Olympia
at some point during her reign. Our
current queen, Elizabeth II, paid visits
both as a princess and later when she
became monarch. It is rumoured that
King Edward VII kept a private suite
written by Jan Hughes
on the north side of the Grand Hall in
which he entertained numerous female
acquaintances when they were visiting
the show.
In 1911 the International Horse Show
received royal patronage, with the King
George V Gold Cup being awarded for
the first time. 1921 saw the formation
of the FEI, closely followed in 1923 by
the BSJA Association which had 266
members registered by 1924.
In 2003 dressage was introduced to
Olympia. In 2012, Charlotte Dujardin,
who has been described as the most
dominant rider of her era, guided her
amazing steed, Valegro, to a resounding
grand prix victory where their world
score of 84.447% bettered the previous
world best of 84.08% set by Dutch
horseman, Edward Gal on his black
stallion, Totilas at the 2009 European
Championships held at Windsor.
The fast growing sport of Horse
Driving Trials, also known as combined
riding, is a triathlon event for horses
Everything Horse Magazine • Issue 26• November 2015