Horse of the year to start earlier in March 2016

More Australians are expected at Horse of the Year as a result of the earlier dates. PHOTO / FILE

Farmlands Horse of the Year organisers have confirmed plans to shift next year's show to early March, a move they say will help attract more competitive entries from Australia.

The 2016 show will run from Tuesday, March 1 through to Sunday, March 6. This year's event ran from March 17 to 22.

Horse of the Year board chairwoman Cynthia Bowers said the new dates were an opportunity to attract Australian competitors without clashing with Sydney's Royal Easter Show.

"HOY is the No1 equestrian show in the Southern Hemisphere and we see transtasman relationships as an area to develop, not just for competitors, but also sponsors, spectators and trade," Mrs Bowers said.

The change in timing for the Hastings event also worked in well with Equestrian Sports New Zealand's endeavour to lengthen the competitive season, organisers said.

ESNZ chief executive Vicki Glynn welcomed the move, which, she said, had been decided on after consultation with the many groups affected by the date change.

"We have consulted with our ESNZ disciplines - jumping, eventing, dressage and para-equestrian - and also with the RAS [Royal Agricultural Society], who run the showing classes at HOY. RAS were also consulted on behalf of many A and P shows," Ms Glynn said.

"Every equestrian aspires to compete at HOY and we look forward to it continuing to be a celebration of all things equestrian in 2016. ESNZ values the international competition with the Australians and we hope more will cross the Tasman to be part of HOY at the earlier date."

Meanwhile, tenders for the management contract to run the show close tomorrow.
Earlier this year, after Horse of the Year (Hawke's Bay) Ltd revealed it had initiated a tender process, long-time HOY event manager Kevin Hansen said his company would not put in a bid.

Mr Hansen is now focused on developing new business opportunities in Australia.
The board has established an independent committee to assess the management contract bids and has said it will announce the successful tenderer by late May.