Linda Hall: Horse of the Year - at showgrounds this week - really is a fantastic event

Linda Hall, columnist

The 2017 Horse of the Year launch was hosted by Ngatarawa Wines and I had the privilege of being there.

While guests mixed and mingled and sampled the delicious wine on offer, riders from Woodford House walked two very handsome horses around.

I went and chatted to a couple of them - not the horses, the riders. One was the owner of one of the horses and while she said she hadn't managed to qualify to ride in this year's Horse of the Year, she was really excited about it.

The 16-year-old said she couldn't wait for the event to start and would be at the Hawke's Bay Showgrounds as much as she could as a volunteer, helping wherever she was needed. She will be one of many.

Horse trailers started arriving at the showgrounds on Friday. By last night horses and ponies lined the outskirts as campsites sprang up all over the show.

After last year's event, accusations flew about how this was wrong and that was wrong.
To me, it seemed as if people were actually hoping the new event manager would fail.
They couldn't wait to find fault and point fingers.

Then when it was revealed the event ran at a loss, the knives came out.

At the launch last week I listened to some passionate people who have put their heart and soul into this event.

They have worked their butts off to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Of course there are going to be some hiccups. I doubt any event this size doesn't run into a few bumps.

The week-long premier equestrian event, which begins tomorrow, brings $12.5 million into the Bay's economy. That's a lot of money. Once again, Hawke's Bay's accommodation is bursting at the seams.

We should be celebrating that an event of such size and importance is held here.
Event organiser David Mee said at the launch he was a bit nervous (who can blame him?) and excited.

He said people could look forward to a "top-shelf" competition, with about 1500 riders and thousands of horses competing in 14 disciplines.

He also said you didn't have to be a "hard-core equestrian" to enjoy the show. "There's wine, bubbles, a cider tent and shopping."

There's also a dessert degustation with Australian patissier Adriano Zumbo and a wine tasting involving four vineyards plus the Friday Night Extravaganza.

I loved wandering around last year. Everyone was so friendly and proud of their horses. In fact, one young man heard my granddaughter say she wanted to pat a horse, so invited us to see his horse. We followed him through a labyrinth of horse pens and trailers to his pride and joy.

You could just tell how much the horse meant to him as he told us his name (which I can no longer remember) where he got him from and what events he was in.
He said he was having a great time and I have no doubt he will be back this year.
Hopefully he comes back for many years to come.

So please, "neigh-sayers", stop. We want this event to succeed and to do so we should be supporting the organisers, not trying to find something to criticise.

Yes, they have an obligation to get it right and after listening to how absolutely passionate they are to do just that, I'm certain they are doing everything in their power to make that happen.

The event couldn't have been that bad last year because the equestrian people have all come back.

Go and have a look, even if you are not a horsey person.

*Linda Hall is assistant editor of Hawke's Bay Today.