News
Preview: HOYS Future Elite 2026
- Written By: British Dressage
- Published: Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:57
On Thursday 8 October, the Dressage Future Elite Championship opens the evening performance at Horse of the Year show, as some of the country's top Small Tour combinations take to the hallowed halls.
The Dressage Future Elite class provides a fantastic opportunity for rising equine stars, aged between eight and ten, to take to an impressive arena and gain valuable experience. Previous winners of the Dressage Future Elite Championship, launched in 2013 with one year missed (2020) due to Covid, are: Michael Eilberg with Half Moon Dynasty (2013), Anders Dahl with Selten HW (2014), and Laura Tomlinson with Forest Hill (2024). Becky Moody has taken three titles with Carinsio (2015), with Jagerbomb (2023), Magic Dream (2025), and Charlotte Dujardin has taken the title on five occasions with Hawtins Delicato (2016), Mount St John Freestyle (2017), Florentina VI (2018), Mount St John Valencia (2019) and Imhotep (2021).
The eight horse and rider combinations competing this year are:
- Alexander Harrison-West riding Ksenia Zainchkovskaya’s Ventura (Bay mare, 2018, Veneziano x Now or Never M, HANN)
- Dannie Morgan riding his own Fever Tree (Bay gelding, 2018, Foundation 2 x Dayano, AES)
- Demi Howard-Cartwright riding her own Newton Astro Nascente (Chestnut gelding, 2016, Apache x Don Schufro, OLDBG)
- Gareth Hughes riding Flamboyant Dressage Stud’s Morricone III (Black stallion, 2016, Millennium x Rubin-Royal OLD, OLDBG)
- Jody Haswell riding her own Valentinio (Bay gelding, 2018, Feinrich x Vivaldi, OLDBG)
- Laura Tomlinson riding her own and Ursula Bechtolsheimer’s Ostmarks Digal (Bay gelding, 2018, Grand Galaxy Win x De Noir, DWB)
- Matt Frost riding Keeva Dedicoat’s Lenika (Bay mare, 2016, Foreign Affair x Lord Sinclair, KWPN)
- Michael Eilberg riding Geraldine Eilber’s EDH Saubermond (Bay gelding, 2016, Sezuan x Dancier, OLDBG)
How to watch
Visitors to HOYS can watch the young talent in the Dressage Future Elite Championship, which will commence at 17:55 in the Andrews Bowen International Arena.
British Dressage members are eligible to a 20% discount off general admission tickets. Access your member discount via the button below, and grab the last tickets available now!
For those that will be following along from home, a livestream will be available via ClipMyHorse.TV. Times and results are also availble via the button below.
