New Photo Competition at London International Horse Shown 2023
After a few years badly affected by COVID, the British Equestrian Media Association have announced that their Annual General Meeting and Awards lunch will be returning to The London International Horse Show this year, and will include a new photo competition.
The AGM will be held in the morning for members only, followed by a drinks reception and lunch, after which the winners of the awards categories will be announced.
BEMA Award Nominations
This year the Equestrian Personality of the Year nominees are Ros Canter, Charlotte Dujardin and Ben Maher, all of whom have had very successful years in their respective disciplines.
The Worshipful Company of Saddlers Award goes to a rider under the age of 25 who has excellend in the sport during the previous 12 months. The nominees for 2023 are Alice Casburn who completed two 5* events and finished in the top ten at Burghley; Jodie Hall McAteer who was leading showjumper at the London International in 2022 and continued her good form through 2023, culminating in winning the Grand Prix at HOYS in October; Annabella Pidgley who has been making waves in the world of dressage this season.
The final award is that of Equestrian Moment of the Year, for which the nominations are Robert Whitaker for winning the King George V Gold Cup on Vermento; Oliver Townend for winning Burghley for a second time on Ballaghmor Class and Carl Hester on being crowned National Champion for the 11th time.
Photo Competition
Sure to be of interest to equine photographers is the new Kit Houghton Photo of the Year Award which will be presented for the first time in 2023.
Photographs of any discipline may be entered and will be narrowed down before being blind judged by members of the BEMA committee and a senior photographer. Entries will be numbered so that the photographer is not known. The winner will be presented with a trophy at the lunch.
An entry form for the competition can be found here: https://bema.org.uk/kit-houghton-award/