Laura Collett returns to HOYS as Supreme Championship judge 23 years after title win
Olympic eventing champion Laura Collett MBE will return to the Horse of the Year Show arena where she enjoyed one of her earliest major successes after being named as a Supreme Championship judge for HOYS 2026.
The countdown is well and truly on for Horse of the Year Show, which returns to the NEC Birmingham from 7–11 October 2026 for five days of showing, showjumping and equestrian entertainment.
As one of the most highly anticipated fixtures in the British equestrian calendar approaches, organisers have confirmed that Laura Collett MBE and Edwin Prosser will judge the Supreme Products Supreme Horse and Pony of the Year Championships on the closing evening of the show.
For Collett, the appointment marks a particularly special return to HOYS.
Long before her Olympic eventing success, she competed in the showing ring and won the Supreme Pony Championship at Horse of the Year Show in 2003, aged just 13.
More than two decades later, she will return to the Andrews Bowen International Arena with the responsibility of helping select the 2026 Supreme Champions.
Collett has since become one of Britain’s leading event riders, winning team gold at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games, alongside individual bronze at Paris 2024.
Speaking ahead of this year’s show, Collett said: “Horse of the Year Show holds very special memories for me. Winning the Supreme Pony Championship when I was just 13 was an incredible moment and one I’ll never forget.
“I know how much it means to qualify for HOYS and to stand in that arena on the final evening. To return all these years later as a Supreme Championship judge is a real honour, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Edwin Prosser joins Supreme judging panel
Joining Collett will be Edwin Prosser of Mintfield Stud, an experienced Welsh Pony and Cob judge with extensive knowledge of the showing world.
Prosser is also no stranger to the HOYS judging panel. He judged The Price Family Supreme In-Hand Championship in 2022 and will now return four years later for one of the most prestigious appointments of the show.
“It is a great honour to be invited to judge the Supreme Horse and Pony Championship at Horse of the Year Show,” Prosser said.
“I have very fond memories of judging The Price Family Supreme In-Hand Championship in 2022, so to be asked to return four years later to judge the Supreme is a tremendous honour.
“It means a great deal to me and everyone at Mintfield Stud, and I’m very much looking forward to being part of such a prestigious championship.”
HOYS 2026 countdown begins
Horse of the Year Show brings together leading horses, ponies and riders from across the country, with competitors spending much of the season working towards qualification for the Birmingham final.
The Supreme Products Supreme Horse and Pony Championships provide a fitting conclusion to the showing programme, bringing together champions crowned during the week to contest two of the most coveted titles of the show.
This year’s Supreme titles will be decided in the Andrews Bowen International Arena on Sunday 11 October, the final evening of HOYS 2026.
With just weeks remaining until the doors open at the NEC, the announcement of Collett and Prosser adds another name to the growing list of riders, judges and equestrian figures heading to Birmingham for this year’s show.
Horse of the Year Show 2026 takes place at the NEC Birmingham from Wednesday 7 October to Sunday 11 October.
FEATURE IMAGE: The Price Family Supreme In-Hand Championship at HOYS 2026. 1st Class Images