The dates and venues for the SEIB Search for a Star competition have been revealed and entries have also opened.
Qualifiers for the country’s premier amateur showing series will be held around the country between April and October with hundreds of competitors vying for a spot at the SEIB Search for a Star Championships which will take place at Your Horse Live in November.
For the first time this year the Search for a Star competition will feature an in-hand class for traditional, native and large rare breeds. Search for a Star are also working with Rescue Equine Showing Society (RESS) to offer an in-hand class for rescue horses and ponies.
Information about the qualifying competitions for the SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse have also been announced and entries are open. Those who successfully qualify will travel to the Horse of the Year Show in October for their championships.
Rule change
“We are delighted to be increasing our In-Hand Search for a Star classes this year,” said SEIB Search for a Star organiser Nicolina MacKenzie.
“Rare breeds are so important and we are excited to be working with RESS and helping showcase the transformative work done by those adopting or fostering horses or ponies under charity guardianship schemes or those that have been individually rescued.
“We have also updated the rules for Search for a Star in-hand classes for 2025, horses and ponies from three-years-old upwards are now eligible to compete in-hand.
“This year we have rebranded our open veteran class to ‘Still A Star’ to highlight that this class is open to any horse and rider and is the one class other than SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse where our amateur ruling doesn’t apply.”
List of qualifiers
The full list of 2025 SEIB Search for a Star and Racehorse to Riding Horse qualifiers is as follows:
Sunday 13 April at Hartpury College, Hartpury House, Gloucester GL19 3BE
Sunday 25 May at Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ
Sunday 15 June at Pickering Grange Equestrian, Grange Farm, Pickering, Ellistown Terrace Rd, Ellistown, Coalville, Leicestershire, LE67 1EZ.
Sunday 6 July at Greenlands Equestrian Centre, Wreay, Carlisle, CA4 0RR.
Wednesday 6 August at Arena UK, Allington Lane, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG32 2EF – courtesy of Equifest.
Sunday 10 August at NAF Five Star International Hartpury Horse Trials, Hartpury College, Hartpury House, Gloucester, GL19 3BE. (Racehorse to Riding Horse ONLY)
Wednesday 13 August at National Hunter Supreme Championship Show, Addington Equestrian Centre, Addington, Buckinghamshire MK18 2JR. (Racehorse to Riding Horse ONLY)
Saturday 16 August at the Pony Club National Championships, Offchurch Bury, Warwickshire CV33 9AW. (SEIB Search for a Star Pony Club classes ONLY)
Sunday 31 August at the British Riding Clubs NAF Five Star National Championships, Lincolnshire Showground, Grange-de-Lings, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN2 2NA. (SEIB Search for a Star BRC Riding Club Show Horse ONLY)
Sunday 7 September at Defender Burghley Horse Trials, Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 3JY. (SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse ONLY)
2024 champions
Last year’s SEIB Search for a Star supreme champion was the 12-year-old Connemara Spinway Colm who was ridden by Hartpury University student Daisy Beards.
Tambrook Prayer In C, a part-bred Welsh pony who is owned and handled by Claire Crerand, took the in-hand supreme title.
Image (c) 1st Class Images.
