NIHB Foal Show 2023

Information: 

The Northern Ireland Horse Board are pleased to announce the details of the 2023 Northern Ireland Foal Championships, very kindly  sponsored by Baileys Horse Feeds, Lougherne Stud and MGM Logistics Ireland . The Championship has a prize fund of £1500 and will aim to identify, evaluate and reward breeders who have bred a foal that has the potential to be competitive at the highest International level in the disciplines of show jumping or eventing.

Criteria for entry

• Open to ALL foals, pedigree and non- pedigree.  All breeds welcome
• Foals must be entered in either the Show jumping Section, the Eventing Section, or the Traditional Section. Foals may only enter 1 class.
• The dam’s passport should be available on the day for inspection.
• All foals must be a minimum of 6 weeks old to compete at the Final.
• Microchips will be checked on the day by attending Vet, appointed by NIHB

Classes

• All classes will take place on an enclosed, sand and fibre all weather surface.
• All classes must run on a pre-entry basis. Entries will be taken by the Northern Ireland Horse Board and will be required 4 days prior to the event.

Please note foals need to be kept on their lead at the venues except when being shown loose in the arena.

Format of the Class

Foal to be shown in-hand.  Each section will parade as a group. All foals must be paraded as a group at the start of each class before the individual evaluation of each foal. During the individual presentation the foal is positioned in front of the judges with a halter, in order to evaluate its posture and conformation. The foal can then be judged freely on walk, trot and canter as indicated by the judges. When all the foals are evaluated, the judges will announce the class placings, Rosettes will be presented to the top 6 Placings in each class.

The judges will describe the positive attributes of the foals to the audience.

Competitors

• Foals must be led to and from the arena, and only turned loose when requested to do so by the judges.
• The judge’s decision as announced is final.
• Foals must be registered, micro chipped and must provide their passport on the day of the Championship, or be in the process to registering with a recognised passporting authority (PIO). Prize money will not be paid out until, registration has been confirmed by NIHB and the issusing PIO.
• Handlers should attend in neat and tidy dress, with sturdy shoes.

Prize Money

Preparation

It is important for the foals to be well prepared for the classes. To practice for the championship, it is wise that the foal has been familiarised with the headcollar and leading at a young age. During the events the foals may not have lost all of their foal hairs. The judges will only examine the quality of the foal and does not pay attention to colour or coat.

During the classes a foal’s health is more important than show condition coat. Completely shaving the foals is not recommended, because shaved foals are more likely to get a cold when they are outside in bad weather.

These classes are not traditional show foal classes, they are for potential performance animals. Any evidence of foals having been over-fed or pushed to grow and develop unnaturally, which could be detrimental for their future bone development and general wellbeing will be penalised.

Judging Criteria:

Foals will be judged according to the following criteria.

1. Functional conformation
2. Walk
3. Trot
4. Canter
5. Overall athleticism and balance