New Olympia programme Announced as tickets go on sale

Tickets for the Olympia, The London International Horse Show, 2011 go on sale on Monday, 27 June and this year’s show has some surprises in store.

Extreme sports
Organisers have introduced a new equestrian competition to the line up: Extreme Driving. This indoor carriage driving competition is about speed, accuracy and immense skill, as demonstrated by the world’s top drivers who will negotiate a course of cones and obstacles.  It has a large following on the continent and is expected to attract similar interest here.

Extreme Driving will take place during Thursday, 16 December’s evening performance and Friday, 17 December’s afternoon performance.

“We are very excited by the introduction of driving to the Olympia programme,” said event director Simon Brooks-Ward. “And we are even more excited by the fact that we have the world’s number one and number two carriage drivers competing: Australia's Boyd Exell and Ijsbrand Chardon, from The Netherlands. Some of our audience will not have seen indoor carriage driving before and they are in for a treat”.

Joining the top two in the world are British driver Pippa Bassett and top Dutch driver Koos de Ronde.

Olympia attractions
Olympia kicks off with the Reem Acra FEI World Cup dressage qualifier on the evenings of Tuesday, 13 December (Grand Prix) and Wednesday, 14 December (freestyle to music). With Britain, and particularly Laura Bechtolsheimer, winning recent top dressage competitions, this will provide a good indication of Britain’s ability to go for gold in 2012.

Jumping classes start on Thursday, 15 December and highlights include the Alltech puissance (Friday, 16 December evening performance); the Rolex FEI World Cup qualifier, presented by H&M, during Sunday 18 December’s afternoon performance, and the Olympia Grand Prix on the evening of Monday, 19 December.

Olympia favourites, Kennel Club dog agility, Shetland pony Grand National and the Christmas finale will feature in all performances, apart from Tuesday dressage. The line up of displays includes the return of the magnificent Lorenzo, the Flying Frenchman, and the Lusitano quadrille from Portugal. This is the first time that this high school display has been seen at Olympia.

Ticket information
Tickets for Olympia, The London International Horse Show, are priced between £21 and £55 with various discounts available for groups, seniors and children. Tickets include entrance to the shopping village, but these can also be purchased separately without a show ticket for just £10.

For further information and a confirmed programme of events, click here. For tickets, call the box office on 0044 (0) 871 230 5580