Rich Man Poor Man takes Horse of the Year Show Title

Posted on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 by Heather Dodd

A thoroughbred from Dumfries and Galloway has won a prestigious Championship at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) at the Birmingham NEC.

Kirstine Douglas rode Morean Hamilton’s ex-racehorse, Rich Man Poor Man to take the SEIB Insurance Brokers Racehorse to Riding Horse title on the 7^th October in the Main International Arena at HOYS.

A delighted Morean said: “This is my first HOYS win! It’s quite surreal to have done it! Robbie has qualified for this championship five times now, he is a big horse for the indoor arena and we were wondering if it would be the one we just wouldn’t win. He’s been placed every time he’s qualified for HOYS and when we saw last night that Hayden Hankey was the ride judge we thought that could be a good move for us! “

Rich Man Poor Man, had a strong CV coming to HOYS this year. He has now won nearly every major ex-racehorse showing title. Kirsten said: “Today Robbie went the best he’s ever gone here, he really came out and carried himself today. He’s a great horse and this is the icing on the cake! Robbie was big and weak when he came out of training from Philip Kirby’s yard and it’s been a different story for him in the show ring. We’ve had Robbie for nine years now and it’s taken plenty of time and patience to get here.”

“Robbie’s been just lightly shown this year he’s also taken second place in the Middleweight Hunters at the Scotland Horse Show and was first and reserve champion at the Dumfries and Galloway Spring Show this year. He’s had an easy season but he loves the shows and going out in his field every night.”

SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse first took place in the early 2000’s and has offered opportunities to hundreds of ex-racehorses to compete at HOYS. Series instigator and organiser, Nicolina MacKenzie of the Absolutely Genuine Company said: “I’m beyond delighted that an owner and rider that have supported the series for so many years with this special horse have finally had all their hard work rewarded.  From the first year he arrived at one of our qualifiers Stretcholt in Somerset as a youngster the three of them have continued to support us and today have become very well deserved champions. It’s absolutely wonderful.”

Please see www.seib.co.uk/competitions or the SEIB Search for a Star facebook page for updates.

Photos courtesy of 1st class images