The invitational competition for young horses, Talent of the Year, will be held on Thursday, February 26, at the International Arena of the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre. The competition offers our most talented 5–8-year-old show jumpers an excellent opportunity to be assessed and ridden by top riders, and to demonstrate their abilities to the public as well as to international riders and horse dealers.
One of the designers of the renewed competition format is Nina Fagerström, one of Finland’s most successful show jumping horse breeders and a trainer of young horses. The Belgium-based rider is remembered as one of Finland’s most successful international show jumpers in recent history, having played the Finnish national anthem at the Helsinki Horse Show with her star horse Talent.
Nina will be joined by one of the international riders competing in Helsinki, and together they will evaluate the performances of just under 20 horses on the jumping courses. Each horse-and-rider combination will have ample time to complete the course and receive the judges’ assessments and comments. The horses are selected by invitation, with the aim of bringing together the very best of Finnish young horses. All Finns have the opportunity to nominate a talented young show jumper for the event.
After this, the most promising horses selected by the judges will be tested by Nina and the second rider. For the audience, it will be fascinating to watch how the horses and riders find a common language and how the horses shine. Finally, the judges will face the difficult task of making their choice and naming the Talent of the Year 2026.
And that’s not all! On Sunday, March 1, Nina will host a Jumping Mini Clinic, a training session of approximately 35 minutes focusing on young horses. We will hear Nina’s thoughts on working with young horses and their development.
A Record Number of Clinics at the New Horse Show
Never before has the Horse Show audience had the opportunity to focus on training clinics for more than five hours. The move to two arenas makes this possible. Appearing in the arenas are today’s top names Andreas Bachmann and Jens Fredricson, as well as Finland’s own expert Nina Fagerström.
Thursday will feature two new, extended professional-led training clinics in show jumping and dressage. The Jumping Clinic will be led by multiple championship medalist and long-time coach Jens Fredricson. The Swedish rider will also appear in a shorter Jumping Mini Clinic on Saturday.
The Dressage Clinic presented by Kultajousi will be led by double World Championship medalist and Olympic bronze medalist in team competition Daniel Bachmann Andersen. He will also continue with the Dressage Mini Clinic presented by Kultajousi on Friday, where he will be seen riding Finnish horses as well.
Explore the program: https://helsinkihorseshow.fi/kavijalle/ohjelma/
