Posted: 24th August 2018 | Back to news feed
With Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) set to celebrate a remarkable 70 years this October at Birmingham’s NEC, Hook Norton Brewery have come on board to create a unique blend of hand crafted beer to mark the special occasion; introducing ‘Tail to Mane’. The unique blend of beer which has been produced especially for HOYS will be available to purchase at the Show this year.
Sitting in its beautiful, mellow Cotswold Hills landscape, Hook Norton is a proudly independent and passionate family business that takes the very best of its handcrafted brewing heritage and combines it with a thoroughly modern approach, to create a range of real ales for today’s drinkers to enjoy. As one of just three remaining family brewers to still deliver their beer with their horses, Hook Norton has four horses to their team.
Speaking of why they decided to get involved in Horse of the Year Show, National Accounts Manager Serena Williams commented: “HOYS is one of the most prestigious events in the equine calendar, it is the culmination of years of hard work and it showcases the best horses in the land; these are core values at the heart of our family run business and therefore is a Show that we wanted to become a part of. Shire horses are an endangered breed and having the opportunity to not only be a part of such a fabulous event but to be able to highlight the magnificence of our team of working horses has been my goal for a number of years now and we are delighted to be a part of the 70th Anniversary celebrations.”
Serena continues: “We have four horses working for us at the moment; Major is our oldest chap at 22 years of age; he has been with us for 16 years and is the cornerstone of our delivery team. We have our youngest recruit at six years old and he is coming along nicely. Nelson and Lucas are the two horses we will be bringing to the show this year. Nelson is 20 years old and Lucas is 13 years old. Nelson is extremely experienced and the bond between the horses is truly remarkable. We are looking forward to showing them off to the HOYS audience.” The Hook Norton dray pulled by Nelson and Lucas will be making an appearance in the Sunday Gala Evening Finale this year so don’t miss out on their HOYS debut.
Looking ahead to Horse of the Year Show’s 70th Anniversary this year, which takes place from Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 7th October at Birmingham’s NEC, Show Director Emma Wardell commented: “We are delighted to have partnered with Hook Norton Brewery to produce a unique hand crafted beer for our visitors to enjoy at this year’s anniversary show, as we raise a glass to all that’s great from tail to mane. We are proud to be working together with Hook Norton Brewery where as a family run company the horses still remain firmly at the heart of their business. During the brewery tour you can visit the stables and meet the horse team and you may event spot them delivering beer to the local pub. In this, our 70th year, we are thrilled that the team at Hook Norton are part of the celebrations as they join us for our gala evening finale where our visitors will get a chance to see these magnificent animals under the spotlight.
Joining the Hook Norton team on their dray in the Sunday Gala Evening Finale will be British actor and horse enthusiast, Martin Clunes. After his theatrical entrance to the Finale, Martin will then undertake the iconic reading of the Ode to the Horse poem to the HOYS audience.
Tickets are still available for purchase starting from just £34.00 for a full day of entertainment (Weds – Fri), Saturday and Sunday are split into daytime and evening performances. Visit www.hoys.co.uk/tickets or call the Box Office on 0844 581 8282.
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