 Entries for the Childeric Saddles Little Downham International Horse Trials opened today as the event prepares for its inaugural CCI4*-S fixture this October.
The fixture offers competition for all levels of the sport with a full range of classes from BE80(T) to CCI4*-S, showing just how inclusive both the sport and the event are. The timetable of classes has been worked to allow competitors the best level of access to classes, not only at Little Downham but taking other events running at the same time into consideration. Those looking to compete in the Intermediate, Advanced and CCI4*-S on Tuesday and concerned with a potential overlap with Thoresby trot up and dressage can be assured that the sectioning, timetabling and times will allow riders to compete at both events, without compromise. The venue’s July and August fixtures received much praise in regard to the slick and safe running of the events, management of the warmup areas and the going. Volunteers and officials also praised the event for being among the leaders in the technical revolution of the sport, embracing their own judging app development to minimise contact points and further the sustainability for the future of the sport. “Little Downham is always part of our eventing plan, it’s one of those events where you’re guaranteed good going and good courses all year round. With so many changes of plans this year and so many cancellations I’m looking forward to taking Ivar Gooden to tackle their new 4* track. I just feel that supporting our UK based events this season is incredibly important for our sport and reducing our international travel is a safer option for our team” commented 5* rider Imogen Murray. Little Downham benefits from exceptional ground conditions, all year round, with their grade 1 peat soil. All cross-country courses will be different to those used in the July and August fixtures, with the CCI4*-S being subtly different to the Advanced track to provide the correct level of difficulty. All tracks are up to height and substantial but with lots of alternatives at the more challenging fences. The event aims to provide educational and inviting courses at all levels. Riders are encouraged to enter as early as possible to enable the event to plan effectively. Ballot date is set for the 15thSeptember at 12 noon, with all entries taken via www.britisheventing.com  Riders from 19 different nations will compete at the inaugural Cornbury House Horse Trials next weekend (11-13 September) for the best prize-money on offer in the sport this year.
Set in the stunning surroundings of Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire with the ancient Wychwood Forest as a backdrop, this new horse trials has received a particularly large number of very high quality entries. British stars such as Zara Tindall, William Fox-Pitt and Laura Collett will face competition from the likes of Australian Olympic gold medallist Andrew Hoy, Chinese Olympian Alex Hua Tian and the brilliant New Zealand husband-and-wife team Tim and Jonelle Price - and riders from countries such as Sweden, South Africa, the USA and Hong Kong. In a year when Covid-19 has seriously affected prize-money levels in all sports, the riders will be keen to take home the generous cheques put up by Cornbury House - £2,500 for the winner of the feature CCI3*-S class and £1,250 for the winner of the CCI2*-S class. Event President David Howden said: “Launching a brand-new horse trials in 2020 has been an extraordinary and complicated process, but we have always been utterly determined that we should not compromise our vision of a truly top-class event. We have invested considerably in producing the very best conditions for horses, riders and owners, and believe that they should be properly rewarded for winning what are going to be extremely competitive classes.” In accordance with government regulations, Cornbury House Horse Trials is not open to spectators in 2020, but the showjumping and cross-country phases of all classes will be live-streamed for free on the event website (www.cornburyhousehorsetrials.co.uk) and on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/cornburyhouseht, alongside interviews with riders and other key figures, and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.  THIS year’s Osberton International Horse Trials may be taking place at Thoresby Park this year but it’s all systems go for a packed timetable of top class competition.
Run by the team at BEDE Events, Osberton International Horse Trials – October 8 to 11 - is highly regarded in the calendar and is home to the British Eventing Young Horse Championships. This year’s autumn three-day event will see three championship sections for five-year-old horses competing at national level, and six and seven-year-old horses taking on the international stage in order to be crowned the National Champions. Qualifying and competing at the British Eventing Young Horse Championships is the ultimate accolade for many young event horse owners, breeders and riders. Past stars include famous names NZB Land Vision, World Equestrian Games silver medallist Cool Mountain, Redesigned and Billy Landretti to name a few. BEDE’s Stuart Buntine said: “The Young Horse Championships have grown significantly over the years, with Olympic horses and riders coming through the ranks at Osberton.” The timetable for the five, six and seven-year-old championships will see dressage on the Friday, showjumping on the Saturday and cross-country on the Sunday. Running alongside the championships will be prestigious CCI2* long format and CCI3* long format sections. Dressage for both the 2 and 3* classes will run on the Thursday and Friday with cross-country on the Saturday and showjumping on the Sunday. Added Stuart: “The team at BEDE is working hard to put on a fantastic event for competitors and their supporters and to make this year’s ‘new look’ Osberton a fitting way to end the season on a high. “We have a number of sponsorship opportunities available and would welcome support at various levels to make this October finale and party a real celebration of the sport.” For further information please visit www.bede-events.co.uk  (c) Rupert Gibson Photography All of the jumping at the inaugural Cornbury House Horse Trials (11-13 September) will be livestreamed and will be available for viewing on the event website and on Facebook for free.
This means that, despite the horse trials not being open to spectators this year in accordance with government guidelines surrounding sporting events, members of the public, fans and connections of the horses and riders can watch both the showjumping and the cross-country of all the classes without having to pay. Organiser Richard Clapham said: “Event founder and president David Howden’s original vision for this spectacular new addition to the equestrian calendar was centred around putting on the very best event possible for horses, riders, owners, connections, fans and members of the public. We are determined still to do that, and we have therefore invested in our own livestream production in partnership with Viewpress and Lloyd Bell Productions. With top-class commentary, interviews and glimpses behind the scenes, we are very excited at the prospect of being able to show both Cornbury and the sport of eventing at its best.” Cornbury House Horse Trials takes place in the beautiful surroundings of Cornbury Park, near Charlbury in Oxfordshire, with the ancient Wychwood Forest as a backdrop. For 2020 it will run international classes at CCI3*-S and CCI2*-S - including NAF-sponsored Youth Performance sections for the country’s best under-21 riders - and national classes at novice and intermediate level. David Howden said: “It is enormously disappointing not to be able to welcome visitors to Cornbury House Horse Trials for its first running; as well as staging a top-class event with perfect conditions for horses, riders and owners, I am passionate about showing our sport to a wider audience and encouraging people to come to Cornbury for a fantastic day out. While we have big plans for the future on that front, our compromise for 2020 is still to be able to showcase the excitement of a major horse trials featuring the world’s best riders in such a superb setting.” The action from Cornbury House Horse Trials will be shown live on www.cornburyhousehorsetrials.co.uk and on the event’s Facebook page, www.facebook/cornburyhouseht. For this year only the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse Series is going virtual with an online competition open to participants around the world.
The 2020 Virtual Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse class is open to four and five year olds and as in the ‘traditional’ competition judges are looking for an athletic, loose moving horse with a promising jumping technique and attitude which, with correct training and production, will develop physically and mentally into a strong three-day event horse . Riders are required to submit a combination of videos and photographs which will constitute three phases; dressage, jumping and conformation. Entries are now open and close on Friday 21st August 2020. For further information please click on: https://burghley-horse.co.uk/virtual-burghley-young-event-horse. We are very grateful to Dubarry of Ireland who have kindly agreed to donate a £1,000 Dubarry voucher to the winner of each section. Event Director, Elizabeth Inman, commented “We are delighted to provide owners and riders with a competition in this unusual year and excited to be able to extend the class to overseas participants for the first time.” The winning entrants will also feature on the Land Rover Burghley website during Burghley Weekend (September 4th- 6th) where we will be celebrating our past, present and future with a packed schedule of online and social activities including a feature programme on Sunday 6thSeptember for all Land Rover Burghley fans to savour the event in the comfort of their own homes. Please find a link below to a letter to the riders community from the British Eventing Board of Directors. The letter details:
BE, and ERA, ask that feedback is submitted via us to help funnel this back in, in the most constructive manner. Feedback can be submitted here. We would love to hear your views! The Novice to Advanced Rider Working Group is proposing a new set of championships aimed to encourage more riders in the middle of the membership pyramid. These championships would be spread across the UK and would give many more people something to aim for year on year. We have named this group of riders the "Sport Pro-Am" group. Please read the Championship document (which can be downloaded below) which outlines the proposal and then answer the short set of questions below. There is also space for you to add additional comments, we would love to hear your views. 
The Rider Working Groups are passionate about eventing and we need your views so we can grow the sport together. For all those members who have not made up their minds about entries, the going at Weston Park is good and the dressage area was rolled today. The new show jumping drainage has worked a treat and the team have begun to mow the cross country tracks.
The team understand that, due to the poor weather, many of you are short of canter work so the Novice cross country track is still within the rules but has been deliberately set out at a shorter distance than usual and although still a bold course the questions are straightforward. Both the Advanced and Intermediate courses are also a little shorter than normal, with straight forward combinations plus plenty of bold up to height fences including 3 new fences on the Advanced. The courses are all out and just need flags and dressing. Weston Park understand that we are an early season event following a terrible winter and all of the team have done our best to build a fair track which recognises the fitness and welfare challenges faced by our equine friends. Ballot date is next Tuesday 17th March - please get your entries in on time HERE! We continue to follow government advice and are working closely with our member bodies to implement any restrictions required, including any requirements for the staff within our organisations.
Following yesterday’s Government Cobra committee meeting, the Prime Minister announced the status of the pandemic had changed from the ‘containment’ phase to a ‘delay’ phase. We advise everyone to continue to follow Government advice because this is a public health issue. Public Health England is the lead organisation and we urge our stakeholders to closely follow their guidance. The latest guidance is that anyone with flu-like symptoms should self-isolate for at least seven days, even if those symptoms are mild. If symptoms remain mild, people do not need to call 111. Further details can be found here. At this time, over England, Wales and Northern Ireland, there are no plans are in place to suspend major public events or close schools. Therefore, there are no restrictions on equestrian sport or activity. In Scotland, from Monday 16 March, all large gatherings above 500 people with the potential to impact the emergency services should be cancelled to prioritise the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, but normal, small scale activity can continue. Some general tips to remember if you’re taking part in general or equestrian activity:
UK Government and Public Health England advice Government response to the outbreak Current travel advice Current advice for employers and businesses Scotland Coronavirus in Scotland Advice from Health Protection Scotland Wales Coronavirus in Wales Statement from the Welsh Government Northern Ireland Statement from Northern Ireland Department of Health The British Horse Society has also published some useful advice for their Centres, but the recommendations are appropriate for any yard. ERA/Rider Working Group IT Meeting update from 2/3/20 with Jude Matthews.
Tara Williams has been diligently collating all website & EARS feedback so as to present this back to BE and to discuss routes forward. The key areas discussed were: - Card blocking - where members have had their cards declined and subsequently blocked due to multiple payments in quick succession - Live Scoring & the provision of results - VAT receipts and their layouts - General layout of the website and the pitfalls of the current customer journey. We have made a number of suggestions as to how we would like to see this improved. - Search functionality for future entries - Multiple emails being received, for example those receiving 4 emails with times - Streamlining of the customer journey in the e-commerce section of the platform We are encouraged to see that a number of these points are already being addressed, for example the search functionality for future entries, but acknowledge there are still further developments required. We are keen to collate further feedback to submit to the board, on behalf of the rider membership, ahead of Monday’s board meeting. Please submit these via the Feedback form on the www.eventingriders.comwebsite. In separate lines of communication, ERA have also been trying to address communication to the membership and we are working closely with organisers to effect good lines of communication between the riders body and the events. |
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