Hartpury Horse Trials 2013 - A Destination Or An Autumn Warm-Up

CIC*** 2nd Water

Hartpury College is one of our best equestrian facilities, possibly the best in the UK, and runs a great event in August with CCI*, CCI** and CIC*** supported by feed supplements company, NAF UK. Set in the rolling hills of the west Gloucestershire countryside the courses are a decent challenge, often used as a warm up for bigger autumn events, but also a destination event for many in it's own right.

Horses Are Welcomed From Cross Country By A Cool Mist Tent

BRC Eventing Championships 2013 - Run In Classic Format

The Wonderfully Colourful British Riding Club Eventing Championships At Swalcliffe Park 

With the children happily engaged in a play date, I found myself with a free day - bonus! There was little prospect of carriage driving or riding at such short notice, so decided to head out with the camera for a little more practice.

Watching The Show Jumping

I couldn't face dodging the showers at Gatcombe so had planned to go to Chilham Horse Trials in Canterbury, which is a beautiful setting.

With a late start to the day, and on the toss of a coin at a petrol station I decided to go to Swalcliffe Park, near Banbury for the SEIB British Riding Clubs National Horse Trials Championships after a tip off on twitter from course builder, Carl Fletcher. Just as well as I would probably have missed most of the cross country at Chilham had I attempted to tackle the M25 at that time of day.

Instead I wound my way through the pretty chocolate box villages of Oxfordshire between Blenheim and Banbury to eventually arrive at Swalcliffe Park, and a "grassroots festival of eventing". Rows upon rows of horsesboxes, tents, trailers and anything else you might find at Glastonbury filled a quarter mile stretch between the gateway and the dressage arenas, and I don't think I've seen so many people sat on horses in the warm up watching the show jumping.

Great Riding Skills On Display Throughout The Day 

Aston-le-Walls - Summer is Back!

Pippa Funnell & Redesigned Makes A Splash To Win Mulberry Insurance Advanced Section K

This time last year Aston-le-Walls came to the rescue by running extra days when the UK eventing circuit was essentially rained off. Weather wise the tables are completely turned this year. Much of the ground was baked so dry it had cracked, yet all of the tracks had been well watered and the going was perfect - truly amazing!

Tour De Force: Andrew Nicholson - Winner of Advanced Sections J & L

Mid-season, with a fist full of Advanced sections including a special 8/9-y-old section, Aston-le-Walls entries were littered with 3 & 4 star horses continuing a comeback from injury or falls plus a healthy dose of those stepping up to this level for the first time. Not forgetting the 'tour de force' that is Andrew Nicholson. He won on Qwanza and had numerous other placings. I'd tell you more but he barely put a foot wrong, so there's very little new to say.

Badminton 2013: In The Shadows Of The 3 Kings Of Cool

$350,000 Rolex Grand Slam Contenders Andrew Nicholson & William Fox-Pitt

The sport of eventing is made up of three 'tests' covering three very different disciplines, and requires a horse and rider to perform in perfect harmony in order to win at this level, and as we all know where horses are concerned there are no guarantees, so can we really dismiss 90% of the field going forward for the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials Trophy?

Michael Jung - Grand Slam Spoiler?

There is no doubt the "three kings" (Andrew Nicholson, William Fox-Pitt & Michael Jung) are in the very best form of their careers. They've all won medals at the last World & Olympic Games, They've all won 4 star events in the last 2 years. All three are the coolest characters under pressure and nothing short of Murhpy's Law could possibly predict an alternative outcome other than one of these three lifting the trophy in a week's time. But we've seen major upset and the unexpected at championships & 4 star level before - The Germans at WEG 2010, The Brits at the Europeans, and Andrew Nicholson has had 32 attempts at Badminton without luck before. Pippa Funnell, currently, the only winner of the Rolex Grand Slam seemed invincible and then saw her hopes dashed of a follow up win at Badminton one year, falling from both her entries. So anything that can happen, could happen.