‘What the game of eventing must thrive’

Oliver Townend shares his ideas on gathering rings, a brand new proprietor’s award and prize cash in eventing

Whenever you’ve made your residing in a sport for 25 years, it’s straightforward to take points of it with no consideration. However generally I’m shocked by the unimaginable venues we’ve got in eventing, and am reminded how fortunate I’m to be a part of it.

The realm through which I grew up had nothing like that, and it is just due to horses and eventing that I’ve had the possibility to see these wonderful locations.

I’ve been to some good occasions lately, from Cornbury Park to Allerton Park and Little Downham. I haven’t been to Allerton for greater than 10 years, and it was good to relearn what a improbable place it’s. It has house, diverse terrain and is effectively suited to be a top-level one-day occasion. It wants supporting – and a date that doesn’t conflict with Blenheim.

My novice and BE100 horses may have come on a lot from their expertise of the terrain and the environment – it made me realise how little of that type of factor they’ve seen, and the way totally different Allerton is to many trendy one-days. It’s a nice disgrace it not has a nationwide superior class – I don’t know whether or not this could go well with the landowners and organisers or not, however what about giving it Chatsworth’s date and having a four-star there?

Cornbury had the environment within the night that good occasions used to have, with everybody socialising collectively in a relaxed manner, which is one thing that has been misplaced from the game for a while.

Allerton, Cornbury and Little Downham all had one thing totally different to supply within the calendar, and had good entries. Eventing positively can work, however in the intervening time there’s a massively unsettled feeling all through the entire group. Occasions are dropping like flies, and the environment between riders and volunteers, for instance, isn’t pretty much as good appropriately.

One thing that have to be sorted is showjumping gathering rings. We’re so fortunate to have some wonderful individuals who recurrently volunteer to run these tough components of an occasion, and so they know what system works finest at most venues. However British Eventing’s pointers advise retaining to given instances – which simply doesn’t work.

You solely want one individual to have a puncture or one dressage choose to be late and the entire thing is thrown off stability and leads to a really annoyed volunteer shouting for numbers that aren’t there and an terrible lot of rigidity.

What works is writing your quantity down while you get there, with an area each 5 horses for riders with three or extra horses. This enables riders with a number of horses to get by their day extra effectively and signifies that amateurs know they are going to have 5, a most of six, horses till their spherical. For everybody’s sake, this must be the system used in every single place.

A number one proprietor’s prize

Why don’t we’ve got a number one proprietor’s prize? Let’s reward and champion this important group and provides them one thing to compete for. No person has an issue with JP McManus being main Nationwide Hunt proprietor most years, as a result of everybody in racing understands how fortunate the game is to have him.

We’re recurrently shedding house owners to the likes of racing and showjumping, and we have to give them one thing to maintain them . It doesn’t should contain enormous sums of cash, however certainly a very nice trophy, a magnum of champagne and a sponsored vacation isn’t that arduous to organise?

Up the cash

I’m changing into more and more embarrassed by the prize cash that’s displayed on the likes of EventingScores with the ultimate outcomes of every occasion. It’s no good anymore saying that we simply don’t have the sponsors – we’ve got to suppose outdoors the field.

Eventing is already too costly, however nobody questions the addition of a begin payment or abandonment fund payment. So why don’t we’ve got a prize-money fund, the place £10 or £20 is added to the entry payment for each class? This fund would possibly have to run for a season to realize momentum earlier than it begins paying out, and we want transparency as to how a lot is in it. It’s received to be price a dialogue, certainly?

● How do you suppose prize cash ought to be funded? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com, together with your identify, nearest city and nation, for the possibility in your letter to seem in a forthcoming problem of the journal

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