Diary dates
This month’s best shows and events
Barbury International Horse Trials
WHERE: St James’ Place, five miles from Marlborough, Wiltshire WHEN: 5-8 July COST: £10 Friday, £20 Saturday, £20 Sunday
SET IN THE heart of Wiltshire, Barbury International Horse Trials spans four days, during which a host of top riders compete in dressage, cross-country and showjumping and battle it out for the coveted Event Rider Masters title. The site for Barbury is a natural amphitheatre, providing eventing enthusiasts with a 360° view of the competition as it happens. For 2018, there will also be inter hunt relay, with teams made up of four horses and riders who represent a particular hunt, plus arena eventing at 90cm and 100cm. In previous years, eventing has been at the centre of the Barbury experience, but for 2018 the organisers want to make the event even more family friendly. This means you’ve got the perfect excuse to drag your non-horsey partner along under the guise of a free bacon butty and pig racing. If they’re getting bored with you harking on about Piggy French’s spectacular showjumping round, then take them for a jaunt round Barbury Castle, the Iron Age Fort just 15 minutes away from the horse trials.
Spot the stars
This year, Barbury is the fourth leg (of six) in the Event Rider Masters series. The overall series champion — it finishes at Blair Castle in August — will receive £30,000, with each leg worth a cool £16,000 to the winner. There are CIC3* and CIC2* sections to watch too, and in previous years the starting list has included Sir Mark Todd, Andrew Nicholson, William Fox-Pitt and both Mary
and Emily King, so be on the lookout for some famous faces grabbing a caffeine fix as the day progresses.
Let’s talk cross-country
Mark Phillips is designing the course for 2018 and he’s adding several new fences. The start and finish lines have also been moved closer to the main arena. The course uses old turf gallops, which means there’s normally plenty of give in the ground when horses take off and land at a fence. This year’s Event Rider Masters will be shown via livestream, so spectators can follow riders all the way round on a big screen. This is made possible by attaching tracking devices to competitors’ bibs, and beats craning your neck over the crowd.
More to see and do
Don’t forget to look out for the ever-popular Shetland grand national and the Eventers vs Jump Jockeys JCB Champions Challenge. Both are regular highlights at Barbury. For the non-horsey folk in your party, new this year — and sure to be a big hit — is pig racing in the main arena. There’ll be plenty of opportunities for shopping too, including big brand names such as Noble Outfitters and Fairfax Saddles.