Riders have been reassured by eventing legend Lucinda Green that a new challenge giving participants the opportunity to win a share of a $10,000 (£7,794) prize pot is not a scam.
This week the Lucinda Green XC Academy launched the 28 Day See-a-Stride Challenge, to help riders of all levels “find a perfect stride (to even the most frightening cross-country fences)”. The challenge costs $97 (£75) to join, and gives participants access to a training plan, weekly live question and answer sessions, and membership of a private Facebook support group.
A $10,000 prize pot is on offer for the 10 riders who show “the most impressive transformation” over 28 days. This will be judged by a panel of world-renowned eventers, including Tim Price, Yasmin Ingham, Boyd Martin, William Fox-Pitt, Pippa Funnell, Tom Crisp.
Riders need to submit a video of themselves jumping a small, simple fence at the beginning of the challenge, complete the training plan and exercises, then submit another video after 28 days to be judged by the panel. First prize is $5,000 (£3,897), second $2,500 (£1,943), third $1,250 (£972), fourth $500 (£389), fifth $250 (£194), and sixth to 10th will receive $100 (£78) each.
Since the launch of the challenge some social media users raised concerns that the challenge was a scam and that Lucinda’s page had been hacked – but Lucinda has confirmed this is not the case, and that the challenge is real.
“When we launched the 28 Day See-a-Stride Challenge we were inundated with questions. But we certainly didn’t expect the most common one to be, ‘is this a scam?’. It took us all by surprise,” she said.
Lucinda added that the team could understand why customers initially thought it might have been a scam owing to the joining fee and prize being in US dollars, but confirmed this is because the Academy’s audience is global.
“I really am giving away $10,000 to the 10 riders who make the biggest transformation in their ability to see a stride, in only 28 days,” she said.
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‘I don’t really believe it was me’: Lucinda Green reflects on her six Badminton victories 50 years since the first
Regal Realm: from Australian stock horse to Badminton winner and world champion
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