Blair Horse Trials will host the Scottish open championships again next year, British Eventing’s sport committee confirmed in an online announcement after a meeting on 14 October.
Blair ran the CIC*** class for the first time this year, following the demise of Thirlestane, which was the long-standing host of the Scottish open.
In 2009, 52 horses started in the class, which involved dressage on Thursday or Friday, show jumping on Saturday morning and then reverse order cross-country later on Saturday in the middle of the cross-country for the three-day event (CCI) classes.
“We’ve very excited that Blair has got the championships,” said British Eventing’s Scotland and northern regional director Frances Hay-Smith. “It’s been such a prestigious competition — some of the top horses and riders in the world have come up and won it at Thirlestane — and I hope we can re-kindle that at Blair and keep it as a top competition.
“Blair did a fantastic job this year, considering the [very wet] weather. No one would have been surprised on Thursday if they had cancelled. It’s a super place at the right time of the season and lets riders such as Nicola Wilson come up with their top horses before a major championship.”
This year’s Scottish open winners, Nicola Wilson (née Tweddle) and Opposition Buzz, went on to win a team gold medal at the European Eventing Championships in Fontainebleau on their British team debut.
