Bolesworth Castle, home to Bolesworth International Horse Show, has been announced as the new host of the British Showjumping’s young horse championships 2019.
The show will feature four-, five-, six- and seven-year-old classes, incorporating qualifiers for the FEI World Young Horse Championships in Lanaken, in September 2019. These classes will run alongside CSI**/CSIAm international classes.
Young horses will have the chance to experience jumping in the amphitheatre-style main arena with the atmosphere of a “true international competition”, according to British Showjumping (BS).
BS chief executive Iain Graham said: “With the championship show moving to Bolesworth it now has the opportunity to grow into the one we always felt it could become.
British breeding is something the entire team at Bolesworth feels extremely passionate about and this, accompanied with their superb facilities, will make for an ideal setting for our future world class horses to make their championship debut.”
The focus of the championships will be on the British breeding industry, and breeders and potential buyers will be invited both to exhibit at trade stands and network. A new elite foal auction featuring British-bred youngsters will take place on the evening of Saturday 17 August and facilities for trialling and vetting horses will be available on-site before, during and after the show.
Leading showjumper and Billy Stud co-owner William Funnell said: “It is brilliant that this prestigious event has been taken over by Bolesworth. The facilities are fantastic with top-class all-weather arenas and the infrastructure required to run such an event.”
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Show promoter Nina Barbour said: ‘”We are passionate about developing the sport of showjumping in the UK. For me it is very important to keep the Brits in Britain and to reverse the trend that horses need to be both sourced and produced abroad.
“The mission for this show is to prove that we can do it right, and to support the breeding and production of future team horses capable of taking British riders to the very top.”
The show will launch with a new website in the new year detailing schedules and further information.
Do you support the change of venue for this important show? Share your thoughts with us for potential inclusion on the letters page in Horse & Hound magazine by emailing hhletters@ti-media.com, including your name and location.
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