A new supporters club for horse sport fans has been set up that will give members discounts on feed, tack, tickets and clothing — while supporting British equestrian teams.
The club — called Team GBR Ontrack — aims to get more people involved in horse sport in the UK, while raising funds to help send a full British contingent to the 2010 World Equestrian Games (WEG).
It is free to join but for £20, paid-up members will get benefits including about £500 worth of discount vouchers.
As an incentive the first 500 members will be entered into a draw to win a VIP trip to Alltech FEI WEG in Kentucky in 2010.
Nearly £500,000 is needed to get a full British team of 51 horses in all eight disciplines — show jumping, dressage, paradressage, eventing, vaulting, endurance, reining and driving — to WEG.
While the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines have lottery funding, there is currently no financial support for the others.
British Equestrian Federation (BEF) spokesman Anna Greenway said: “The club is aimed primarily at people who are not affiliated to any organisation, or as an added benefit to those who are.
“It is part of our bid to raise funds for WEG but also has a long-term role to play in generating support for our teams.”
Endurance GB chairman John Yeoman added: “It is a great initiative to help non-Olympic disciplines raise funds for WEG [and at the same time] reach out to riders who aren’t represented by a BEF member body and make them part of the equestrian world.”
Other BEF fund-raising schemes include an online auction at www.equestrianteamgbr.co.uk and a raffle to win a £100,000 horsebox.
Team GBR Ontrack will be officially launched on 8 September.
For more information visit: www.teamgbrontrack.com
This article was first published in Horse & Hound (20 August, ’09)
