Hazel Shannon and Clifford Photo courtesy OzShots
Tamworth International Eventing will host its second major competition for 2015 on the 31st October and 1st November at AELEC, with over 200 horse and rider combinations travelling to Tamworth to compete.
Olympic silver medallist Shane Rose is one of many elite riders competing this weekend, and will ride six horses at the event including the recent NSW CCI3* Championship winner, Another Biscuit. Having won the Peel Valley Machinery CNC3* class at Tamworth in July 2013, Shane is keen to experience another successful trip to Tamworth and only three other riders will be challenging him in this class - Sheridan Sullivan (Talent Thyme), Blair Richardson (Rudolph) and Isabel English (Grand Andi)
Western Australian rider Jessica Manson is another elite rider who will compete at Tamworth as part of the preparation for the Southern Hemisphere’s most prestigious eventing competition, the Australian International 3 Day Event. Jess and her Australian Stock Horse gelding Legal Star won the CCI4* class at Adelaide in 2014 and will seek to defend their title in 2015. Their first trip to Tamworth will be their last competition before the big event in November and she has opted to ride in the 4* Combined Training class along with Adelaide bound Christine Bates, Kirsty Douglas and Hazel Shannon.
Heath Ryan competing at Tamworth in July Photo courtesy OzShots
Heath Ryan will compete at the Tamworth event for the fourth consecutive year, with three horses entered. Heath Ryan represented Australia at the Beijing Olympics in the sport of dressage, and has been the Australian Three Day Event Champion on three occasions in the sport of eventing.
With Tamworth receiving significant rainfall over the last week, riders will experience excellent ground conditions on the spectator friendly cross country course.
“The weekend forecast is looking great, and we are looking forward to two great days of world class eventing right here in Tamworth”, said Tamworth International Eventing’s President Norm Hindmarsh. “We have riders of all levels participating, from newcomers and juniors right up to Australian squad members. All the riders enjoy these amazing facilities at AELEC and the wonderful country hospitality in Tamworth. We hope the local community will come along and spectate, it’s a very exciting sport to watch.”
Spectator entry is free through the weekend. Show jumping in the indoor arena for the higher levels of competition will commence at 2:30pm on Saturday afternoon.
The cross country phase runs from 8:30am until 2pm on Sunday, with the higher levels competing from 10:30am.
Check back after the weekend for our report from TIE and results
