The prestigious Sunshine Tour, one of the most important show jumping tours in Europe, is all set up and ready to begin.
The Tour begins on 9th of February and ends on the 28th of March with over 2,000 horses, 400 riders from 40 different countries taking part at the impressive venue at Vejer De La Frontera in southern Spain. Show jumping stars such as Steve Guerdat, Kevin Staut, Simon Delestre, Gerko Schröder and Pénélope Leprevost will be competing and the Tour usually attracts several top eventing riders such as Tim and Jonelle Price and Chris Burton who use the great facilities in a mild climate to prepare their horses for the coming season.
The show will be run following strict protocols that have been drawn up by the Higher Sports Council and the Royal Spanish Equestrian Federation (Real Federación Hípica Española) in order to try and avoid any risks associated with Covid-19, but UK-based riders will face a few other hurdles as well this year to get to the Sunshine Tour.
Recent changes in lorry regulations, staff visas and horse transportation that have come about in the Brexit changes as of January 1st are causing headaches for elite riders, who are able travel under specific Covid exemptions and who normally compete in Europe at this time of year. This has been further compounded by France closing its borders for all but essential travel from outside the EU, making the journey to Spain even more complex.
We will have to wait and see which eventing riders make the journey to the largest Tour in Europe, which this year has added an additional week to the program, as well as 5 weeks of CSI4*, one CSI3*, one CSI2* and over 1.900.000€ in prizes.
With that on offer, more than twenty grass and sand arenas at Dehesa Montenmedio, good weather and the lure of Spanish food and wine, you can understand why it would be worth the journey in any normal year.
