Barbury Castle International Horse Trials, a popular FEI fixture on the eventing circuit in England, has been removed from the British Eventing (BE) calendar for 2023.
The decision to terminate the Affiliation Agreement for Barbury Castle International Horse Trials and therefore remove the fixture from the 2023 British Eventing and FEI eventing calendar has come about due to a recent restriction placed on event organisers by British Eventing
British Eventing’s new International fixtures Affiliation Agreement seeks to prevent venues that host international fixtures from hosting Unaffiliated (UA) eventing competition during the year.
Musketeer Event Management (MEM), who took on the organisation of Barbury Castle International Horse Trials in 2019 introduced an Unaffiliated event in 2021 “to financially support the International fixture, which facilitates viability and continued investment in the wonderful site”
“MEM and BE sought to find a solution for alternative options, to ensure the viability of the International fixture at Barbury and, although BE offered the venue the opportunity to host a new GOBE fixture, no regular classes were permitted to run alongside.
On review of entry levels for the events which hosted GOBE classes in 2022, it was determined that taking the risk of forfeiting three days of the Unaffiliated sport was too great” says MEM
In conjunction with Barbury Castle Estates, the decision was taken that the only financially viable option for the venue is to continue with the running of the Cotswold Cup fixture taking place over the weekend of 15th & 16th July.
Chris Woodhouse, Barbury Castle Estates says that “The decision by British Eventing to cancel the Barbury International Horse Trials is lamentable. Musketeer Event Management, supported by the Estate, have made a considerable investment over recent years to improve the event, support its financial viability during Covid and broaden the appeal to junior competitors.
Insisting on affiliation of all events in order to boost the finances of British Eventing in a post Covid environment when competitors and the general public are struggling with the cost of living appears to me to be elitist and non-inclusive.”
Barbury Castle Estate and Musketeer Event Management say that both remain completely committed to the continuation of International and grassroots Eventing at the venue and sincerely hope the International fixture will have the opportunity to return to this iconic venue in the future.
Zara Tindall rides Showtime at 2021 Barbury International Horse Trials
