An Eventful Life is filming all competitors on cross country at
Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International - find out more here
There is a sense of anticipation building at Sussex Farm as tomorrow sees the start of the 2019 Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International Horse Trials and, with bumper entries, a world class field and good weather forecast, spectators can expect three fantastic days of sport.
Almost 850 horses will have the opportunity to tackle cross country designer Alec Lochore and builder Mark Watler's challenging and educational courses, ranging from BE100 level to CCI4*-S. The courses will again run anti-clockwise, a change introduced last year.
Fourteen nations will be represented with the line-up including many of the very best riders on the circuit. Between them, at the new category CCI5* – the very top level of eventing - these athletes have won 18 Burghley titles, 11 Badminton titles, eight Lexington titles, four Luhmuhlen titles and three Pau titles. In addition, we have two past individual European Champions and one past World Champion (two if you count Ros Canter, the reigning World Champion, who will be on event but not competing), and countless Olympic medallists.
All members of the victorious gold medal winning team from last year's World Championships will be there: Piggy French (below), Tom McEwen, Gemma Tattersall and double gold medal winner Ros Canter, who might be sidelined due to impending motherhood but will be watching her regular horses compete and flying the flag for Riding for the Disabled, a charity with whom she has been involved for many years, and which is our official charity this year.
The dressage phase for the CCI4*-S takes place on Friday and Saturday with show jumping and cross country on Sunday
World and British number one Oliver Townend will be looking for an 11th win in the headline CCI4*-S class, one which he has made very much his own over the last 12 years. He brings seven horses to Norfolk, including his Burghley winner Ballaghmor Class and Kentucky winner Cooley Master Class.
Other Five Star winners include Tim & Jonelle Price, Andrew Nicholson and Caroline Powell from New Zealand, and British favourites William Fox-Pitt, Pippa Funnell and Mary King.
In a change of scheduling, our raft of world class riders will be competing their top horses on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the Intermediate and Advanced classes will take place, past World and European Champion Zara Tindall bringing two horses forward for the Advanced as well as competing a couple of novice horses.
Sunday's action will be dominated by the International jumping phases, the Three and Four Star runners. One hundred and sixty combinations are entered in to the Four Star, which has been split in to two sections as a result. The Three Star will be no walk in the park to win either, with 115 entrants. A total of 845 entries have been received for the three days of competition.
There is plenty more to see and do away from the eventing action - new for this year is the Ferretworld Roadshow, with two displays on both Saturday and Sunday, plus the opportunity to interact with the ferrets and have a go at the Ferret Fun Run – billed as 'the ultimate showdown of human versus ferret!’ The Lowestoft Dog Display Team, the longest established Dog Display Team in the UK will also be attending with their amazing team of highly skilled dogs; the team will carry out two displays on both Saturday and Sunday with the handlers available to answer any questions you might have about the dogs or taking up agility yourself
Fen Falconry returns with a variety of birds of prey, plus there will be bungee trampolines, bouncy castles, a climbing wall and Razz & Pearl's circus workshops, 'have-a-go' dog agility hosted by our charity Riding for the Disabled, and over 40 shops.
Bring the family for a great day out – world class sport, great shopping, childrens entertainment and a breath of Norfolk sea air...
Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International takes place from 12-14 April at Sussex Farm, PE31 8AG. General admission is available each day for spectators or visit the Musketeer website for more information on tickets and hospitality options
