When amateur rider Sophie Roach won the inaugural Telstar Trophy Restricted Novice Three Day Event at Osberton 2023, she admitted that “It’s a moment I’ve been dreaming of for ages.”
“I used to literally cry every time I did a 90. And not long ago, my horse did both hind suspensory ligaments, and the vet said he’d never jump again – so to be here, with the help of all my team and Anthony Clark, has been amazing. To go clear inside the time and clear again today was incredible. I’m so grateful that my horse has pulled through and grown up to do this for me.”
Not everyone can, or wants to, ride at an Olympic Games but every rider has their own goals to strive for. In 2024, BEDE Events will be offering even more initiatives to enable amateur combinations to compete on a more level playing field and enjoy the rewards, with prizes across all BEDE Events competitions and amateur sections at Osberton (2) International.
Definition of Amateur Eventing Rider
To be classified as an amateur, BEDE Events is applying the following criteria:
Riding isn’t your main job/source of income;
You don’t get paid to teach people to ride;
You don’t get paid to ride other people’s horses competitively through the season;
You don’t get paid for schooling/riding other people’s horses;
You have not been part of any team or national training programme.
Those meeting the criteria register on the BEDE website here and are then eligible for a range of new initiatives during the 2024 season.
Highest Placed Amateur
With the support of Charles Owen, BEDE Events will offer a prize for the highest placed amateur across all their events. The prize will be applicable to all classes, from BE80 to Advanced, with international classes also included.
Rosettes to the highest placed amateur will be awarded, plus special prizes as the result of a prize draw of leading amateurs across individual events. All rosette winners per event will be put into a draw to win additional prizes.
At the end of the season one lucky rider will win a specialist hat fitting and new Charles Owen hat of their choice.
CCI1* Pro/Am at Osberton International (2)
Following the successful addition of the CC1* in 2023, with the support of Agria Equine Lifetime this year’s CCI1* will be split into Professional and Amateur sections, should entries allow.
The creation of two separate sections will allow amateur riders to compete against each other for the prestigious title of an international winner. “The amateur market is a large part of our sport and by offering this opportunity to compete against their peers we feel it will allow for the fairest competition possible and compliments the ethos of the Agria BE100 League” says BEDE Events.
National Novice Three-Day
Following its introduction for the 2023 season, and running alongside the existing CCI2*L, the National Novice ‘trophy classes’ is restricted to non-FEI registered riders. Although not specifically restricted to amateurs it is hoped that the continuation of the National Novice will encourage increased numbers of amateur riders to target Osberton International (2) as an end of season destination.
“The aim is to provide an end of season destination event for non-FEI registered riders, that runs in a 3-day format. We appreciate that there are many riders who choose to follow the National class route and not target FEI events, and we wanted to create something special for this classification of horse and rider. By keeping MERs simple we can create an end of season trophy that many Novice and Intermediate riders can aim for” says Stuart Buntine, BEDE Events Director.
