Kitty King and Vendredi Biats - CCI4*-L winners at the 2018 Equi-Trek Bramham International Horse Trials
An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on cross country at
2018 Equi-Trek Bramham International Horse Trials and we'll be back in 2019!
Order or watch 2018 videos here
As 2019 draws to a close, thoughts turn to the promise of a new year and a new decade.
2020 brings the excitement of an Olympic year and Yorkshire’s largest equestrian fixture, the Equi-Trek Bramham International Horse Trials (4 – 7 June) is set to play a starring role as British horses and riders compete to impress for selection to Tokyo. It promises to be a special year for the event and equally for our selected charitable partner, New Beginnings, who mark their ten-year anniversary as part of the Bramham team.
Based at Bishop Wilton near York, New Beginnings re-trains racehorses for a ‘life past the post’. Through no fault of their own, many thoroughbred racers find themselves in need of a new life when their racing career is over and careful and considered rehabilitation from New Beginnings provides just that. As one of only ten accredited centres for Retraining of Racehorses, the charity provides security and purpose and without the selfless dedication of Directors Kevin and Pam Atkinson and their team, these thoroughbreds could find themselves neglected or even destroyed.
Once a racehorse has been through the New Beginnings rehabilitation programme to become a riding horse, they’re carefully matched to a loving long-term forever loan homes where they can enjoy a secure life and a new career. The charity also works with racecourses to help educate the racing public and show the versatility of the thoroughbred breed – indeed the majority of the horses competing in the three world class competitions in the Horse Trials will be full or part-bred thoroughbreds.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Bramham International Horse Trials in the year when we celebrate our tenth birthday,” commented Pam Atkinson. “We started with just a small holding but plenty of passion to give former racehorses a future and purpose and have grown into a 23 stable strong enterprise. As a charity, we continuously need to fundraise to cover costs and help as many horses who need our support as possible but Bramham also gives us a great chance to raise awareness and educate the equestrian public about what magnificent horses these are and that they should consider an ex-racer when looking for their next horse.
“We have a full year of celebrations planned to mark ten years including a Charity Ball in February and an Open Day in the summer so this association with Bramham in June is fitting in our milestone year. We’re looking forward to working with Bramham Horse Trials and all those involved to share our love for thoroughbreds,” she continued.
Bramham features three world class eventing classes in one; the showcase Equi-Trek CCI4*L, the future star spotting British Horse Feeds U25 CCI4*L and the Land Rover CCI4*S. While Bramham is outside the Tokyo qualification window, it’s testing cross country courses designed by Ian Stark and built by David Evans, who’s also responsible for building in Japan, will provide a test where a good performance could cement selection for riders from nations around the world.
Alongside the eventing, there’s top flight show jumping action, the Saracen Horse Feeds Arena Eventing which proved a huge hit in its inaugural year, showing and breeding classes, Young Horse qualifiers and Pony Club activities so there’s always something to watch in our two competition arenas. Aside the equestrian action, there’s a first rate shopping experience, entertainment, the Yorkshire Food Hall, Rural Crafts and a gourmet food outlets.
Bramham Event Director Nicholas Pritchard says “We’re excited to welcome New Beginnings as our charity this year. Horses are at the heart of the event and it’s wonderful to showcase their good work to our 50,000 or so visitors and help them to raise much needed funds as well as well as showing what great partners ex-racehorses make.
“We’ve got a number of plans in the pipeline to make Bramham 2020 one of the best ever as we build toward the excitement of the Tokyo Olympics and we’ll be sharing them throughout the spring. We’ll be bringing you family fun and eventing action in one of Britain’s most beautiful parks as ever with a few new additions.”
The Box Office is now open – just in time for Christmas and what better present than tickets! Join us for the day, become a member for the week or get up close and personal with a camping package; there’s a range of options and you can build your own Bramham experience online HERE
