Barbury spring fixture proves a winner

British Eventing competition made a welcome return to the Barbury castle estate this weekend (21-23 March), with a packed schedule of national classes. The Keyflow Feeds Barbury Horse Trials delivered three days of great sport, providing competition from novice to intermediate, including young horse qualifiers.

For many years the venue hosted an international horse trials, featuring many of the world’s top horses and riders, which was a highlight of the summer. Andrew Nicholson, in particular, made his mark here, securing an impressive six 4* titles. Like many riders, he is delighted to see this new spring fixture enter the BE calendar.

“It’s great to have the event back on the circuit again,” said Andrew, who finished third in Intermediate Section D with his own, Homero. “I think Alec Lochore’s done an unbelievable job with the course – great to ride, educational, and very much worth coming to. It’s a lovely place to ride cross country. With beautiful grassland and the undulations, it’s an exciting place to go round.”

William Fox-Pitt is another who was delighted to be back at the venue. “It’s great to be here at Barbury in March,” he said. “To have it early season is fantastic. Alec and his team have done a superb job of putting on the event and we’re very glad to have our young horses here learning.  I think they’re really benefiting from a lovely galloping course on good ground. I think it’s great for us in the eventing world to have Barbury back on the map.”

“It’s so great to be back at Barbury,” concluded Brayden Lissington of title sponsor, Keyflow Feeds. “It’s an event that all the riders I know love a lot and, as the main sponsors, we’re so thrilled to have it back on the BE calendar. I think the entries speak for themself. It’s been really well supported by lots of riders and it’s hopefully a spot that we can keep growing in years to come.”

Full results are available on the BE website here.

Photo courtesy of Top Shots Photography