The Wimbledon fortnight hosts 757 tennis players. Over its four days the Barbury Horse Trials host over 1,000 horse and rider combinations – quite an organisational feat.
The Horse Trials start today (Thursday, July 4) and the weather looks fair and dry for the full four days with the Barbury Show on the Saturday and Sunday.
There are new events this year including three new showjumping classes on the Saturday and Sunday. And of course the various classes of three day eventing will still be running right through to the climax of the three star class on the Sunday.
One element that sets Barbury apart is its long standing support for Retraining of Racehorses (ROR.) The organisation’s Championship is run at Barbury and concludes with a jump-off by the top ten in the main arena on Sunday.
The winner last year was Minal-based New Zealander Tim Price with nineteen year-old Vortex – the year before he came second. So he’s not sure what he and the veteran Vortex will do this year. He hopes it’s not third place.
The ROR charity was set up in 2000 by what was then the British Horseracing Board. It part funds centres which provide care and retraining of retired racehorses before they go to suitable homes. Greatwood, just south of Marlborough, is one of the four centres.
Under the slogan ‘Trained to run, retrained for fun’, ROR also supports retraining of racehorses for a variety of sports and pastimes – from polo to dressage. Each year some 3,500 horses retire from racing – many are exported and some go to stud. ROR currently has 8,153 horses registered with them.
ROR’s Chief Executive, Di Arbuthnot, told Marlborough News Online that they consider the Barbury Championship to be the ‘pinnacle’ of their competitions. And this year they’ve upped the prize pot and the winner will get £2,000.
Another retraining racehorse visiting Barbury will be Kauto Star who is retraining for dressage but outside the ROR system. Ridden by Laura Collett he will be giving a display and taking part in a parade. Unfortunately his former stable-mate Denman will not be there as he has infected foot.
Di Arbuthnot says that Nigel Bunter, who is the chairman of Barbury International Eventing and show, is a great supporter of ROR. Tim Price also a supports ROR: “There’s nothing like a good thoroughbred for sincerity in their work and honesty. And through ROR they can move gently to a new way of life.”
Tim Price’s nineteen year-old Vortex, known at the stables as Ed or even Old Ed, originally raced in New Zealand. Vortex is not registered with ROR which is only for horses which have raced in Britain, but can enter the Championship which includes horses that can prove they have raced abroad.
Away from ROR, Tim will be riding Wesko in the three star eventing, and has three horses in the two star including seven year-old Bango who he says “Is about ready for some good results.” And he’s entering three young novice horses.
In January Tim married his long-term partner Jonelle Richards who rode in the New Zealand team at the 2012 Olympics in Greenwich. They went back to New Zealand to be with family and appropriately enough were married at Marlborough Sounds.
They run stables at Mere Farm in the beautiful open country above Minal.
At Barbury Jonelle will be riding the young, dapple grey mare Faerie Dianimo – known as Maggie May. And also a young horse, Cloud Dancer (known as Marley) who only started eventing last summer. Cloud Dancer is owned by a syndicate of local people – mostly women who call themselves the Dancing Horse Syndicate.
As well as all the horses on the Saturday and Sunday, Barbury offers a full programme of cooking shows with celebrity chefs, fun and games, food to eat and drinks to drink – and lots of shopping. Ticket details are here.
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