Chilham Castle Horse Trials (1): what riders need to know [H&H VIP]
Get the lowdown on this fixture from Eventing magazine's horse trials guide — including what riders say about the event, plus vital statistics
Date: Saturday 2 — Sunday 3 May 2015
Organiser: Ali Ferry
Contact: Ali 07979 497716; info@chilhampark.co.uk; www.chilhampark.co.uk
Location: Kent
Entries open: 26 March
Ballot date: 9 April at 12 noon
Entries close: 22 April
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Link to Chilham Castle (1) entries: www.britisheventing.com/chilhamcastle1
How to get there
Chilham Park is situated between Canterbury and Ashford on the A252.
What the organisers say
The flat grass dressage arenas are in a quiet location with a large grass warm-up area. The showjumping courses are set by John Farrell and are centrally sited on grass with a good variety of jumps.
The cross-country is over undulating terrain and old parkland. All of our courses are designed by Scott Brickell, with the introduction of a major new water complex in 2013. The course fits naturally into the environment, with a mixture of portable and permanent fences.
The BE80(T) is straightforward and intended as an honest introduction to eventing. This course receives many compliments as it reflects a true BE track at this level.
We are proud of our BE90 and BE100 courses, which are always well supported. We are continually making small changes to provide riders with new challenges.
The novice course is a fair test as this level, but challenging enough to give riders looking to move up a level a good indication as to whether they are ready.
The courses suit all types of horses and riders.
What the riders say
Dressage & showjumping — “The dressage takes place in a large meadow and is a fair hack from the lorry park, but the area is well away from the showjumping and cross-country and is quiet with plenty of space to work in.” “The warm-up is beside a large ornamental lake, so lots of fly spray is needed.” “The grass cover was good although the land slopes gently.” “The dressage arenas are consistently flat.” “The showjumping warm-up is adjacent to the lorry park so it’s easy to keep an eye on proceedings.” “It’s situated on sloping ground; there was plenty of space, even with several horses warming up and the practice jumps were sited to be jumped up the slope rather than down it.” “The arena itself is lined with various tradestands so it was fairly ‘busy’, a factor that might affect a young horse.” “The course was well built and fair with a good ‘lead-in’ to the up to height fences.”
Cross-country — “The ground was fairly wet in April and several horses were a little quick and unbalanced on certain sections of the course.” “It has several combinations that demand going down a gear and encourage the rider to think about how best to approach them.” “It’s suitable for a first-timer or young horse as there are a good variety of fences, but it was not really up to height.”
Percentage of cross-country clears 2014
ONU18: 42%
ON: 50%
N: 64%
BE100U18: 79%
BE100 Pony: 89%
BE100 Open: 72%
BE100: 77%
BE90: 76%
BE80(T): 73%
Download part one of the horse trials guide for just £1.49: Eventing horse trials guide part one
Buy Eventing magazine’s March issue for our full horse trials guide detailing every event from March to June 2015 or purchase a digital copy of the guide here. The second half of the guide will be in our April issue (on sale 20 March) and online to buy digitally after publication
