Portman horse trials to miss a year due to wet ground

A popular horse trials in the south-west has been forced to abandon this year — the latest to fall victim to the months of bad weather.

But there is good news for fans of Portman; it will return in 2014 on a different site.

Portman, which is run on the Rushmore Estate in Dorset, had been due to run on 2 and 3 April 2013.

“Sadly, due to extensive ground work on the site, Portman will not run this summer,” said British Eventing (BE).

Michael Yarrow, who organises the event, said they had been forced to abandon due to the estate needing to carry out “some serious ground work”.

Because the ground is so wet, they have not been able to start the work until recently, he explained.

The organisers looked at moving Portman to another venue for this year only, but the costs proved prohibitive.

BE’s sport operation manager, Chris Farr, said it was a “great shame for riders in the south-west to be losing Portman this year”.

He added: “But members can look forward to a fresh start with a new cross-country challenge next year.”

The new course will be built on a different area of the Rushmore Estate, which is permanent parkland.

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