Here’s why you should be watching the Event Rider Masters this weekend

This weekend marks the start of the Event Rider Masters series — cue big excitement in the eventing world. Here are seven reasons why we should all be logging onto www.eventridermasters.tv for free this weekend to stay up to speed with the first leg at the Dodson & Horrell Chatsworth International Horse Trials

1. Chatsworth (14-15 May) is the first leg of six in this series, culminating at Blenheim Palace in September. All riders are competing for the coveted Event Rider Masters title and a £30,000 prize for the overall winner of the series. Watching this weekend will kick start your excitement for the rest of the season…

2. The world’s best eventers are competing — William Fox-Pitt, Andrew Nicholson, Gemma Tattersall, Emily King, Sam Griffiths and Zara Tindall to name a few. Plus plenty of potential Rio Olympic horses will be participating.

3. The prize fund is significant meaning that these top riders will be bringing their A-game. We will be witnessing the sport at its best; get ready to be inspired and exhilarated.

4. Chatsworth is an impressive venue, with rolling parkland, and they plan to put on quite a show. Ian Stark has designed the cross-country course and the fences are beautifully built, providing a fantastic stage for some thrilling action.

5. Badminton is over for another year, but this is gives us an opportunity to see our favourite eventers in action again before the withdrawal symptoms have a chance to kick in — as well as some of the top riders and horses that we didn’t get to see last weekend.

6. This series is a step forward for eventing. By logging on we will be proving to networks that equestrianism has a strong viewing audience.

7. Ten nations will be represented with Olympic, world and European medals between them. With the dressage on Saturday being seeded it will be electrifying from the off. Riders/horses are placed into four groups, based on the average of the horse’s five latest dressage results from CIC3* competitions. The group with the best averages goes last, and within each group a draw takes place to determine the running order.

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Have we convinced you that this is how you should be spending your weekend? Visit eventridermasters.tv

Don’t miss the full report from Chatsworth in next week’s Horse & Hound magazine (19 May 2016)

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