1. How to watch the European Eventing Championships
Buoyed by the brilliant summer of sport we’ve enjoyed so far, all eyes turn to yet another jewel in the calendar, the European Eventing Championships in Avenches, Switzerland. Obviously we’ll be bringing you blow-by-blow accounts of the stories that matter most throughout the day, with magazine and eventing editor Pippa Roome on site for the duration, but if you can get yourself in front of a screen the sport is also being live streamed on FEI TV/Clipmyhorse.tv – visit tv.fei.org to subscribe. The BBC will also show the cross-country and showjumping live on red button, iPlayer and bbc.co.uk/sport. Hurrah. And there will be a highlights programme on BBC2 on Monday 27 September, from 3.30-5.15pm.
2. Who will win the European Eventing Championships?
What a treat to have both the Tokyo Olympic Games and the European Eventing Championships within nine weeks of each other – and to add to the intrigue, this scenario has led to interesting selection decisions. A handful of horses who went to Tokyo are also heading to Avenches, including Dutch riders Merel Blom’s The Quizmaster and Janneke Boonzaaijer’s ACSI Champ De Tailleur – both eliminated for errors of course in Tokyo. But as you would expect most nations are giving other combinations a chance to experience a championship, knowing they will benefit from the experience. Britain’s Piggy March (Brookfield Inocent), Ros Canter (Allstar B), and Kitty King (Vendredi Biats) will be at the forefront of Britain’s team effort, with Sarah Bullimore (Corouet), Izzy Taylor (Monkeying Around) and Nicola Wilson (JL Dublin) joining them in the squad. British team is the favourite for gold, with strong individual chances, too.
Last week, while most of us here were obsessing over Blenheim, a crack British eventing team nipped off to Aachen, Germany, and topped the team competition for the first time in 10 years. It was “nip and tuck in the end”, Laura Collett said – the US were 0.3 of a penalty behind. Laura and Emilie Chandler led the team in the SAP-Cup – Laura finished second on individual ride Dacapo and fourth on team mount Mr Bass, while Aachen debutante Emilie finished third on Gortfadda Diamond. Emilie said: “People say Aachen is amazing and you build it up in your head – but it really was. The week exceeded expectations in every way. It was a real experience and a fantastic result for the team and individually – I couldn’t believe it. We had good team spirit and it was a pleasure to be competing together.”
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Sarah has worked at an equestrian journalist and editor since 2004 and has held the position of Horse & Hound Editor-in-Chief since 2014. She has reported for Horse & Hound from major championships including Europeans and World Equestrian Games. She has co-written books on horses and horse sport including The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horses & Ponies. She has owned and ridden horses since 1993, and worked for and trained with Olympic gold medallist event rider Leslie Law prior to going to university. While studying for a BSc at London School of Economics Sarah also worked for top British dressage rider Louise Spate.
