Arson attack on Windsor charity ride jumps
The organisers of a charity cross-country event in Windsor Great Park managed to rebuild six jumps in less than an hour after vandals set them alight.
Volunteers at the Lions Club of Windsor cross-country horse ride last weekend (13-14 October) found that six jumps had been dismantled and burnt as a bonfire overnight when they arrived on the Sunday morning.
“Luckily we have a large supply of materials in reserve. We started work at 8.30am and the first rider was able to start on time at 9.30am,” said Lions’ spokesman Harry Purchase.
Windsor Lions Club has run the event for 39 years, raising £1.8million for small charities.
This year they welcomed 500 riders to the nine-mile course, raising around £40,000.
But the arson attack was not the only blow to the 2012 event.
It usually takes place in May but was postponed this year because of the wet weather.
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“We have had to deal with deer eating the jumps in past years, but this was the action of morons,” added Mr Purchase.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.