Could Britain host the European Championships?
Could the 2019 European Championships in showjumping, dressage and para dressage come to Britain? That is the hope of British Showjumping (BD) and British Dressage (BD) as they have announced that they intend to bid to host the competition.
The two governing bodies are now looking for potential venues to come forward and express their interest in hosting championships which would feature 10 days of competition.
The event would be likely to attract more than 250 horses — with 100-120 combinations expected for showjumping, 50-70 for dressage and 70-80 for para dressage.
Para dressage riders and fans will also be pleased to see that this is a joint bid as at next year’s championships they will be competing at a separate venue in Deauville, France rather than at Aachen.
Eventing has historically been held in a separate location to dressage and showjumping. In 2013 the competition took place in Malmö Sweden and next year Blair Castle in Scotland will host the eventing championships.
A spokesman from BD said: “BS and BD believe that hosting this event in the UK will bring significant benefits to the host venue, the sport and the UK’s profile as a leading host nation for major international sporting event.
“Following the Olympics there was a significant increase in participation of all sports including within equestrian. Hosting the European Championships would create another boost in participation for the equestrian world.”
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Britain has held the championships before but never all three disciplines together. In 2009 Windsor hosted both the showjumping and dressage, and the dressage was also held at Hickstead in 2003.
Venues wishing to express interest are asked to email Anna Garside here in order to obtain the relevant information and documents. The deadline for the submission of an expression of interest letter and venue shortlisting response form is 12pm on 21 November.
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.