Hoof Hearted, Norfolk Enchance and Boris are among the virtual horses set to take part in a virtual event this weekend (2 May) – with toilet rolls among the prizes.
Munstead, whose first British Eventing competition of 2020 was due to run just after lockdown started, has organised the virtual horse trials “purely as a bit of fun”.
Course preparations are under way for our first ever virtual event. The course has been flagged, joskined and watered to perfection! *No actual riding involved. This is just a bit of fun to give you an eventing fix while we aren't running.
Posted by Munstead Horse Trials on Sunday, April 26, 2020
Rebecca Harvey, who owns and organises the event with husband Rupert, told H&H riders entered by commenting on a Facebook post with the names of the “horses” they planned to enter.
“We’ve had some ridiculous, funny names,” she said, adding that the final list of those who scraped through the ballot is online.
The event will feature old videos, edited by Lianne Tadd, covering not only competitors tackling the cross-country but also some hobby horse moments, and footage of “ground preparation” – using a watering can.
“When it comes to the event, we’ll allocate marks completely randomly,” Rebecca said. “We’ve got video of the dressage judge, explaining how the day’s gone so far, we’ve found old footage of a livery cantering round the course with a dog, so we’ll have a loose dog; it’s been fun putting it together.”
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Spectators can watch from an appropriate social distance – ie online at home, and there are top prizes available.
“The Crosscountry App has donated some vouchers for prizes, and the first horse will get a rosette, a travel mug – and a toilet roll,” Rebecca said. “What more could anyone want?
“It’s all very tongue-in-cheek; a bit of fun to keep people entertained while we can’t do anything else.”
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