Top British event rider Piggy March is an advocate for giving horses an early start to the season on home soil
As a rider, I have always felt very strongly about starting eventing in March. I would rather compete on softer ground than firm, and you get used to your system and the venues that have worked for you over the years. Those early events have played a key part in educating and getting horses going in good time to make longer-range plans.
This can be the best time for fantastic ground and weather, which has certainly been the case this year. We enjoyed a couple of days in the sunshine at Poplar Park, and that continued through the first few weekends of the season, with dry weather and great footing.
It’s brilliant to have places such as Poplar Park with proper, traditional cross-country courses that feel like an adventure for you and the horse – you are forever going in and out of woods and up and down terrain, rather than just round a couple of big, flattish fields.
It was also terrific to see such crowds there to watch. That always surprises me; the first weekend in March can be bitterly cold, but it shows there is still a huge interest in and love for our sport.
I was pleased to see Barbury back, as it is such a spectacular venue. It is a wonderful place for owners to be able to watch entire cross-country rounds, and March is exactly when it should take place as the camber and chalk going is easier on the horses then.
Spread thin
I spent Barbury weekend at Horseheath, another event with super, rolling cross-country on excellent ground. Again, it is perfect for this time of year with going that can take whatever the weather throws at it. Sadly, it was reduced to just a single day as they lacked sufficient entries to justify running the intermediate and advanced.
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This was such a shame; it’s so important not to lose venues like this.
I suppose clashing with Barbury, which got enough entries for three full days, and being the weekend before Thoresby didn’t help Horseheath.
Are there enough horses at intermediate and advanced level to support that many events within such a short space of time?
I know that Weston Park always struggled when it was sandwiched between Belton and Burnham Market, yet it served a real purpose in being a good, galloping course built from solid timber on lovely old turf, and had that “old-fashioned” feel of crossing the country we miss so much.
However, when it got wet at Weston it got very wet, so you were often better off entering the two events either side of it to ensure you got your run before your big spring three-days.
I was amazed to see Lincoln quite low on open intermediate (OI) entries. I’ve always thought of Lincoln as a brilliant place to give your OI horses a good run before the season got busy or more serious. Even William Fox-Pitt used to make the trip from Dorset with a lorryload of horses, as the journey was so worthwhile.
I couldn’t go to Lincoln this year because of training commitments that I couldn’t afford to turn down, but I was sad not to see the numbers and strength of depth in those OI classes that we have been used to. I hope this doesn’t affect its chances of taking place in the future.
Support our events
Thoresby still has the buzz its predecessor Belton had; it’s very atmospheric and the sport there was exciting. The event has sometimes suffered because of bad weather, so it was great to see the sun shine on it and the organisers’ huge efforts in staging this first “big” competition of the year rewarded.
I’m glad Kronenberg in the Netherlands was cancelled, because I know quite a lot of riders were going there, and it allowed Thoresby to show we need to keep believing in British events. We need to support them, and we’re in the lap of the gods when it comes to weather.
● What can events do to keep top riders competing in Britain? Let us know at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and country, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine
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Piggy March is one of Britain’s leading event riders, frequently winning at national and international events and representing her country. She made her five-star debut at Burghley Horse Trials in 2002, but had to wait until Badminton Horse Trials 2019 to claim her first five-star victory in her 25th start at the level. Piggy has won both team and individual medals representing Britain at the Europeans and World Equestrian Games, and has been selected for the Olympics, only to be ruled out from competing.
