British showjumpers in Portugal caught up in hurricane
Show jumping Brits hoping to escape the British weather by jumping on the Continent in February have lost out.
Riders on the Comporta Tour in Portugal met more than they bargained for when the show was hit by a hurricane on Saturday.
As the show is not on a permanent showground and the stables are located in large tents, all the horses had to be put on the horseboxes because of the danger of the marquees blowing away.
“A couple of the smaller tents did blow away but the show organisers managed to tie most of them down using tractors to anchor them” explained William Whitaker (pictured), one of several Brits out there.
“And we were able to return them to the stables on Saturday night as the winds calmed down.”
Sunday also suffered with heavy rain all day.
“I jumped a couple of horses on Sunday morning, but have been too busy trying to stop the horses being washed away the rest of the time” said William.
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The grand prix was cancelled until this morning.
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