Grandstand Group sacks company after British Open surface ‘disaster’
HORSE of the Year Show (HOYS) organiser Grandstand Group has terminated their contract with Equestrian Surfaces Ltd.
The move follows complaints from riders about the surface at the British Open, which led to Irish rider Jessica Kurten and Germany’s Heinrich Engemann withdrawing their horses from the final (news, 10 April).
Grandstand director Mark Wein said: “We had been experiencing inferior surfaces over a few shows and the amount of maintenance we had to put in to get the surface to a useable state was unacceptable at the Open.
“We are looking to move forward to celebrating the diamond jubilee of HOYS in October with Andrews Bowen.”
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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.