Guide to Horse Trials

Horse Trials, or as it is more popularly known - Eventing - is the fastest growing of all equestrian sports. Great Britain runs more events than any other country.

The origins of the sport go back to the days when the horse played an active role in military combat. The three phases of the sport, Dressage, Show Jumping and Cross Country, represent the necessary disciplines and attributes of a horse obedient and attentive to its rider, yet still possessing the boldness and energy to go at speed across country, over hedges, ditches and other obstactles in pursuit of the enemy.

All event horses are graded by the number of BE - British Eventing points they have received:-

• Grade 4 - No Points
• Grade 3 - 1 - 20 Points
• Grade 2 - 21 - 60 points
• Grade 1 - more than 61 Points.

Horses gain points by being placed in the top six at events through the season. Most of these will be one-day events, where the three phases of dressage, show jumping and cross-country take place on one day - as we have here at Chepstow on Sunday.

We also run a Two Day Event, including the Welsh Championships. The main difference is that competitors complete their dressage and show jumping on Saturday. then on Sunday they add the speed over the 1.50km steeplechase and the endurance of about 10kms of hacking along roads and tracks before tackling the 3km cross-country course.

All scores are in penalty points. When looking at the scoreboard you should be aware that it is the horse and rider with the lowest number of points that has performed the best.

For most people (and horses too) it is the Cross Country phase which is the most exciting and your visit to Chepstow will not be complete without walking the course. Take extreme care when doing so during the competition: the horses are galloping at over 25mph so always keep dogs on leads, listen for the sounds of an oncoming horse and for the fence judges' warnings.