A massive boost for Eventing as NAF Five Star International Hartpury Horse Trials take on National Championships

I have to be honest I have complained in the past that The Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe and the NAF Five Star International Hartpury Horse Trials, which generally ran on consecutive weekends in early August, were too close together and I didn't always get chance to do either event justice. I may also have said that I hoped, with the cancellation of Gatcombe in 2024, British Eventing weren't going to award the Championships to Aston Le Walls. Well in a sort of "be careful what you wish for" kind of way we learned on Friday that the Championships weren't going to ALW but were going to Hartpury instead!

Looking forward to NAF Hartpury 2024
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This is brilliant news for Hartpury University and College and it will be interesting to see how it works in practice. The Hartpury format is two days of Dressage, followed by a bumper full day of cross country and 4*S show jumping followed by a more relaxed Sunday of 2*L and 3*L show jumping - it will be interesting to see how the five National Championships are melded into this format.

There is no doubt this is a massive boost and pat on the back for eventing at Hartpury. Fingers crossed that it comes together to create a memorable event - in the meantime we have the Hartpury Festival of Dressage to look forward to in early July.

Official press release:     

British Eventing and Hartpury University and College are delighted to announce that this year’s British National Championships will be held at the NAF Five Star International Hartpury Horse Trials (7-11 August 2024).

The world-class equestrian centre, located in the heart of Gloucestershire, will run the championships alongside their well-established NAF Metazone CCI2*L, NAF Superflex CCI3*L and NAF Magic CCI4*S classes. The addition of the British Open Championship, British Intermediate Championship, British Novice Championship, British Novice Restricted Novice Championship (Corinthian Cup), and Retrained Racehorse Championship, will mean an additional day of exciting cross country action on Sunday 11 August. Britain’s national champions will then be crowned in what will be a fitting finale to a week celebrating the sport of eventing.

Hartpury University and College are no strangers to holding championship level events. In 2022, they successfully hosted the FEI Dressage and Eventing Championships for Juniors and Young Riders.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Rosie Scott-Ward said: “Like many others, we were sad to hear of the loss of Gatcombe’s Festival of British Eventing from the calendar this year, and it’s our privilege to be trusted with delivering these championships in 2024.

“While it’s not easy stepping up at relatively short notice, I’m very proud of our team here at Hartpury who have already got to work to ensure we deliver a superb competition and championship atmosphere for competitors.

We will miss Gatcombe
©Harveywetdog

“We have exciting plans for the cross country courses and are working with designer Eric Winter and Jump1 to create world-class tracks and exceptional going, both for the championships and also for our prestigious international classes. We look forward to welcoming everyone in August.”

British Eventing CEO Rosie Williams said:“We are really pleased to be working with the team at Hartpury to host our prestigious national championships. We are all focussed on building this back to a major event for our members of all levels to aspire to, and it is brilliant to have Hartpury on board to help us do that. Members attending the championships will have access to top-class facilities across all days of competition, whilst also being able to enjoy the atmosphere that the existing international event brings with it. Our national classes are the pinnacle in the calendar for many of our members, and we look forward to being able to watch the titles being contested within a top-class environment.”

Superb recognition and a massive opportunity for Hartpury
©Harveywetdog

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Harveywetdog/Author - David Robinson CEng FIET 

David spent approaching 50 years in Her Majesty's Electricity Supply Industry before retiring

He was part of the highly successful design team on the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Project before spending 25 years producing safety cases to keep our aging AGR fleet generating for the good of the nation

He is responsible for the Harveywetdog YouTube Channel which he maintains as an outlet for his creative talents

David has recently recovered from blood cancer but refuses to be a victim

All views are his own but might be influenced by the medication he's had to take