The Bath and West's first horse trials of 2005 was again hailed as a great success at the weekend. The Spring Royal Bath and West of England Society One Day Event, sponsored by Southwood Waste Management and supported by Sportsmatch, took place at the Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, on the 12th and 13th of March 2005. The British Eventing affiliated event attracted over 500 initial entries, and ran 6 sections of Intro, 4 sections of Pre-Novice and 2 sections of Open Pre-Novice over the weekend.
With the weather being dry, the ground was near-perfect and the cross-country course rode very well with many competitors commenting on what a lovely, well-built course it was. The course was designed by Olympic course designer Mike Etherington-Smith, who very kindly agreed to design the Bath and West courses despite usually being associated with national and international level events. This gives local grassroots riders a very unique opportunity to jump a cross country course designed by an Olympic level course designer. Malcolm Beaton, the owner of local company and overall sponsors Southwood Waste Management, said he was delighted that the event went so well and provided such a good competition for local grassroots riders, and very much looks forward to a long association with it in the future.
Many grassroots riders competed from Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset, whilst some came from as far a field as Cornwall, Essex and Staffordshire. Local riders fared well with Emma Weight from Mark in Somerset winning Intro Section A on her dressage score of 34.2, Sophie Hawke from Crewkerne winning Pre-Novice Section G on her excellent dressage score of just 22 and Leonie Dodgson from Bridgewater winning the hotly contested Pre-Novice Section H on a score of 32.5, just half a penalty point in front of Lucinda Fenny from Wedmore, who finished second on a score of 33.
British Eventing's Southern Regional Director, Robert Mackenzie, attended the event on Sunday and commented:
"The Royal Bath and West of England Society One Day Event, sponsored by Southwood Waste Management and supported by Sportsmatch, was a very happy and successful day. The event was very much enjoyed by the 423 competitors who participated on the day. Everything went very well and even the weather was kind!"
The Society is delighted that the One Day Event was such a success and that so many local grassroots competitors, volunteers and businesses were involved, fitting well with the Society's aims and objectives of promoting agriculture and rural practices and encouraging allied trades connected with the rural economy. Plans are underway for the autumn event on 8th and 9th October 2005, where a new layout will enhance an already successful event.
Eventing relies heavily on the support of volunteers for duties such as stewarding and fence judging, if you would like to become involved with the autumn event, no experience necessary, please contact the Society by emailing horsetrials@bathandwest.co.uk or telephone 01749 822200.