Windmill Hill Equestrian. Sarah Thorne, BHSI, Accredited Coach.

03/09/2025

Did you know that not wearing high vis when riding on the road is a breach of The Highway Code?

Section 50 sets out that riders should wear: ‘light-coloured or fluorescent clothing in daylight’ and ‘reflective clothing if you have to ride at night or in poor visibility’.

“The Highway Code is a set of rules that you should be adhering to when hacking out,” explains a solicitor.

“It’s used to back up other laws; traffic laws in England don’t tell us how to ride on the road, therefore the wronged party would potentially cite other civil laws and legal principles, such as negligence, when trying to bring a claim against a rider.”

So, if you’re involved in an incident and not wearing high-vis, could it be argued that you were partially liable?

Yes.

Read the full solicitor advice via the link in comments 👇

27/08/2025

Bold decision, but taken from the top and will hopefully forward feed down.
Well handled and a very positive for the sport post.

‘I fully support the judges’ decision’: update on Indigro after Andrew Gould’s European Championship exit. More below

27/08/2025

👋 Our new page 👋
Please be aware that this is now the official page for Pontispool Equine Sports Centre, as our original page was hacked. Please share this post far and wide so that we can reconnect with our wonderful community!
(We strongly advise everyone to unfollow our old page, named 'Pontispool Equine Sports & Holidays'). Our Instagram was unaffected and can still be viewed by searching for in the Instagram app.
Thank you so much in advance for your support with this.
The Pontispool Team

25/08/2025

PONY CLUB NATIONS CUP OF EVENTING FOR PC100 AND PC110.

The Pony Club Nations Cup of Eventing brings together the very
best Pony Club event riders from Ireland, Scotland, England,
Northern Ireland, and Wales in an exciting display of talent and
teamwork. Hosted by the Irish Pony Club at the prestigious
Ballindenisk International Horse Trials in September 2025, it
promises to deliver a weekend of unforgettable action and sporting
spirit.
The following has been prepared to summarise the
qualifying criteria and outline some key facts for those members wishing to represent England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland will be publishing its' own qualifying criteria.

Location and Date
24-28th September
Ballindenisk International, Cork, Ireland.
CNC1* CNC2*S

Competition Format
Dressage, Show Jumping and XC
There will be the opportunity for a trot up
Dressage Tests
2024 FEI Eventing CCI1* Dressage Test C (PC100)
2025 FEI Eventing CCI2* Dressage Test D (PC110)
Show Jumping and XC Heights
CNC1* and CNC2*S
Stabling at Venue included in entry fee of 300Euros
Youth Supper and Entertainment on site


ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility for all Classes
Note - the Nations Cup will be run under Eventing Ireland rules and (where required) FEI rules may also apply.
The organisers reserve the right to adapt eligibility with agreement of OC and stewards.

All horses must be at least 5 years old

Both horses and ponies are eligible to enter

Horses cannot compete in more than one level of eventing at Area, Championship or Nations Cup level in one year

Riders or horses cannot have schooled over the XC course within 2 weeks of the competition

All competitors selected for the Nations Cup must be registered with Eventing Ireland (as a web member or full member in this calendar year)

All combinations must be signed off as competent to compete by their Area Representative or The Pony Club Eventing Committee.

Eligibility for all CNC1* / PC100 (in addition to the criteria above)
EI105 / PC100 Level. Members must be aged 13 or over on 1st January 2025

Combinations must have completed 3 x clear XC rounds at BE100 or PC100 level within the 2024/ 2025 season.

Combinations should show proficiency in Show
Jumping and Dressage phases at PC / EI / BE level
with evidence of consistent results

Combination are ineligible if they have competed at
EI115 / BE Intermediate level or above


Eligibility for all CNC2*S / Open Level (in addition to the criteria above) BE Novice or PC110
Members must be aged 14 or over on 1st January
2025

Combination must have completed 3 x clear XC
rounds at BE Novice or PC110 level within the 2024/ 2025 season.

Combinations should show proficiency in Show
Jumping and Dressage phases at PC / BE level
with evidence of consistent results

Combination are ineligible if they have competed at BE Advanced level or above

LINKS TO RULES for qualifying organisations

British Eventing
https://heyzine.com/flip-book/754edda90d.html
UKPC Eventing Rules
https://pcuk.org/eventing/

Team Selection
Note: This is a guide only and the selectors decision is final.

England, Scotland and Wales

CNC1*
The teams will be selected based on the lowest finishing scores at The Pony Club Championships in either The PC100 or Chairman’s Cup Classes. (Subject to the criteria listed above)
If members have not attended the UK Championships then members can be selected from Area Qualifiers by The National Eventing Committee based on results
and competition records.(subject to the criteria listed above)

CNC2*
The teams will be selected by The National Eventing Committee based on their PC110 or BE Novice record. Preference will be given to those competing at The PC110 Championships at Wellington International.

If you wish to be considered for selection please email [email protected] by September 1st detailing your results both at The Pony Club Championships, PC Areas and BE/PC and include a brief outline as to why you feel you should be selected.

Welsh Team Selection
Areas 5, 10 and 18
Scottish Team Selection
Areas 1 and 19
English Team Selections
Areas 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14,15,16

FAQ
Q: I have been selected on my results from various championships but do not yet
have enough qualifying MER runs on my record to enter. What do I need to do?
A: Carefully read the eligibility criteria above. You will need to achieve the minimum number of qualifying MERs in order to run within 10 days of the competition as a combination.
Q: I am based in England, Scotland or Wales and have never travelled abroad before.
What do I need to do now?
A: The EI Youth Committee have made contact with Bramhams
https://www.bramhams.com/ who are happy to provide paperwork, book vets and provide advice for a fee. Bramhams will also take part in an advice zoom for all interested parties. Bramhams are a well regarded company with great contacts on
both sides of the Irish Sea who will provide a seamless service for you.
Q: Can you tell me a bit more about Ballindenisk?
A: Ballindenisk International is a longstanding and well regarded Irish Venue located
near Watergrasshill in Cork, Ireland which has been running competitions since 1926.
Now run by the Fell family - the XC course is fantastic and mostly on old turf
grassland. Dressage and Show Jumping are on a surface. You can find out more via
their www which also has details of ferry discounts and accommodation.
https://www.ballindenisk.org/
Q: How much will it all cost?
A:
The cost of the entry is €300 per combination to include stabling.
UK mainland competitors will need to price & factor in the following:
Ferry & transport costs
Paperwork costs
Entry Costs
There may also be a small subsidy available as part of the Irish invitation & you should
ask your own Branch or Area if they can support you.
Q: Will there be other Youth Competitors on site?
A: Yes! Ballindenisk is part of the International Youth Exchange with BE/ EI U25s
attending from the UK and Ireland. The EI youth committee organise a Youth Supper
and will also be on hand to support all Youth Attendees and welcome everyone.
Q: How will we know what is happening?
A: The EI youth committee will set up an optional whatsapp group once teams are
confirmed which will be open to parents, guardians, coaches and all competitors
aged 18 or over.
Q: Will I get an MER?
A: Please check with the EI head office as this will depend on the class at Ballindenisk that you are entered into.
Q: Once I have been selected how do I enter?
A: via the Eventing Ireland www https://www.eventingireland.com/ . Note: You will need to set up a web account first via the “Members Area”. Once you have done that
you can make your entry. For more information, please click
https://www.eventingireland.com/faq/day-ticket-information/ to set up an account and register your horse. For those not registered or new to the website, we will require a parental consent and competency form.

21/08/2025

Use of the Topography for training balance. We don’t see these any more and they used to be the staple of most XCs
Portable fences don’t give the same rail aspect coming from a top rail of the lowest fence to the bottom or middle rail of the next fence in line and so forth.

The only one that I think I was in regular use presently is the one at Launceston Horse Trials as their 3rd fence.
Let’s be seeing your past Helsinki photos in the comments 😎💪🏻

This is the third in a series of four posts on eventing. Pictured here are side hill cross country jumps called a Helsinki. It is one of many types of cross country fences and obstacles that are rare today. I recently saw the top jump on My Virtual Eventing Coach's FB page. If you know where this jump is, please tell us in the comments.

The unique aspect of a side hill or Helsinki jump is that horses are faced with the specific physical challenge of foot placement at takeoff. In a perpendicular approach, one hind foot is lower than the other on the slope at a Helsinki takeoff. Those take off foot placements are indicated by red dots in the lower images. Blue dots show more even foot placements that can be dangerous.

I designed and built the split rail Helsinki jump, shown bottom left and right, on my cross country course in Carlisle PA. On the jump's right side, a horse can even up their hind feet for takeoff, but they face the highest part of the jump at that location. By contrast, at the left side of the jump a horse faces the lowest part of the jump, but they must place their hind feet at the steepest part of the slope for takeoff. You don't often see these kinds of jumps with unique physical options today.

This jump is designed with choices to train horses. The "easiest" or lowest way over it is the most demanding because it has the most difficult foot placement for take off. In training most horses when given the choice to make the decision where to jump it picked the low left side approach. As a result, they were encouraged to choose the uneven foot placement takeoff location, which is the training goal of this fence design.

The far right bottom picture of the same jump shows how horses that are too smart for their own good would choose to approach this Helsinki jump diagonally. The lavender dot foot placements show how some horses would take a line of approach so as to place their hind feet evenly for takeoff. This kind of foot placement results in diagonal, not perpendicular, lines over the fence. These diagonal lines are dangerous as they can easily result in the horse having a rotational fall post.

I believe that the Helsinki jump has almost disappeared from cross country courses because eventing changed its jump design preference away from physical challenges to intellectual "technical" challenges, meaning mind games, in the 1990s.

Coincidentally, this was the same time when discipline centered, not horse centered, horsemanship was on the rise. The discipline of eventing drifted off into very human intellectual ideas of what cross country meant and abandoned its roots of very physical cross country riding.

This was also when the Warmbloods became popular. Thoroughbreds didn't have much trouble with Helsinki jumps, but chunky Warmbloods with less agility could struggle with these jumps. The same was true of slides on cross country courses (I'll put slide images in the comments). A horse must slide with their hind feet locked while picking up their front feet to avoid catching their hooves on roots and rocks. Catching a front foot in a slide can cause a horse to cartwheel head over heels down the slope. Separating the use of the fore and hind feet movements into locked sliding and moving the fore feet in a gait requires intense agility.

Other changes in eventing include the termination of the Roads & Tracks (endurance) and Steeplechase (race over fences) Phases around this same time, which leads me to believe that eventing changed to accommodate the sport's growing Warmblood breed popularity.

"Technical" in eventing used to mean testing the horse's agility, physical strength and mental focus by using different types of jump designs like the Helsinki, slides and more. Today's "technical" is different. Itmeans challenging the rider's focus and skill and this often ignores the horses' perception of certain jumps. For me this means that cross country has been physically dumbed down in an effort to please riders and sponsors.

*This post is part of a 4 post series on eventing. These are the links to the 4 posts -

post 1
www.facebook.com/BobWoodHorsesForLife/posts/pfbid0M7yse8C4BLroheU5oQyuiV7X31qSFLgjocS1GEB217yTSQ7P9fM3NhDvXELRmou3l

post 2
www.facebook.com/BobWoodHorsesForLife/posts/pfbid0DxyxyzCUNiJzHxEbuivuGzbVxeQ32iqwXcbcnTJh5CBcRmiZz9CxfFRpTCsaafDJl

post 3

3www.facebook.com/BobWoodHorsesForLife/posts/pfbid0we2FX8upZv81LHoowT72fnKff73ovL9TEGd94rDpGT7uPHTzkLMsZNQXeFrrBLtWl

post 4
www.facebook.com/BobWoodHorsesForLife/posts/pfbid026faVJ8wzD2tKJzsXecnVcHC3PYF7dboPB8vCvg5Z49GkpweasiCyBj9AQ76gyPv9l

19/08/2025

❗️ Do you know what happens if your horse is selected for anti-doping testing at an event?

💊 To protect horse welfare and ensure fair competition, most medications are not allowed during competition. That’s why testing is such an important part of clean sport.

📽 The FEI has put together a short video to show you exactly how the process works at any event, so you’ll always know what to expect.

Watch the video here: https://bit.ly/FEI_AntiDopingTesting

📷© British Equestrian/ Adam Fanthorpe

19/08/2025

**APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN**

The Georgie Campbell Foundation application window is now open for registrations to become the first Georgie Campbell Foundation beneficiary.

Set up in memory of 5* rider Georgie, who died in a cross-country fall in May 2024, the Georgie Campbell Foundation is offering a 2-year bursary to an event rider whose career and business are at an early stage. The successful applicant will need to demonstrate their requirement for support, ambition to progress, and alignment with Georgie and the Foundation’s core values of loving horses and the eventing community, determination, resilience, and kindness.

The inaugural beneficiary will receive a combination of 1-2-1 mentoring, training, and bursary support, which will be uniquely tailored to them. An individual performance and business plan will be developed collaboratively and delivered by a carefully curated group of business and eventing specialists. Focus areas will include financial management, attracting and retaining owners and sponsors, marketing, and managing staff, as well as identifying and working with talented young horses.

Event riders who are registered with BE, have competed at 3* level, and have an early-stage eventing business are encouraged to apply before the closing date of Tuesday, 30 September 2025.

Visit www.georgiecampbellfoundation.org.uk/apply to submit a key information form, followed by a response to application questions, either in writing or via video. All submissions will be reviewed by a panel made up of industry professionals, members of Georgie’s family, and Foundation trustees.

Applications are open to riders of all nationalities, including those affiliated with any national team, but preference will be given to those who have not received substantial previous financial support or benefited from programmes such as Great Britain’s World Class Programme.

Jesse Campbell commented: “We set up the Foundation to give back to the sport Georgie loved. In addition to working to improve cross-country safety, we will provide the help that would have made it easier for young Georgie to set up her eventing business. The first beneficiary is going to be incredibly well supported, as on top of the resources and network we are building, we’ve received some fantastic pledges of support — from Cooley Farm’s Richard Sheane to Equestrian Employers, horse feed, supplement and product companies, and more.”

**Fundraise for the Foundation at Burghley**

This year’s Defender Burghley Horse Trials will provide opportunities to fundraise for the Foundation’s beneficiary programme and cross-country safety improvement ambitions. Join the ‘Cross-Country Preview Event’ between 5 and 7 pm on Friday, 5 September in the EHOA - The Event Horse Owners Association tent for drinks, charcuterie, and a cross-country preview panel discussion. Hosted by equestrian broadcaster Nicole Brown, panellists will include international event riders Jesse Campbell, Tom McEwen, and Andrew Heffernan, who is also Burghley’s assistant course designer. They will discuss the course design, the predicted influential fences, how many will make the time, short routes, and all the need-to-knows ahead of cross-country day.

Tickets are available from £38.62 via Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/burghley-xc-preview-fundraiser-supporting-the-georgie-campbell-foundation-tickets-1424668103649?aff=oddtdtcreator

It’s set to be a special event with the opportunity to bid on silent and live auction lots, including money-can’t-buy sports memorabilia:

* A t-shirt signed by the 3 Team GB equestrian teams at the Paris 2024 Olympics
* Jonelle Price's first tailcoat, which she bought in New Zealand at the age of 15 and went on to wear at her first 5* at Badminton 2004
* The tailcoat Tim Price wore when he won Burghley 2018 on Ringwood Sky Boy and Luhmühlen 2019 on Ascona M
* A cricket bat signed by the England and India teams at the 2018 Test Series

As well as amazing holiday prizes to Portugal, Cape Verde, the Alps, Ireland, and various UK destinations, luxury lifestyle and equestrian experiences and items, and special edition sporting activities.

Bids can be made online at https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/GCFBurghley and live at the event on 5 September 2025. Bids close at 8 pm on Wednesday, 10 September.

The Foundation is also running a prize draw from the EHOA tent and a fundraising course walk with Jesse Campbell. Follow the Georgie Campbell Foundation on social media for details.

“We hope the eventing community and beyond will continue to support the Georgie Campbell Foundation so that we can help improve cross-country safety and pay it forward to aspiring young event riders for many years to come,” Jesse Campbell said.

georgiecampbellfoundation

19/08/2025

07/08/2025

Nunney International Horse Trials – Final Announcement
Following our announcement in June regarding the cancellation of the 2025 Nunney International Horse Trials, it is with further regret and sadness that we have had to make the tough decision to remove Nunney International Horse Trials from the Eventing calendar permanently.
The fixture date is too crowded and our national and international entries were way below expectations this year.
Nunney has meant so much and will be greatly missed by not only Competitors of all levels, but also to our wonderful local community who supported us year after year.
We are immensely grateful to our loyal team of volunteers, many of whom have been with us since the very beginning. Their dedication, hard work, and enthusiasm have made the event such fun.
Our grateful thanks to all our sponsors, our Main sponsors, fence sponsors and all who have generously supported us, without whom we would never get off the ground.
And finally, our deepest thanks go to our exceptional host, Mrs Angela Yeoman and her team. Her generosity over the years has been extraordinary — not just to Nunney International, but to many other equestrian events. While the International Horse Trials may be drawing to a close, Southfield House remains a vibrant venue, with Pony Club camps and other events continuing the legacy.
Thank you All.
Teresa Dufosee + Bridget Parker and the Committee

21/02/2025

With Greyhound racing in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 banned this year, Horseracing has been moving in a huge way to get ahead and forward thinking and forward improving.

For those that don’t understand what is going on, this is social licence. This is to enable horses to continue to be on the race track.

Olympic sports are already on track having addressed public opinion to Rio and afterwards .
Where are the other ‘sports’ that have horses at their heart.

There are still some hideous photos posted because of ignorance, by people who compete or ‘participate’ and believe they are untouchable.
All equestrian sports need to work together and operate off the research of the ones that have found the funding.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14MbaQY7Jg/?mibextid=wwXIfr