World class riders head for Lincolnshire
Update for Lincolnshire Horse Trials : World class riders head for Lincolnshire

World class riders and Olympic hopefuls from across the world will be in Lincolnshire this month to compete in the renowned Lincolnshire Horse Trials, taking place at the Lincolnshire Showground from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th March.
Competitors from Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA will be joining the cream of British riders, including Olympic hopefuls William Fox Pitt, Laura Collett, Piggy French, Ruth Edge, Oliver Townend and Nicola Wilson.A top pack of local riders will also be put through their paces, including Ros Canter and Gina Ruck, both winners in last year’s competition.
Competitors will be taking part in dressage, show jumping and cross country over the three days at pre novice (BE100), novice and intermediate levels. Selectors for the British team are expected to be on the lookout once again during the pony trials that are also held.
For further information:
- Biographies and further information about British Olympic hopefuls available on the British Eventing website: click here
- Interviews with riders can be organised through Nina Lloyd-Jones at British Eventing Tel. +44 (0)2476 698855 email: Nina.Lloyd-Jones@britisheventing.com
- A full list of local riders participating, including address details to identify those local to your area, is available here: click here
- Full story on the horse trials including all programme and entrance information: click here
Images and captions from previous years are available for download at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/55414176@N07/sets/72157625604731346/
ENDS
Media enquiries:
Karen Malpass at Lincolnshire Events Centre inc Lincolnshire Agricultural Society
kmalpass@lincs-events.co.uk - 01522 585501
Maggie Taylor at Prima PR
maggie@primapr.co.uk – 01400 251557 / 0797 3767 602
First showing for Olympic hopefuls at Lincolnshire’s world class equestrian event
For pictures from previous years and of Event Director Charles Hood, click here
The annual Lincolnshire Horse Trials takes place in March at the Lincolnshire Showground at Grange de Lings.
Olympic hopefuls will be heading the line up at this year’s Lincolnshire Horse Trials, with up to 700 competitors expected to take part in the three-day event.
The Lincolnshire Showground hosts the 2012 event from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th March, with competitors taking part in dressage, show jumping and cross country over the three days at pre novice (BE100), novice and intermediate levels.
And selectors for the British team are expected to be on the lookout once again during the pony trials that are also held.
The venue is recognised as an excellent event for early season because the flat, well drained ground is a good proving ground for both horse and rider. The event is open for entries from early February and it’s expected to draw previous participants and Olympic hopefuls such as William Fox-Pitt, Pippa Funnell, Nicola Wilson and Piggy French.
Local riders are also expected to showcase their talents, including Rosalind Canter from Louth and Deborah Doyle from Lincoln, who both had wins in the BE100 sections last year. Helen Scholl from Grantham, who won one of the Novice sections in 2011 and Gina Ruck from Tealby who won the Open Intermediate Under 21 Section.
Also expected is rising star and future Olympic hopeful Emilie Chandler, who secured a win on Douglas, and a second place on Beeswing, in last year’s intermediate sections.
Charles Hood, director of the Horse Trials and the course designer, is predicting an exciting line up of both international and local riders.
He said: “This will be a very exciting year in the run up to the Olympics and we’re expecting to draw an exceptional range of entrants as a result. Because our course gives a good variety of well-built straight forward fences, and is run over extremely well-drained light land, it draws competitors looking to build early season confidence with good going. We have planned some new fences especially for this year.”
Competitors will also find an improved layout, with the day boxes able to get inside the Showground, instead of being located outside the perimeter.
And the management and scoreboard will this year be inside the Showground’s EPIC Centre conferencing venue.
Nearly two thousand visitors attended last year’s event over the three days, and the competitors and their support staff bring the same number again to the Showground site at Grange de Lings, providing a welcome boost to the local economy.
The Horse Trials are organised by Lincolnshire Events Centre on its 200 acre Showground site, which includes a major national conferencing venue and is home to the County Show.
Entry on Saturday and Sunday is £5.00 per car to include all occupants.
Running order:
Each day of this three day event is focussed on a particular class, giving visitors the chance to see all events each day, cross country, dressage and show jumping.
Friday 16th March:
BE100 and Open BE100 class.
8.00am Dressage
8.45am Show jumping
9.30am Cross country
5.00pm Approx finishing time
Saturday 17th March:
Novice and Open Novice plus Pony Trial dressage and show jumping
8.00am Dressage
8.45am Show jumping
9.30am Cross country
5.00pm Approx finishing time
Also taking place on Saturday is Pony Trial dressage and show jumping. The pony cross country is on Sunday at 9.00 am.
Sunday 18th March
Intermediate and Open Intermediate classes plus Pony Trial cross country
8.30am Dressage
8.45am Show jumping
9.00am Cross country plus Pony Trial Cross country
5.00pm Approx finishing time
ENDS
Media enquiries:
Karen Malpass at Lincolnshire Events Centre inc Lincolnshire Agricultural Society
kmalpass@lincs-events.co.uk - 01522 585501
Maggie Taylor at Prima PR
maggie@primapr.co.uk – 01400 251557 / 0797 3767 602
Editor’s Note:
Lincolnshire Events Centre is a major national conferencing venue, home of the Lincolnshire Show and the groundbreaking EPIC project. Just outside the historic city of Lincoln, the Centre hosts events for 10 to 10,000 visitors on its 200 acre showground site and 3000 square metres of indoor exhibition and venue space.
Outdoor events include the flagship Lincolnshire Show, antiques fairs and horse trials, attracting over 200,000 visitors each year. Under cover, there are exhibition halls and conferencing facilities, including the EPIC centre, the second largest purpose-designed showcase for environmental technologies in the UK, it enables event organisers to reduce, monitor and offset their carbon footprint.
World class event draws international names
28.03.11 : POST EVENT UPDATE: For results from the Lincolnshire Horse Trials click here to read the report in Horse and Hound. And click here to read the Event Centre's review of the coverage.
The annual Lincolnshire Horse Trials takes place in March at the Lincolnshire Showground at Grange de Lings.
International riders will head up an exciting three day event when this year’s Lincolnshire Horse Trials gets under way, with up to 700 competitors expected to take part.
The 2011 event takes place at the Lincolnshire Showground from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th March with competitors taking part in dressage, show jumping and cross country over the three days at pre novice (BE100), novice and intermediate levels.
Once again, selectors for the British team are expected to be on the lookout during the pony trials that are also held.
The venue is recognised as an excellent event for early season because the flat, well drained ground is a good proving ground for both horse and rider.
International names attracted over recent years include last year’s Open intermediate winner Piggy French, Oliver Townend, Polly Stockton, Caroline Powell, Sharon Hunt, and Ruth Edge; and Olympic riders William Fox-Pitt and Nicola Wilson, both members of the Gold medal winning team at the World Equestrian Games last year, and New Zealand double gold medallist Mark Todd.
The event has also positioned itself as a showcase for local Lincolnshire talent. Last year’s successes included local Walesby rider Emily Parker who took the under-21 Open Intermediate section on Treefers, her 2009 young rider team gold medal winner. In recent years, Emily has had a stream of successes including runner up in the Pony Club Championships and Junior Regional Novice Championships in 2007. She was also fourth in the U21 Eventing National Championships at Weston Park.
Amongst other local riders, Matthew Wright from Retford won the 2010 final Open Intermediate section on Hugginstown. From Louth, Rosalind Canter had success with a win in one of the BE100 sections plus placings in other sections. And 17 year old Gina Ruck friom Tealby, a previous gold medal winner for Britain at pony level, came in sixth in the Open Intermediate Under 21 Sections.
Another BE100 section winner was Helen Scholl from near Grantham on Blackstairs King, and in the local novice section, the winner was Deborah Doyle from Lincoln.
Last year’s event provided record visitor numbers and Show director Charles Hood is hoping to build on that success in 2011. He said: “Our courses have a good variety of well-built straight forward fences, designed to give confidence for early season and it’s run over flat, extremely well-drained light land, giving ideal going.”
The event draws large visitor numbers to the county each year, providing a boost to the local economy, and is organised by Lincolnshire Events Centre on the showground site at Grange-de-Lings, which is also home to a major national conferencing venue and the groundbreaking EPIC green building project.
Running order:
Each day of this three day event is focussed on a particular class, giving visitors the chance to see all events each day, cross country, dressage and show jumping.
Friday 18th March:
BE100 and Open BE100 classes.
8.00am Dressage
8.50am Show jumping
9.30am Cross country
5.00pm Approx finishing time
Saturday 19th March:
Novice and Open Novice plus Pony Trial dressage and show jumping
8.00am Dressage
8.50am Show jumping
9.30am Cross country
5.00pm Approx finishing time
Also taking place on Saturday is Pony Trial dressage and show jumping. The pony cross country is on Sunday at 9.00 am.
Sunday 20th March
Intermediate and Open Intermediate classes plus Pony Trial cross country
8.30am Dressage
9.00am Show jumping
9.00am Pony Trial Cross country, then the open intermediate cross country
Entry on Saturday and Sunday is £5.00 per car to include all occupants.
ENDS
Media enquiries:
Laura Luty at Lincolnshire Events Centre inc Lincolnshire Agricultural Society
lluty@lincs-events.co.uk - 01522 585501
Maggie Taylor at Prima PR
maggie@primapr.co.uk – 01400 251557 / 0797 3767 602
Editor’s Note:
Lincolnshire Events Centre is a major national conferencing venue, home of the Lincolnshire Show and the groundbreaking EPIC project. Just outside the historic city of Lincoln, the Centre hosts events for 10 to 10,000 visitors on its 200 acre showground site and 3000 square metres of indoor exhibition and venue space.
Outdoor events include the flagship Lincolnshire Show, antiques fairs and horse trials, attracting over 200,000 visitors each year. Under cover, there are exhibition halls and conferencing facilities, including the recently completed EPIC centre, the second largest purpose-designed showcase for environmental technologies in the UK, it enables event organisers to reduce, monitor and offset their carbon footprint.
£44m injection that is helping put Lincolnshire on the map
A new economic impact survey has shown that a massive £44m is being injected into the national economy thanks to the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society’s events centre, which attracts over 215,000 visitors a year.
That’s equivalent to £120,000 and over 600 visitors for every single day of the year.
The annual County Show attracted 65,000 visitors in 2010.
Antiques fairs are held six times a year, each attracting 3000 antiques traders from across Europe
Other events range from a reception for 600 guests at an Asian wedding through to smaller events, like board meetings and staff training days.
And, according to the research, which was backed by West Lindsey District Council, the Centre is making a massive contribution to both the local and national economy.
It’s good news for the county against the backdrop of economic recession and public sector cuts, and, says the chief executive Mark Farmer, a big justification for the £1m injection of investment made by the County Council and £250,000 by West Lindsey District Council in 2007, with around half of the income generated staying in the East Midlands economy each year at a value of £22m.
The study was carried out to help guide future growth plans for the Lincolnshire Events Centre, and it demonstrates how successful the Lincolnshire Events Centre has been in attracting big events and boosting tourism.
“The annual County Show is a big earner for the economy and a major tourism attraction, alongside the city’s Cathedral and Castle,” said Mark Farmer, “But it’s not just about the Show nowadays, as we have expanded to become a major year-round regional conferencing and outdoor events centre.”
The £7m EPIC Centre at the Showground was opened two years ago, providing a conference and events facility, capable of hosting conferences, balls and seminars, and is designed also as an educational resource and state-of-the-art events centre for up to 1,900 people. Environmental sustainability is at the core of these recent developments, and is a defining theme of a proposed master-plan now being drawn up for the Showground.
The Show and other events at the Showground boost local hotels and B&Bs too, creating demand for 18,400 overnight stays locally. Around 20% relates to the Show, the balance being drawn by major events such as Arthur Swallows antiques fairs, which draw 3000 traders from across the UK and overseas and attract 72,000 visitors every year. Other big draws are Grapevine, the major national religious festival, the Lincolnshire Steam and Vintage Rally, the Warner Motorhome event and this year, the British Motorcycle Federation season finale.
For the future, the Centre’s forward booking list also includes a number of high profile outdoor music concerts from big name promoters.
As well as the direct economic impact of the Lincolnshire Show, the researchers found that there was a positive financial impact on the schools, churches, charities and voluntary organisations in the area, through their involvement in the annual event.
The Lincolnshire Events Centre is the commercial operating arm of the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society.
ENDS
488 words
Media enquiries:
Laura Luty at Lincolnshire Events Centre inc Lincolnshire Agricultural Society
lluty@lincs-events.co.uk - 01522 585501
Maggie Taylor at Prima PR
maggie@primapr.co.uk – 01400 251557 / 0797 3767 602
Editor’s Note:
Lincolnshire Events Centre is a major national conferencing venue, home of the Lincolnshire Show and the groundbreaking EPIC project. Just outside the historic city of Lincoln, the Centre hosts events for 10 to 10,000 visitors on its 200 acre showground site and 3000 square metres of indoor exhibition and venue space.
Outdoor events include the flagship Lincolnshire Show, antiques fairs and horse trials, attracting over 200,000 visitors each year. Under cover, there are exhibition halls and conferencing facilities, including the recently completed EPIC centre, the second largest purpose-designed showcase for environmental technologies in the UK, it enables event organisers to reduce, monitor and offset their carbon footprint.
