Barbury Castle will host a British Eventing (BE) fixture for the first time since 2022 when it returns to the eventing calendar later this month.
The Wiltshire venue will offer a range of national classes from novice to intermediate as well as young horse qualifiers across three days from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 March.
Barbury ran popular CCI3*-S and CCI4*-S classes for many years until restrictions placed by BE on international events led to the cancellation of the event three years ago.
The CCI4*-S event was one of the highlights of the eventing calendar with past winners including Andrew Nicholson, who won it a record six times, Lucinda Fredericks and William Fox-Pitt.
The CCI3*-S and CCI4*-S fixtures which were previously held at Barbury were relocated to Aston-le-Walls following a tender process.
Familiar organisers
Musketeer Event Management return as the event organisers and the company’s founder and director, Alec Lochore, will design the cross-country course.
Barbury’s cross-country course has always been a favourite with spectators as it runs along the edge of a ‘bowl’ which means almost the entire course can be seen from the hub of the event site.
“We are delighted to be bringing British Eventing classes back to Barbury,” said event organiser for Musketeer Event Management, Jenny Meiklejohn.
“The estate is such a popular venue with the eventing community, it is great to see it back in the calendar. We are excited by this new spring slot and hope that it kick-starts a brilliant start to the season for the horses and riders we have entered.”
Main image © Hannah Cole Photography.
