British Equestrian Federation invites expressions of interest

The British Equestrian Federation (BEF) today, 11 August 2017, invites expressions of interest from organisations or individuals who might take over the programme currently run in support of the identification of British-bred equine talent and the promotion of British success.

This programme includes the Futurity; the Equine Bridge; the British Breeder magazine and the British Stallion Event.

Futurity (run by British Breeding*, and supported by BEF) identifies talented young horses and ponies from foals to three-year-olds and has evaluated up to 900 horses per year at numerous regional venues, with a vet and panel of assessors providing useful and impartial information for their breeders at a series of live streamed events.

The Equine Bridge takes those three-year-olds that have achieved a threshold score in Futurity and invites them for a further assessment under saddle as four-year-olds. Those accepted on to the Bridge enjoy the kudos of this recognition and have received practical support from BEF and professional organisation partners.

The British Breeder magazine is published three times-a-year and is available by subscription as well as at key equestrian events such as Badminton, Burghley, the British Stallion Event and Futurity. It reaches a dedicated audience of 2000 breeders and is a leader in its market.

The British Stallion Event is run in January each year and is a one stop shop for the British breeding community, welcoming 60 stallions approved by leading studbooks, 30 trade stands and 800 viewers. It is the UK’s leading event for selecting stallions for the coming season. All sires can be seen in arena demonstrations as well as face-to-face in their stables.

Says BEF Chair Joanne Shaw, “There is now an upturn in the number of British-bred horses and the integrity of breeding remains as important as ever to the horse world.

“At the same time, the BEF’s funding constraints mean that we have to make difficult prioritisation decisions, particularly about activities that require local operational delivery that may be carried out more appropriately by our member bodies or other expert equestrian organisations.

“This is the right time for our talent identification work to continue its impact and prosperity in other safe and knowledgeable hands and we are inviting interested parties to discuss taking over these programmes from 2018.”

Expressions of interest in BEF’s equine development programmes should be received in writing by Monday 4 September 2017. Informal discussions before this deadline are welcome. Initial enquiries, including securing an opportunity to observe upcoming Futurity events during August, should be directed to Jan Rogers on jan.rogers@bef.co.uk,