All change for the 2017 Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials

All change for the 2017 Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials

The 2017 Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials will take place a week later than usual in 2017 (13-17 September), and will be held over five days instead of four.

Event Director Mandy Hervieu explains: “The date change is due to the fact that for many years three of the bigger international horse trials (Blair Castle, Burghley and Blenheim Palace) have been on consecutive weekends, which puts pressure on many of the events’ stakeholders, in addition to there being a very busy event programme at Blenheim Palace itself in the weeks before.

“It was therefore decided that falling back a week would allow exhibitors to restock their stands and visitors, volunteers, owners and competitors to recharge their batteries and enjoy this great ‘end of year party’ just that little bit more.”

The change to five days results from visitor, competitor and volunteer feedback from last year when Blenheim was asked to run the final of the Event Rider Masters series in addition to the long-established CCI3* and ever-popular CIC3* for eight- and nine-year-old horses.

It made for an exceptionally tightly packed programme for competitors, visitors and Blenheim’s wonderful team of volunteers.

In 2017, CCI3* dressage will therefore take place on Wednesday and Thursday. See schedule below for full details.

Mandy Hervieu said: “Saturday will be a feast of cross-country, with both the CCI3* and the Event Rider Masters cross-country phases taking place. We are also planning some very exciting course changes and new fences, which will really freshen up Blenheim’s track.”

The box office opens for ticket sales on December 27th with an offer of 50% savings off Wednesday tickets, and early bird discounts for all bookings made in January.

Summary of Timetable: Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials 13^th-17^th September 2017

Wednesday 13^th September

CCI3* dressage

Thursday 14^th September

CCI3* and CIC3* 8/9yo dressage

Friday 15^th September

CIC3* 8/9yo dressage and show jumping

Event Rider Masters CIC3* dressage

Saturday 16^th September

CCI3* cross-country

Event Rider Masters CIC3* show jumping and cross-country

Sunday 17^th September

CCI3* show jumping

CIC3* 8/9yo cross-country

Supported by:

• Shopping village
• Grassroots competitions
• Demonstrations, displays and seminars

Visit www. blenheimhorse.co.uk  for more details.

Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.