Cornbury House Horse Trials Set for Inaugural Event this September

The inaugural running of Cornbury House Horse Trials is set to take place between the 11 and 13 September, an event the organisers are looking forward to adding as a regular fixture in the British Eventing Calander.

David Howden purchased the property in 2017, which forms part of the Oxfordshire based 5000-acre Cornbury Estate. He was then later surprised to learn of horse trials that once took place on the site during the 1990s (see video below). Naturally, with his family’s deep-routed connection to horses and enthusiasm for the sport, the next step was to revisit the possibility of launching a new event on the same grounds.

But, of course, plans were made before the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Together with a team of experts in the field; Richard Clapham and Pattie Biden, cross-country course-designer David Evans and course-builder Adrian Ditcham, event Director David Howden spoke of the difficulties faced on launching a new event in the wake of a pandemic:

It has been quite a challenge; first last winter’s weather held up our plans, and then along comes Covid-19. For me, Cornbury House Horse Trials has always been about three things: the riders, the horses and their owners. I really wanted to focus on the sport, and to do that, we needed to be able to produce exactly the right conditions for them, which has meant considerable investment.

We are delighted to be able to offer high levels of prize-money – £2,500 to the winner of the CCI3*-S and £1,250 to the winner of the CCI2*-S – in our first year, and we can’t wait to welcome riders and owners to this spectacular setting in September.”

David Continued.

Like many other events for 2020, this year’s horse trials are likely to be held without spectators under government guidelines regarding sporting events. The event will, however, be filmed and broadcast so that no one misses out. David’s plans for future years will reflect his passion for sustainability and the importance of the local community, with locally-produced food and goods available to visitors in an intimate setting but with all the technology and innovation of a significant sporting occasion.

We want to offer a lovely day out with thrilling sport in a magnificent setting,”

He said.

We are determined to put Cornbury House Horse Trials on in 2020 with the very high standards that we always envisaged.”

Cornbury House Horse Trials will stage international classes at CCI3*-S and CCI2*-S level, and national novice and intermediate classes. It will also host two NAF-sponsored Youth Performance sections at CCI3*-S and CCI2*-S, offering opportunities for the country’s best under-21 riders in a year in which many of their principal targets have been lost.

Entries open 11th August 2020.

For more information visit www.britisheventing.com/compete/fixtures-and-results/CORNBURY-HOUSE

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.