British Eventing venues Belsay, Alnwick Ford and Burgham International Horse Trials will all form part of an exciting new eventing challenge in 2024. The news comes following a flurry of event cancellations that continue to shake up the eventing community in the UK.
The new initiative, aptly named the Northumberland Challenge, will include the CCI3*-S, CC2*-S and, for the first time, the BE100 competitions. All will take place across the three venues offering a total potential prize pot of £61,000.
All events have received considerable support so far, with Hambro Sport Horses headlining the CCI3*-S challenge, N.I.S Limited sponsoring the CCI2*-S challenge, and InXpress Tyne & Wear and Equestrian Eye taking joint sponsorship of the BE100 challenge.
The Northumberland Challenge requires competitors to enter all classes across the venues (Belsay International 29 May-2 June 2024, Alnwick Ford International 19-23 June 2024 and Burgham International 24-28July 2024). Each class offers the opportunity to win cash bonuses of up to £25,000 (CCI3*-S), £20,000 (CCI2*-S) and £6,000 (BE100).
The prize pot breaks down as follows:
Hambro Sport Horses CCI3*-S Northumberland Challenge – a total potential prize pot of £25,000
- Achieve a top three placing at all three events and win a £3,000 bonus
- Achieve two wins out of the three events and win a £7,000 bonus
- Win all three events for a further £15,000 prize
N.I.S Group Services Limited CCI2*-S Northumberland Challenge – a total potential prize pot of £20,000
- Achieve a top three placing at all three events and win a £2,000 bonus
- Achieve two wins out of the three events and win a £6,000 bonus
- Win all three events for a further £12,000
InXpress Tyne & Wear and Equestrian Eye BE100 Northumberland Challenge – a total potential prize pot of £6,000*
- Achieve a top three placing in a BE100 section at all three events and win a £500 bonus
- Achieve two wins out of the three events and win a £1,500 bonus
- Win all three events for a further £3,000
*Please note: BE100 competitors must be grassroots riders and should not have competed above BE Novice. The BE100 challenge does not include BE100 Open or BE100 Open Under-18 sections.
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.