2023 EVENTING INFORMATION

Eventing is made up of three disciplines, Dressage, Show Jumping and Cross Country; at a One Day Event the disciplines are ridden in this order. The penalty points incurred by a competitor in each of the three phases are added together to give a final score for the whole competition, the competitor with the least points being the winner. A competitor disqualified or eliminated in one phase is eliminated from the whole competition. It is normally the rule that if a rider is eliminated in the show jumping phase they are not allowed to participate in the cross country.

It is highly recommended that you visit www.pcuk.org to download a copy of the current Pony Club Eventing Rules. The Rule Book contains the rules for all Pony Club run Eventing and Arena Evening competitions, plus eligibility criteria for the various levels at Area competitions.

PLEASE NOTE – When agreeing to be part of an AREA TEAM, members must ensure that they are available to participate at the National or Regional Championships, should their Team secure a qualification. 

• 8th-9th July – Buckminster Park, Lincs., BE – For riders competing at Open 110 level hoping to qualify for Wellington.
• 9^th July – Area 8 Eventing Qualifier – 80/90/100cm and Equidry Chairman’s Cup at Isleham, Cambridgeshire.
• 11^th – 19^th August – The National Pony Club Championships at Offchurch Bury, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
• 27^th August – Area 8 Eventing Qualifier – 70cm & Gosling Cup, plus 80cm Team ODE at Stratford Hills, Colchester, Essex.
• 23^rd – 24^th September – Regional Grassroots Championships, Eventing 70cm & 80cm at Blackwater Farm, Great Witchingham, Norfolk.

NEW FOR 2023 – PC Chairman’s Cup – this is a new team and individual competition for 2023.  At the Championships there will be a trot up prior to the Dressage phase.  The show jumping will take place on the final day, in reverse order of placings. Lots of prizes including one for the Best Dressed Rider in the trot-up and Best Turned-out Horse. Area qualifier on 9th July at Isleham.

NEW FOR 2023 – new for ODE’s in 2023, the Area 8 BIBEAZ LEAGUE,  Points to be gained in ODE competitions 70, 80, 90 & 100 for top ten placings throughout the year, with rosettes and prizes for the overall winners. Points to be awarded as follows: 1^st place 10 points; 2^nd place 9 points; and so on to 10^th place 1 point.  If a place is taken by a rider who is not an Area 8 PC member, the points will pass down.  Riders must state their Branch on entering the event.  Riders must complete the XC with 20 penalties or less to earn points.  Events included (so far) are indicated by Area 8 BL on the competition dates given below.  (Area/Grassroots Eventing, Gosling Cup and Championships are not included in the Bibeaz Area 8 PC Eventing League)

ELIGIBILITY FOR ALL AREA COMPETITIONS AND THE CHAMPIONSHIPS –

To be able to represent the Newmarket & Thurlow Pony Club at ‘Area’ level all competitors entered must be active members and must have genuinely participated at a minimum of three Qualifying Rallies/Coaching/Training Sessions of the N&TPC, or previous Branch or Centre, since 1^st July 2022. 

To count for the purposes of this Rule, a Qualifying Rally/Coaching/Training Session must have been organised by the N&TPC Committee, the Area Representative or by the Training Committee.  It must be open to all Members within the age range or ability level for which it is intended.  It may be mounted or unmounted and must have been advertised at least seven days prior to the date of the event.

Team practices and coaching do not count as Qualifying Rallies/Coaching/Training Sessions.

The combination of horse/pony and the Pony Club Member need to have been instructed by the relevant ‘Discipline/Sport Trainer’ at least once in 2023 to be considered for that team.

Both the horse/pony and the Pony Club Member need to have attained at least 3 rally points since 1st July 2022, with the minimum of 1 being in current year, 2023.

N.B. At least 1 of these points has to be attained by both the horse/pony and the Pony Club  Member attending either Pony Club Camp, or an activity advertised as a ‘Rally.’

RALLY POINTS EXPLAINED:

Pony Club Camp counts as 1 Rally point per day.

Any number of points can be gained by attending any activity which is advertised as a ‘Rally’ –

1 point each Rally.  This includes the following:

            Gymkhana Rallies – 1 point each Rally.

            Katie Barrett Technical Training Rally – 1 point for each TT Rally.

            Attending any Area 8 Training – 1 Rally Point.

The other two remaining points that are needed can be attained by a combination of the following:

Up to 2 Rally points can be gained by –

Katie Barrett’s ‘GROUP’ XC instruction Rally – 1 point for each XC Rally.

Up to 2 Rally points can be gained by –

John Adams ‘GROUP’ or Individual Show Jumping instruction – 1 point for each SJ Instruction.

Up to 2 Rally points can be gained by –

Fiona Van Tuyll individual Dressage instruction – 1 point for each Dressage Instruction.

It is vital that you have all complied with these qualifications, otherwise you will not be able to compete and that would be terribly sad for all of us.

N.B. Your DC has discretion in the case of those who are working or in further education.

Calendar of Events – the below list will be regularly updated as competition and training dates become advertised; also check Area 8 website for updates https://branches.pcuk.org/area8/

XC TRAINING WITH KATIE BARRETT – dates will be shown here as they become known, with booking via the ‘Booking Events’ tag on the N&TPC website. 

• Thursday 16^th February – Technical Training and Pole Work at Palace House for Juniors and Seniors
• Saturday 25th March – Introduction to Arena Eventing at Horseheath
• Monday 3^rd April – XC Training at Ely Eventing Centre, Lt. Downham, in small groups
• Tuesday 11^th April – XC Training at Isleham XC Course, in small groups – essential for those hoping to compete in the Areas.
• Saturday 27^th May – XC Training at Ickworth Park, in small groups

XC Competition Dates- including EVENTING, ARENA EVENTING and HUNTER TRIALS:   

FEBRUARY

            11^th–12^th –  Barrier Animal Health Spring Festival Championships, Arena Eventing (being                    held alongside the Dressage and Show Jumping Finals, for full details of qualification please                          see www.pcuk.org)

            Venue: Arena UK, Lincolnshire   Organisers: The Pony Club           

MARCH

            12^th – One Day Event (Area 8 BL)

            Venue: Poplar Park    Organisers: Easton Harriers

            26^th – Hunter Trail

            Venue: Isleham           Organisers: Soham & District PC

APRIL

           15^th-16th – N&TPC Easter Tetrathlon/Triathlon & Hunter Trial

            Venue: Horseheath.  Organisers: N&TPC

            30^th – One Day Event (Area 8 BL)

            Venue: Ickworth Park             Organisers: Suffolk Hunt PC

 MAY

            7^th – One Day Event (Area 8 BL)

            Venue: Isleham           Organisers: Soham & District PC

            14^th – One Day Event & Pearl Cup (Area 8 BL)

            Venue: Berwick Farm, Stanford Rivers          Organisers: Essex Hunt North

 JUNE

            11^th – Hunter Trial & SJ

            Venue: Ickworth Park Organisers: Suffolk Hunt PC

     CANCELLED 25^th – Calvert Cup (Area 8 BL) One day event (PC80, PC90 & PC100) for Teams and   individuals.     

            Venue: Luffenhall        Organisers: Puckeridge Hunt Western 

JULY

           9^th – Area 8 Eventing Qualifier 80/90/100cm

           Venue: Isleham.          Organisers: Soham & District PC

           N.B. If you are chosen to represent the N&TPC in a Team at the Area 8                   Eventing, you must be available to compete at the National or Regional                   Championships, if your Team qualifies.

            23^rd –  Belvoir Hunt Branch ODE 

            Venue: Buckminster park      Organisers: Belvoir Hunt PC

AUGUST

 11^th – 19^th  – The National Pony Club Championships (Dressage, Show Jumping, Eventing,         Mounted Games, Polo)

        Venue: Offchurch Bury, Royal Leamington Spa. Organisers: The Pony Club Office.

 27^th – The Gosling Cup – This competition began in 1945 and was the brainchild of Mrs. Gosling, the then DC of the East Essex Hunt Pony Club, for her own branch and for teams from four adjacent branches.  It now involves up to 24 teams of invited   Pony Club Branches in Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.  The competition is hosted by a different Branch each year. There are five phases to this unique competition: Tack and Turnout; The Team Ride; Dressage Test; Show Jumping; Cross Country (height 85cm and including a timed gate to negotiate and possibly a slip rail).

27^th – Area 8 Eventing Qualifier 70cm to be run on the same day as the Gosling Cup at Stratford Hills. One team of four can also enter the 80cm level as a One Day Event.

       Venue: Stratford Hills  Organisers:  Essex & Suffolk PC 

SEPTEMBER     

            3^rd Novice One Day Event (Area 8 BL)

            Venue: Bramfield           Organisers: Puckeridge Western PC

            10^th Mini One Day Event

            Venue: Isleham           Organisers: Soham & District PC

     NEW DATE (SEE OCT)    17^th – TheBloom Cup (Area 8 BL). This is a Team and Individual One         Day Event at PC70, PC80 and PC90. 

            Venue: Great Witchingham.   Organisers: South Norfolk PC.

            23^rd – 24^th PC Regional Championships Eventing 70cm & 80cm

            Venue: Great Witchingham.  Organisers: David and Robert Sayer.

OCTOBER

            8^th – Hunter Trial, includes the Wilkinson Sword Team competition for members.

            Venue: Isleham.  Organisers:  Soham & District Pony Club.

     RESCHEDULED 15^th – The Bloom Cup (Area 8 BL). This is a Team and Individual One Day Event at PC70, PC80 and PC90. 

Venue: Geldston, Beccles.   Organisers: South Norfolk PC.

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Levels of Competition – IMPORTANT see full Pony Club Eventing Rules at www.pcuk.org

The Dressage tests, height of Show Jumps and X-Country jumps used in Pony Club Eventing is show in detail in the 2023 Pony Club Eventing Rules – please read these for full details and any updates or amendments which may be introduced – below is purely to give you a brief outline of the heights of the courses you will be jumping. 

DRESSAGE TESTS:  (dressage tests being used in 2023 can be found at www.pcuk.org)

Remember – Gloves MUST BE WORN in Dressage

SHOW JUMPING:

Note: Only one upright and one ascending spread obstacle may be included up to the maximum height.  All other obstacles must be 0.05m below maximum height.

CROSS COUNTRY:

*At the Eventing Championships, the length of the course may be increased to 2,500-3,500m and the number of jumping efforts may be increased to 25-30. 

**If building a new spread fence, it is recommended that the overall maximum spread does not exceed 1.25m 

Below PC90, Organisers may reduce distances, speeds, heights and number of obstacles.

At PC70 and PC80 there will be no penalties for going too slowly, but reverse time penalties will be applied for going too fast – Rule 32 g).

STOPWATCHES may be worn at PC90, PC100, PC Chairman’s Cup and PC110 levels. 

No recording devices (e.g. head cameras) are permitted.

WHIP RULE – see www.pcuk.org for full details of use of the whip.

Dressage only – a whip of any length may be carried at PC70, PC80, PC90 –

NO WHIPS are allowed at PC100, PC Chairman’s Cup and PC110.

Show Jumping and Cross Country only – a whip, if carried, must be held in the hand by the handle with the handle at the top.  The whip must be ‘padded.’  The maximum length of the whip is 70cm and must be no less than 45cm.

Should you have any queries with regards to Eventing please contact Eventing Team Trainer Katie Barrett on 07775 563028 or Eventing Secretary Pauline Stoddart at paulinestoddart@hotmail.com and we will do our very best to help you.

We wish you all the very best of luck for 2023!

Katie and Pauline