4:52pm Thursday 28th January 2010
By Lisa Evans
IN an effort to improve horse and rider safety, British Eventing (BE) is introducing a new rule, coming into effect from July, that riders competing in their first BE competition must start at pre-novice level (BE100) instead of novice level.
BE’s Paul Graham said: “People regarded the minimum requirements as an indicator they should move up rather than considering if they and their horse were ready. So we have tightened things up.”
Lower level classes such as BE90 (intro) and BE80 (T) had resulted in a greater range of people riding cross-country courses.
Minor adjustments have also been made to the requirements for intermediate and advanced level eventing, both horse and rider must have completed five clear cross-country runs at the lower level before moving up.
BE has also created a foundation points scheme, which allows combinations at the lower levels to accrue points that can be used to differentiate horses when they are sold. Foundation points do not count towards upgrading.
The British Show Jumping Association (BSJA) has started 2010 with a new name and logo and will now be known as British Showjumping (BS).
The reason behind the changes is to bring BS in line with the governing bodies of Olympic disciplines British Dressage (BD) and British Eventing (BE) and other horse sports in the UK.
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