BISHOP Burton College will be the host venue for the 2018 Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) Pony European Championships in 2018, it has been announced.

The Beverley-based college, who hosted the contest in 2010, will host the championships between August 7-12 next year. It will feature some of Europe’s most promising equestrian athletes competing across the three core disciplines of dressage, showjumping and eventing.

Jeanette Dawson, chief executive and principal of Bishop Burton College, said: “We are delighted to once again host such a prestigious equestrian championships.

“Since 2010, when we last hosted the FEI European Pony Championships, we have invested heavily in our facilities, making them, we believe, the best available equestrian facilities across all disciplines.

“We are immensely proud of our status as a Centre of Vocational Excellence in equine, and being awarded this event is a wonderful acknowledgement of that.

“To be awarded this event is a major achievement for our equestrian team and one which places Bishop Burton College, and the north of England as a whole, firmly in the international equestrian spotlight.”

The Pony European Championships were last held in the UK in 2010 at Bishop Burton, where the British eventing team rode to victory to secure the team gold in front of a home crowd.

The team mates, comprising Grace Walker, Sophie Beaty, Sam Ecroyd and Alfie Bradstock have since gone on to become some of the most promising equestrian eventing athletes in the country.

The college facilities feature three indoor arenas, four outdoor arenas, 80 hectares of parkland used for cross-country, and a six kilometre hacking and training track.

Clare Salmon, chief executive at the British Equestrian Federation, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the team at the college to secure the championships and I look forward to welcoming the European athletes to our country next year.”