New Novice championship at Gatcombe

British Eventing is launching a new championship for amateur riders at Gatcombe next August.

New course

The National Restricted Novice Championships will feature a brand new cross-country course designed by Captain Mark Phillips and built by the Willis brothers – who worked on this year’s course at Badminton.

“I am very much looking forward to welcoming this new group of riders to the Festival of British Eventing next year,” said Captain Mark Phillips. “It is always a pleasure to design a new cross-country course and I am already mulling over ideas, building stone walls and moving dirt.”

True test

The current British Novice Championship runs at intermediate level, but according to BE the new restricted competition will be a “true Novice test”.

This reflects feedback from its members about the lack of Novice-level championships.

Exciting opportunity

Mike Etherington-Smith, BE chief executive, said the new initiative “provides an exciting new opportunity for our less experienced riders.”

In order to qualify you must finish in the top 10 percent at any novice, open novice, intermediate novice, CIC1* or CCI1*, excluding u18 novice classes and pony trials. Qualification closes on 30 June 2015.

To keep this as a grassroots competition, riders cannot have completed an intermediate class in the last five years, or an advanced event in the past 10 years.