Sunday, 31 December 2023
It’s been a busy time for everyone at British Equestrian and the equestrian industry as a whole. Before we move forward into what promises to be a very exciting 12 months – did someone say Paris 2024? – there’s just time to reflect on some of the exciting things that have happenened.
Here’s a roundup of some of our favourite and biggest stories from the year.
We began the year with the announcement of a pioneering collaboration alongside Horse Sport Ireland, working with sustainability agency White Griffin on a new project to understand and lessen our environmental impact – at both federation and industry level.
Strength and Learning Through Horses, an equine-assisted therapy centre, shared a Together Fund award of £5,000 from British Equestrian and Sport England helped to aid their successful initiative to help more young people and families access equestrianism in London.
CHIO Aachen, Germany’s largest festival of equestrian sport, announced Great Britain as its official partner country for 2023. Plans were revealed for displays by the Household Cavalry to add a bit of British flair to the Juen event, which would have the motto of “All you need is love” – taken from the famous Beatles hit.
We continued its series of youth coaching educational workshops with a two-day seminar entitled ‘Sport in Her Shoes’, which focused on the physiological and psychological issues affecting girls in equestrian sport. Attendees includes coaches from across the youth development pathway.
Together with our member bodies, we released unified concussion guidelines for use across the equestrian industry. The six-page guidance document is aimed to help participants to recognise concussion and know what actions to take, both in the immediate aftermath and during recovery.
A pocket guide to concussion and a poster are also available for everyone to download and print out for yourself and your centre.
We added to our growing library of coaching resources with the publication of the Psychological Factors Underpinning Young Rider Development digital information booklet. Intended for equestrian coaches working within the youth pathway, the booklet outlines the factors that contribute to the cognitive development of young riders as they progress through the early stages of their sporting career.
Following a comprehensive research study into the lived experiences of underrepresented communities in the equestrian sector, we released a response document on how we were planning to address the resulting 11 recommendations.
When Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo finished second at Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian, last year on the then 10-year-old gelding’s CCI5* debut, it hinted at big things to come. Few, however, could have predicted that those big things would come quite so soon. Just 12 months later, they came back to Gloucestershire to claim one of eventing’s most coveted trophies.
As part of Mental Health Week 2023, we shared the story of a unique collaboration between Sport England’s Together Fund through British Equestrian, mental health charity Sport in Mind and Enborne Equestrian Centre in Berkshire, which provided opportunities to help those struggling with mental health through the power of horses.
A new face joined our World Class Programme in June in the form of Amanda Evans, who took up the mantle of Head of Performance Support. This important role focuses on working with our performance teams to maximise the impact of sports science, medicine and technology so that our human and equine athletes can perform at their best. With championships looming, Amanda had to drive straight into the deep end!
We were proud to team up with Riders Minds for the Baton of Hope relay through London. British equestrian athletes and representatives from The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment carried the distinctive baton on horseback from Wellington Arch, down Constitution Hill, along The Mall and on to Horse Guards Parade. The UK-wide relay aimed to raise awareness of suicide prevention and mental wellbeing.
History was made in July when Great Britain won the home leg of the Longines FEI Jumping Nation Cup series for the first time in 13 years – made even more poignant with the later revelation that it would be the final time the FEI Nations Cup would take place at Hickstead. Meanwhile, Robert Whitaker landed his first Longines King George V Gold Cup.
Championship season was upon us and things got off to a flying start when the eventers took team gold in Haras du Pin, plus individual gold and silver for Ros Canter and Kitty King respectively. Remarkably, this emulated the results of the last time an FEI Eventing European Championship was held at the venue, back in 1954.
With less than one year to go to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, an operational cross-country test event in the parkland of the Palace of Versailles – including of the much-talked about pontoon canal crossing points – gave a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come next year..
The FEI Jumping European Championship in Milano was up next and, with Paris 2024 qualification already secured, Performance Manager Di Lampard took this as an opportunity to road test some up-and-coming combinations. It was a solid top-10 finish in the team competition, with Ben Maher and Faltic HB coming fourth after the individual final.
It was then quickly over to Riesenbeck for the final two championships of the season. In an exciting duel of nations, our dressage quartet made history when they took their first team title since London 2012, thanks to a 2.5% margin of victory over hosts Germany, with Denmark completing the podium in bronze.
Riesenbeck also proved a happy hunting ground for our relatively inexperienced para dressage squad, who picked up a fantastic tally of medals between them, including a team bronze. On the final day, they delighted us with four fantastic freestyle performances to take two more medals and some new personal best scores.
Back at home, we inducted a new cohort of coaches into our prestigious Level 4 Coaching Certificate programme of study. Held in conjunction with British Rowing and the University of Gloucestershire, the programme is designed to improve the skills of high-performing coaches and educate them in the holistic development of the coach/participant relationship.
One year on from our Health of Riding Establishments research, the results of a repeat study revealed that the equestrian industry was still suffering with operational capacity levels and a workforce shortfall. However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom – many centres reported a positive outlook for the future and shared some of the innovative strategies they were adopting to meet demand.
It was exciting news from the International Olympic Committee, with the announcement that equestrian disciplines would be included in the programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Preparations have already started over at British Equestrian HQ to ensure that we’re ready and raring for the challenge.
Away from the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines, there were plenty more equestrian sports who held exciting fixtures in their annual calendar. We put together a round-up of some of the events you might have missed.
Together with our 20 partner organisations, we published a diversity and inclusion strategy called Horses for All. The culmination of an extensive research, listening and learning process, the new strategy sets the agenda for our long-term commitment to lead change in our industry and foster a culture and environment of everyday inclusion and equity.
We held an ‘Equine Performance and Fitness’ day at Hartpury University for athletes on the World Class Programme. The day was hosted by some of our programme practitioners and researchers at Hartpury, and gave attendees discipline-specific insight into some of the physiological and structural changes that need to be in place for a horse to perform at its best, and how to apply these to their fitness programmes at home.
As world leaders united for COP28, the United Nation’s conference on climate change, we released a summary our research report on the impact of equestrianism on the environment and a vision for the future.
At the London International Horse Show, we took the opportunity to shine a light on some important figures in the equestrian industry by presenting them with the British Equestrian Medal of Honour, which recognises their outstanding services to our sector.
British athletes were on top form at the London International Horse Show. It was an all-British podium in the FEI Dressage World Cup qualifier thanks to the efforts of Charlotte Dujardin, Lottie Fry and Becky Moody, while Ben Maher and Enjeu de Grisien took top honours in the FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier ahead of last year’s winners, Scott Brash and Hello Jefferson in one of the most exciting jump-offs in the show's history.