Dear All,
We hope that you are all staying safe during this unprecedented and difficult time, and we send our best wishes to those of you who have been affected by the coronavirus. We are all longing to get back out eventing, but at the moment we do not know what the rest of the season holds for us. Following the sad cancellation of Badminton a few members have been in contact regarding potential refunds of 2020 subscriptions. The HTSG Committee will be considering the various options once a decision has been made regarding the running of Burghley Horse Trials, so we appreciate your patience in this matter. Please note that we have already accounted for VAT on the membership and paid over the donation element to World Class as previously advised. We will be in touch with you all again in due course, and in the meantime please do take good care of yourselves and your loved ones. If you can, take a look at the Virtual Eventing competition which is being run to raise funds for NHS Charities Together. As ever we value the members support greatly, especially at this difficult time. Best wishes, HTSG Committee Badminton 2019 was once again another incredible event for the HTSG, especially as our fundraising events raised over £3000, more than doubling the total from 2018. These funds will go directly to supporting the British team heading to the Tokyo Olympics. A big thank you to all those members and guests who came to the marquee and brought raffle tickets and bid in our auction.  Amazing collection of raffle prizes As you’ll know the British riders had a successful event with Piggy French winning her first 5* and making it the 100th British 5* winner ever. In total 6 of the top 10 placed riders were British which is fantastic news for our teams going forward towards the Europeans this year and Olympics next year.  Piggy French & Vanir Kamira - 2019 Badminton Winners Our marquee was the usual epicentre of activity at Badminton with riders, trainers, world class teams and of course our members coming in to have refreshments all week and of course our infamous pre-cross country breakfast. We organised two events this year, our now traditional cross country preview evening on the Friday and an evening of comedy with Rory Bremner following the cross country. Our cross country preview evening panel The cross country preview proved to be very popular again this year with the marquee full with members and guests. On the panel were HTSG Ambassador Laura Collett, former Badminton winner Pippa Funnell, Team GBR Performance Manager Dickie Waygood and Badminton course designer Eric Winter. In addition to this we had Diarm Byrne of EquiRatings picking out the ones to watch and where he thought the event could be won and lost. As usual, committee member Spencer Sturmey did a great job of compering the evening. Following the cross country on Saturday evening, members and guests joined us for a very entertaining evening of comedy with Rory Bremner, who also acted as auctioneer for our fund-raising auction. Rory is a big equestrian fan with his daughter competing regularly and he brought us some very topical and hilarious impressions, including President Trump and Oliver Townend. Rory Bremner and his impressions... Throughout the event we ran a series of cross country course walks with Yogi Breisner, Ginny Elliot, Spencer Sturmey and Irish rider Joseph Murphy, all of which were very popular and well supported. About the Sunday course walk HTSG Chair, Ginny Elliot said:    Both HTSG Ambassadors, Alex Bragg and Laura Collett were competing at Badminton but neither had the best of times unfortunately. Alex was disappointed with Zagreb’s dressage score of 31.7 and on Saturday morning he made the decision to withdraw and reroute to another event and now heads to Chatsworth in the Event Rider Masters this weekend.    Alex Bragg and Zagreb Laura and Mr Bass started Badminton as one of the favourites and didn’t disappoint in the first phase with a dressage score of 27.6 to be in eighth place before cross country. On the cross country Laura and Mr Bass had a brilliant round, jumping clear with 17.2 time faults. Everyone in the HTSG marquee was thrilled to have witnessed this success. Sadly, as members arrived for the trot up on Sunday morning, they learned that Mr Bass had been withdrawn. Laura said: “I can’t quite believe I’m having to write this. Mr Bass was totally awesome jumping clear round the toughest track he’s ever seen but sadly he has sustained an injury. My special boy will be given all the love and care in the world to nurse him better. He’s my horse of a lifetime and my best friend. We will be back fighting.”       Laura Collett and Mr Bass All at the HTSG wish a speedy recovery to Mr Bass. Laura will be joining Alex in the Event Rider Masters this weekend on hot favourite London 52 so we wish them both the best of luck. Members who can’t be there can tune in to eventridermasters.tv to watch the livestream. The next big event is Burghley and members are now able claim their members passes. You should have all received an email from The Ticket Factory detailing how to claim yours online. Any problems let us know. If you came to see us at Badminton and would like to give us some feedback, positive or not please do contact us via social media (links below) or via our contact details. Don't forget to keep an eye on the website and social media channels for all the latest eventing updates and news. All photos taken by HTSG Committee Member, Michael Rogers © MDR Photo Below you can read our latest members newsletter. All the information on our Badminton Marquee and Events are available on the website.   Membership subscriptions are now due for 2019. We are pleased to confirm that we have kept the subscription prices at the same rate as 2018 despite costs for running the marquee at Badminton increasing for 2019. Subscription prices are £240 for an individual and £290 for a joint membership. You can find full payment details and both new / renewal forms on our membership page. 
August was an extremely hectic month for HTSG Scholar Alex Bragg and it started with two horses competing at the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park. It was a very successful event with Shannondale Percy finishing 2nd in the Intermediate championships.
In the CIC*** British Open Championships Barrichello finished 9th and won the trophy for the youngest horse in the top ten. That is very exciting for the future!
After Gatcombe it was off to Homme House with five youngsters and there were some sold performances with two in the top 10...
Next up was Hartpury and it was Alex's birthday weekend. There was no win or top placing for the birthday boy but he was happy with the two younger horses in the CCI* class...
Following Hartpury Alex had three rides at West Wilts with young horses all going well and two in the top 10. Then it was onto Somerford Park with 6 horses and the star of the stable was My Lucky Day finishing 2nd in the Intermediate - what a great name for a successful horse! There were also 2 more top ten finishes.
After Somerford it was a trip across the Irish Sea to Millstreet for Alex with 5 horses, three in the CIC** and two in the CIC***. Well it was definitely worth Alex making the trip as he took 2nd on Zagreb and 5th on Alactraz II in the CIC** and he placed 3rd on Barrichello and 4th on Shannondale Percy in the CIC***. What the below video of Alex explaining the SJ course.
Last event of the month for Alex was Burghley, known as the biggest four star in the world. Alex headed there with top horse Zagreb. Dressage went well but Alex was a little disappointed with his score to be 14th before XC.
On the XC Alex was having a fantastic ride and was just getting into the middle of the course when he had a very unfortunate fall at the Maltings. The good news is they were both fine and will be back in action at Blenheim next week.
Both of our HTSG Training Scholars, Alex Bragg and Laura Collett, are in action at the SsangYong Blenheim Palace Horse Trials next week, and we are putting them to work! CoursewalkAlex and Laura will be hosting a course walk (CIC course) on Thursday 13th September at approximately 11:30am. This will be a fantastic opportunity for HTSG members and their guests to get a detailed insight of the course and ask our scholars any questions. The course walk is free of charge to members, and £10 for guests (including a donation to the event's nominated charity). We would like to thank the organiser's of Blenheim for allowing this to happen. Please email mgibb@live.co.uk to reserve your place. Numbers will be limited.  Photo © Frog & Field Alex Bragg Master Class Photo © MDR Photo We are very excited to announce that Alex has kindly agreed to present a Master Class on behalf of HTSG on Sunday 16th September in the Marlborough (Main) Arena at 10:00am. Alex will ride one of his horses and be joined on the ground by Spencer Sturmey. Please do join us for what promises to be an educational and entertaining session. WEG SupperTickets are available for the WEG supper being held on Saturday 15th September. All of the action from the cross-country at Tryon will be shown live on the big screen, as well as some exclusive behind the scenes footage from Team GBR. Please see the attached flyer for more information. Owners, Athletes and Trainers Facility at Blenheim The organiser's of the SsangYong Blenheim Palace Horse Trials have secured support for a dedicated Owners, Athletes and Trainers (OATs) facility for this year’s event, and as well as the owners of horses who are competing, they are very kindly offering members of HTSG to use the facility.
The facility will be supported by Theraplate UK whose wave vortex stimulation therapy products are aimed at equine, dog and human rehabilitation and are used by vets, rehab centres and several riders. The Owners, Athletes and Trainers marquee will be located adjacent to the main arena collecting ring allowing owners and HTSG members to watch the horses prepare for CCI3* dressage and the show jumping phases of the 8&9-year-old CIC3* and the CCI3* as well as a great place to see the ‘south lawn’ loop of the CCI3* cross-country on Saturday. There will be tables and chairs inside, a garden area with patio furniture, complimentary refreshments, daily papers and lifestyle magazines and from the sponsors complimentary tea and coffee and a welcome glass of fizz! Please ensure that you wear your HTSG badge to gain access to this facility. Finally, we would like to wish Alex and Laura, as well as any HTSG members with horses competing, the very best of luck for a safe and successful Blenheim. We look forward to seeing you. With best wishes, HTSG Committee |
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