British Eventing have released their update for the 2021 Season Start Update:
Following the Government announcement on Monday outlining the roadmap to ease restrictions in England, we are delighted to be able to return to competitive activity from 29th March. This means that our first weekend of competition will be held 2nd – 4th April.
We continue to plan for the return to sport in Scotland and Wales and look forward to resuming as soon as government restrictions allow.
Providing competition opportunities
We expect that demand for entries will be high, particularly for the first few weeks of the new season, and therefore we have worked with our Organisers to provide a revised calendar which offers competition opportunities at all levels, with good geographic spread. We have planned the revised calendar with the aim of providing sufficient competition opportunities for the level of demand, in order to keep balloting to a minimum.
In addition, we have revised the process for adding additional days of competition where demand is high (where there are 200 or more entries over the maximum number the event can originally take) which will mean the decision to add any additional days of competition is made earlier than was the case last summer.
This should provide greater clarity for members in advance of the event date, reduce balloting, and enable riders to compete at the venues at which they would prefer to have the run. To help us with this, please make your entries in good time!
In the next few days, you will see the online Fixtures list updated to reflect the revised calendar. This will include the new entries opening date and any change in ballot date. Entries for the Easter weekend events will open on 8th March with ballot date on 16th March. For the early part of the season events may have shorter entries opening windows and the ballot dates may be closer to the event date. This will move back towards our standard timescales as we progress through the season.
VIEW THE RETURN TO SPORT FIXTURES LIST
New initiatives
As we have advised previously, we have also developed two new initiatives – Try Eventing and Train for Eventing – which will take place between BE80-BE100 levels. These new non-competitive opportunities have been designed to support combinations to train and get your eye in without the pressure of competition and recorded results.
We are delighted that the first of these Try Eventing events will take place at Northallerton on 29th March and Aston Le Walls on 5th and 6th April. Little Downham will host a Train for Eventing day on 29th March. Further dates will be released shortly.
Insurance cover
The abandonment insurance cover remains in place for 2021 but as was the case in the latter part of the 2020 season, does not cover cancellation or abandonment due to COVID-19. Due to the different set up timescales and costs of each event, the standard pandemic refund policy in place last season will not be in place for 2021. However, organisers of each event will update their online schedule with their individual refund policies and we would encourage members to check this for the events they intend to enter.
Elite sport
Work continues to provide an appropriate pathway for our elite athletes to Kentucky, Badminton and the Olympic Games. We have contacted those athletes identified as elite and provided further details of the pathway being considered. If members are aiming to compete at the 5* competition this Spring and have not been contacted, please email sport@britisheventing.com. We have contacted the National Federations for other countries to also identify those non-GBR riders based in the UK who are classified as elite.
The pathway will provide a training opportunity at Aston le Walls on 16/17th March, followed by the first competitive activity at Oasby on 22nd and Cirencester Park on 24th March, with a final ‘elite only’ competition at Aston Le Walls on 31st March. These competitions are only for elite competitors and are at the levels necessary for them to be able to prepare their horses for 5* competition. Entries will open for these elite pathway events on Monday 1st March with ballot date Friday 5th March. We will be reviewing all entries made to these pathway competitions to ensure that the criteria for entry is being met. All of these activities will be in strict accordance with government regulations and COVID-19 protocols.
The remainder of the pathway will be in line with the sport resumption plans, with our usual pathway events running as normal.
Sport protocols
We are reviewing all the guidance from the government to ensure that our protocols are compliant and that our events are COVID safe. We will update you all with any changes, as well as a reminder of those protocols still in place – please watch this space!
Contacting the Office Team
In line with Government guidance, the team will be continuing to work from home. As a consequence, phone lines are not being manned so please email your enquiries to info@britisheventing.com. We will work diligently to respond to your queries as quickly as possible but please do bear with us.
There are a few ways that you can help us to help you:
- Vouchers for discounted memberships and horse season tickets – please ensure that you click apply when adding each voucher at the checkout process. Please note there is a maximum of five vouchers that can be used in any one purchase transaction.
- Logging in to the website – If you have previously logged in to the website but have forgotten your password, please use the Forgotten Password link. This will provide you a link to reset the password.
- Membership, Horse Registration and Season Tickets – Please complete the horse registration process, renew your membership and purchase your season tickets/day passes ahead of the ballot date of the event to which you wish to compete. Contact to the office increases exponentially on these dates and we may not be able to respond as quickly as we might on other days.
- Horse Passports – Please remember to send your horse passport details when you first register your horse. Delays in doing so may result in you being unable to complete your entries.
- FEI Registrations and Passport Applications – Please submit these well ahead of the event for which they are required. We will endeavor to process these as quickly as possible and within our normal timescales but this cannot be guaranteed and we are unable to offer a fast track service
Refund Requests – We are receiving an increasing number of requests to provide refunds for vouchers not added at the checkout. We will action these requests as quickly as possible but these may take a few weeks as we assist members with sport resumption queries. We very much look forward to seeing you out enjoying our fantastic sport again soon.
