Sports Operations update summary

With competition successfully, and safely, resumed across much of the country, positive progress continues to be made on all fronts for the resumption of the season.

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes with our Sport Operations task force groups, the Board and technical committees to restore some of the key elements of our championship series back into the calendar for the second half of 2020, in line with our Coronavirus Operational Plan published on 7 May. A summary of what has been restored can be found below.

For the full update that went to members on 21 July 2020, which has all of the details in, please visit:

READ SPORTS OPERATIONS UPDATE

Here’s the latest news on our Sports Operations developments:

• NAF Five Star Winter Championships rescheduled
  The NAF Five Star Winter Championships, incorporating the Petplan Equine Area Festival Championships, have been rescheduled to take place from 17 to 23 August at Hartpury in Gloucestershire. Entries have opened today (22 July), so competitors will have received notification and a copy of the full schedule via email. Further details can be found in the Winter Championships section of the website.  
• Full and part qualifications carried forward for winter season
  Points earned during the summer qualification period, from 1 December 2019 until the suspension of competition activity on 19 March, will be carried forward for winter season qualifications in the corresponding class/section. Please note: You don’t need to take any action, this will happen automatically for any straight classes.
• Winter season qualification now open
  Competitions resumed in England on 1 July to coincide with the start of the winter season to qualify for the 2021 Winter Regional Championships and Petplan Equine Winter Area Festivals. Eight dates and venues have been confirmed for the Winter Regionals, while there are ten dates and venues released for the Petplan Equine Winter Area Festivals, all scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2021. See our full update for the complete list.
• Dates released for Winter Regional Championships
  Eight dates and venues announced, to take place in the first quarter of 2021.
• Dates released for Petplan Equine Winter Area Festivals
  Ten dates and venues announced to launch the inaugural Petplan Equine Winter Area Festivals, to take place in the first quarter of 2021.
• Prelim Gold Championship added to Winter Championship roster
  It has also been announced that there will be a new Prelim Gold championship class at the 2021 Winter Regionals and the NAF Five Star Winter Championships, with KBIS British Equestrian Insurance generously agreeing to support the Gold section alongside their existing Silver championship.
• Dates released for Quest Regional Championships
  As previously communicated, the Quest season will now end with the eight regional finals, with qualification currently underway. In light of the shortened timeframe available for riders to add to their leaderboard points, the qualification period will be extended by two weeks, with a new cut-off date of 16 September 2020. A few dates have therefore changed, please check our full update for all of the details.
• Dates released for Shearwater Young Horse Championships
  A revised series will take place over the next three months, with qualification running from August to September and a championship final in October. The Shearwater Young Horse and Pony Championships will be held at The College, Keysoe in Bedfordshire, from 2-4 October 2020, to include four, five, six and seven year old horses.  Read more in our member email.
• British Young Pony Championships to continue
  Qualifiers and Championship format to run in line with the Shearwater Young Horse Championships following the same structure and dates.
• Plans coming soon for British U21 Championships
  Planning for this event is now well underway and we aim to run a national championship for our Under 21 riders in the autumn alongside an existing fixture. Venues, dates and classes are currently being finalised and we will update riders shortly.
• Equissage Summer Para Dressage Festival to go ahead
  Solihull Riding Club will host a celebration Para event next month on the original dates, 29 & 30 August, offering opportunities for riders in the Bronze, Silver and Gold Sections, including those on the World Class programme who have missed out on international competition this year.
• Senior Home International postponed to 2021
  Due to the ongoing restrictions on competition in Scotland and Wales we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel the event for 2020. This will now be postponed until 2021, when Vale View will again be the hosts.

Full details for all points covered above are included in the Sports Operations Member Update, published 21 July.

READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT