Fifth Millfield British Eventing brings world-class talent to Glastonbury
04 Jun 2019
The fifth Millfield Horse Trials took place at Millfield Prep School in Glastonbury, bringing more than 500 world class competitors to the school. Riders, ranging in age from 12 to 65 years, took part in three phases of competition on the 150 acres of land at Millfield Prep over two days, which saw 1,200 visitors attend the event.
The event is aimed at grassroots competitors with BE80 (T), BE90 and BE100 sections, with multiple events held throughout the weekend, including dressage, show jumping and cross country, which all competitors participate in.
Over 15 Millfield pupils from Year 7 to Upper Sixth competed in the various classes throughout the weekend generating high quality results, with former pupils also returning to compete.
The event also saw Olympic and International riders take part: Irish Olympian Padraig McCarthy, who was selected to represent Ireland in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, took the opportunity to compete four of his horses at Millfield, resulting in placings for all of them. 4* International Event Rider Tim Cheffings also competed five of his horses, resulting in a win in the BE100 Open.
The cross-country course, designed for the fifth year by London 2012 designer, Adrian Ditcham, ran in the opposite direction and this year included a number of new, innovative jumps. Feature fences included a ‘Glastonbury Tor’ jump, overlooked by the iconic Tor and the ‘Millfield Outward Bound’ water complex.
Irish Olympian Padraig McCarthy says, “I really enjoy bringing our horses to Millfield every year. It is a lovely venue with a great atmosphere. The cross-country courses are very inviting and always give the younger horses a confident experience.”
Millfield Prep Year 8 pupil, Tash McNee, says, “I had the best weekend competing in my first BE event. It was so much fun, and I can’t wait to take part in more high-level competitions in the future. It was an amazing experience – thank you to everyone from Millfield who helped me.”
Danny Anholt, Millfield’s Director of Equestrian Sport, added, “It was wonderful to host another fantastic British Eventing competition again this year. What an incredible opportunity for our pupils to experience such high-quality competition right on their doorstep. My thanks go to the 130 volunteers who gave their time so generously to the sport and the staff who put in so much effort to ensure the smooth running of the event. We are grateful to the numerous sponsors for helping us to finance the competition, in particular Kukri, the title sponsors.”
Millfield and Millfield Prep riders now look forward to a busy summer of competitions including attendance at Hickstead, the National Schools Jumping Championships in August.