As the flat racing winds down in Europe, the final ‘Champions’ race meeting took place at Ascot with four Group1 races to complete the British season. The race for the British Champion jockey, always close throughout the year also came to a conclusion. We also pay tribute to the juveniles who raced at Newmarket last
There was little in terms of major FEI events this week, but one event which was certainly of interest to the showing world was the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) which took place in Birmingham once again. The show was back with vengeance this year after the enforced cancellation of 2020; with all the
The directors of Tattersalls in Newmarket must have been delighted to see their premises fill up with the great and good of the bloodstock world for their three day October part 1 yearling sale bonanza. This catalogue featured the best yearlings Europe has on offer and maybe the world in terms of pedigrees of the
The first weekend in October is always particularly anticipated with the running of the annual Qatar Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe race in Paris and this year’s renewal was set to be a vintage one and provide a shock result. It also has traditionally become one of the weekends with the most Group 1 races
The final major European horse trial event on the European calendar of 2021 took place at Avenches in Switzerland. The European Eventing Championships. At Newmarket, the first of the autumn juvenile Group 1 races were held as well as other Group 1s around the globe. The CCI 4 star European Eventing Championship event attracted riders
In Aachen at the northwest tip of Germany finally got to stage their Festival of the Horse. The event was cancelled in 2020 and was postponed from its usual June date, partly due to the pandemic, but also to accommodate the Olympics. The Aachen festival is a celebration of the horse with top level international
As we move swiftly from the summer into autumn, sport horse competition continues unabated. The postponed CHIO from Aachen in Germany over the weekend has its own headlines in another post on our site. In the UK the British Dressage National Championships at their new venue in Cheshire took place as well as the Blenheim
As the world marvels at the new tennis sensation Emma Raducanu from Great Britain, equine sporting competition was in full swing. After last week in Riesenbeck in Germany, for the showjumping European Championships, the dressage European Championships took place, again in Germany, this time in Hagen. There were several Group 1 races in Europe including
The last week has certainly been a busy one with the European Championships for showjumping coming so quickly on the heels of the Olympics; and the 5 star horse trial eventing, which took place at Bicton in Devon The first of the big time shows at Calgary in Canada were staged after a long absence
As the summer ends and the Olympics have finished, the Paralympics take over in the same venue in Tokyo. Like the Olympics, all the Paralympics sports were held behind closed doors. Eventing and show jumping do not happen in the Paralympics for obvious reasons, but the dressage competition has grown enormously in popularity for the
In a more normalised week for sport horse competition there was another Longines World Champion Tours round. In dressage, the holiday for the German Olympians has come to an end and racing saw a plethora of Group 1 races in the UK, France and the United States. Meanwhile the Paralympians continued to ready themselves for
With all the excitement of the Olympic Games over, there is a short respite before the Paralympics begin next week. In the meantime, there was the London leg of the Longines Championship Global Tour, a 5 star CSI. The best of the dressage competition was in Germany, a 3 star CDI in Donauschingen in southern
All over bar the shouting! As the riders and horses return to their respective countries with success, or not as the case may be. There is no doubt that following all the difficulties with the pandemic, that staging the Olympic Games at all was a spectacular achievement. We have to make an apology for always
By the time you read this, the equestrian Olympic Games will have been completed. The final hurrah for the equine sport was the Team Showjumping, and it was every bit as pulsating as the individual event a couple of days ago. All nineteen teams started full of hope that they would qualify for the final
The speed of the Olympic Games is un-relenting with both the dressage and horse trials eventing completed. During the last few days of competition in Tokyo, it was the turn of the show jumpers to step up to the plate and jump for both team and individual medals. For the teams, the rules were similar
