*Updated following information released by British Eventing on Friday afternoon
British Eventing has confirmed it has been given permission to restart the 2020 eventing season after its initial plans were pushed back a week while the sport awaited further government guidance.
In a statement released late afternoon on Friday 19 June, BE chief executive Jude Matthews said further information would be provided on Monday (22 June).
Buckminster Park in Lincolnshire (4-5 July) was set to be the first event since lockdown brought the sport to a halt in March.
But British Eventing (BE) stated in its resumption plan that it would not open entries to any event until government guidance had been released that meant the event could go ahead. As this did not happen in time for entries for Buckminster, the event was cancelled.
“We would like to thank organisers Kate Letchford and Harry Park for their hard work,” said the notice from Ms Matthews, published on 17 June.
“We understand how difficult it has been to make this decision, but without the required update to government guidance and with the continued uncertainty that this creates we fully support their decision.
“We know that many members were looking forward to resuming eventing on 4 July and will now have questions regarding a possible restart on 10 July.”
Ms Matthews added BE will continue to push for further guidance from British Equestrian and Sport England.“We will update you as soon as we can, and we remain committed to restarting the sport as soon as possible,” she said.
This means Barbury (Wilts), Tweseldown (Hants) and Aske (North Yorks) on 10/11-12 July are now pencilled in to restart eventing in Britain.
A statement from Buckminster’s organisers thanked “everyone who offered encouragement and support”.
“I have made a note of everyone who said they could join the team and look forward to meeting you all next year 10-11 July 2021,” the said. “Have a great eventing season once it gets going again.”
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