Express Eventing Sunday 11th July

Stadium Results

Express Eventing

Express Eventing condenses the drama, skill and excitement of traditional eventing into one day, with all of the action visible from one seat. It is a radically new compact version of the sport, designed for stadiums and arenas around the world.

For 2010, Express Eventing will bring together the elite young riders and top horses to compete to win a £5000 first prize. Express Eventing comprises three phases – dressage, showjumping and cross-country. However that is where the similarities to traditional eventing ends.

Dressage to music

The dressage phase of Express Eventing will involve a radically different test for event riders with freestyle dressage to music. The riders will be encouraged to express their own personality and that of their horse through music of their choice. Incorporating a number of compulsory movements, the young riders will need to demonstrate ultimate creative and musical flair to be in the lead after the dressage.

Two dressage judges will mark the technical competence of horse and rider and accuracy with which they ride their test and TV commentator and personality Clare Balding will be our third judge marking for artistic impression. After each test Clare will share her thoughts on the artistic performance with the audience, before the total score is revealed.

The technical judges will each provide a mark out of 25 (maximum total of 50 marks) while Clare will award artistic marks out of 30. The total score for each rider (marks out of 80) will then be converted to penalties. For example the riders score is subtracted from the maximum score possible (80 marks) to give a ‘penalty score’. Therefore if the leading rider has a score of 77.5 marks they will carry forward 2.5 penalties to the second phase of the competition.

Cross-Country

The riders will jump a course of solid natural fences where fences on the course range between 1.15m and 1.35m depending on the type of jumping effort. Penalties will be incurred for refusals with 10 penalties for a first refusal, 15 for a second and elimination after the third. An optimum time of approximately 425 metres per minute will been set and riders will need to complete the course within 5 seconds above or below the optimum time to avoid any additional penalties. Every second outside of this window will incur 0.25 penalties.

At the end of the cross-country phase, the penalties incurred by each horse and rider will be added to their Dressage penalties to give each a new total score which will then be carried forward to the third and final phase of the competition.

Show Jumping with a twist!

To test how careful the riders’ horses really are after the cross-country, they will complete the day by attempting a 1.20m show jumping test, where every pole knocked down could prove very expensive. To allow riders to climb the leader board, there is an ‘eraser fence’ as an alternative to the last fence on the course. This will be 10 to 15cm bigger than the rest of the course and by jumping it clear riders can erase four penalties from their score. However should a rider attempt the fence and knock it down, they will have four penalty points added to their score. The rider with the least penalty points after the showjumping will be the overall winner of the competition.

Make sure that you are firmly in your seat so that you can see first hand all the enthralling elements of eventing. See these young, fearless future Olympic and Team GBR riders in action in what is sure to be a thrilling competition. Will the riders take the risk and attempt the eraser fence to have a chance of winning the £5000 first prize? Make sure you are there to find out!

Rider Profiles

Name	Horse	Country	Notable Achievements
Aaron Millar	Maraca 2003, Mare, S: Fines, D: Yabu Owner(s): Miss Alexandra Jackson	Britain	Good start to the season with wins and top placings at Intermediate level. Sadly they had to withdraw from this year’s Badminton due to horse injury.
Alex Postolowsky	Diplomatic Jack 1994, Gelding, S: State Diplomacy, D: Arden Mimosa Owner(s): Alex Postolowsky	Britain	Young Rider European Silver medallist riding Flint Curtis. Alex would love to follow in Oliver and Flint’s footsteps and win Express Eventing!
Alex Hua Tian	Magenta 1999, Mare, S: Supreme Edge, D: Amber Dawn Owner(s): Zaho Ning	China	7th & 12th at Blenheim in 2009 winning rider U25 award. Completed his first Badminton this year finishing a creditable 26th.
Ginnie Howe	Divilabit 2002, Grey gelding Owner(s): Ginnie Howe	Britain	Ginnie and Divilabit have had numerous intermediate placings and achieved a double clear at Weston Park CCI**. Produced by Ginnie from since 5 year old.
Flora Harris	Law Choice 2000, Chestnut gelding Owner(s):Jane Kier, London and Caroline Harris, Somerset	Britain	Flora had a disappointing 2009 breaking her ankle. 2010 is looking far better with numerous placings, 4th at Bramham CCI*** and runner-up in the U25 National Championships.
Gemma Tattersall	Chamrock 1996, 16.2hh bay gelding, S: Rock King, D: Simply Cham Owner(s): Sarah Johnstone, Brighton	Britain	Horse injury made 2009 a hard year for Gemma. However, she’s bounced back in 2010 with a 2nd at Bramham CCI*** and are current U25 National Champions.
Ben Hobday	Cariba 15 2003, bay mare, S: Cash and Carry, D: Havana I Owner(s): Mrs joanne Pullan	Britain	Making a consistent start to 2010 with some of his younger horses, Ben and Guna Be Good had a top twenty finish at Bramham Under 25 CCI***.
Charlotte Agnew	Out of Africa Two, 2000, homebred bay gelding, S: Welton Apollo, D: Hendersyde Africa Owner(s): Elizabeth Agnew , Kelso.	Britain	Charlotte has had a busy start to 2010 juggling horses and exams gaining a 2:1 in English Literature. Having now moved to Circencester she is looking for owners to start riding professionally.
Christoffer Forseberg	Piece of Hope SWB 1999, Bay gelding Owner: Forsbergeventing, Christoffer Forsberg, Sweden	Sweden	Christoffer was National Champion in 2008 and has his sights set on London 2012 Olympics with this horse and another Lefuria.
Phoebe Buckley	Little Tiger 1995, Grey (15hh) mare, S: Java Tiger, D: Hopper VII Owner(s): Polly Taylor from Little Downham, Ely, Cambs.	Britain	Former Young Rider gold medallist and U25 champion Phoebe is famous for her fantastic little grey mare, Little Tiger with whom she has competed at four consecutive Badmintons.
Tamsyn Hutchins	Badger Best 1996, Gelding, S: Young Edmund, D: Monmore Lass Owner (s): Stuart Hutchins	Britain	Tamsyn has had a quiet start to 2010 concentrating on some of her younger horses with great results at Aldon and Pontispool.
Duarte Seabra	Fernhill Gloster Rebel 2001, Bay Gelding, S: Rich Rebel, D: Gloster Golden Clover Owner(s): Carol Gee, Fernhill Sport Horses, Kilkenny	Portugal	Duarte has competed in England for the last five season and made a name for himself coming 8th at Bramham followed by a win at Blair Castle in 2008. He completed his first Badminton this year finishing a commendable 32nd.
Arthur Duffort	Roxanna VI 2003, Chestnut Mare Owner(s): Julia Hardy, London	France	Arthur has had a great start to 2010 with an Intermediate win at Tweseldown and a 2nd at Somerley Park CIC**.
Alice Pearson	Beau Bear 1998, Bay Gelding Owner(s): Chase Distillery	Britain	Alice and Beau Bear have had a fantastic 2009 so far gaining a 6th place at Bramham CIC*, 7th at Chatsworth CIC* and then went on to be the best U25 rider at Blenheim
Georgie Spence	Birthday Night Gelding, 1996, dark bay, S: Moon Point, D: Lady Nightshade	Britain	A great 2009 season continued into 2010 until Georgie had a fall and sadly she had to withdraw from Badminton. With that now behind her the run of form continues with Intermediate wins and placings.