I imagine everyone is busy preparing for the new season, as it is only a few weeks away. The final touches are being organised for the Training Day on the 24th March and the Charity Drive on Easter Sunday, 31st March, so I hope that you will be supporting us? For those who have qualified for the Indoor Finals, I am prepared to offer a small arena on the training day to practice the Championship tests – just ask on the entry form.

Those of you who have renewed you membership should have noticed that you were sent both a Bishops Gate pass (RED) and a Blacknest Gate pass (Green). This is not a mistake as the Blacknest Gate pass will allow those who drive to the marathon obstacles past Smith’s Lawn to progress without being stopped by the Cumberland Gate warden. PLEASE do not enter the Park by bringing your horse boxes / cars and trailers past Smith’s Lawn otherwise you will be turned round, always use Bishops Gate..   

For those considering competing at any of our events, there have been some changes to the rules. These are now available from the BHDTA web site and new pages for the rule book can be obtained from the BHDTA office..

Below I have listed the major changes:

Dressage.

The Pre-Novice and Novice classes no longer have Standing Presentation but the  presentation element is now to be included in the Dressage Tests.

There has also been changes in tests for some classes; Refer to the schedules for the test used for your class.

Cones

There have been some small changes to make the rules clearer and easier to administer.

Marathon

The major change is to do with the old Section D. It is now to be called the Transfer Section. This will not be timed as in the past. It will be set at a distance of 800 to 1000 Mts but will be an any pace section (in other words you can Walk, Trot, Gallop or Jog without penalty). A time of 12 min will be set for every one. In practice you will finish Section A and then follow the signed track to the halt. Just before the vet’s inspection you may be asked to trot, to check your animal/s soundness, and then have your 10 min halt, after which you will proceed to the start of Section E. I do not expect drivers to overtake other competitors though. I understand the reason for this change is to allow the animal/s to cool and calm down after Section A and be suitably relaxed prior to the start of Section E, as some have become agitated in the past being forced to walk to a set pace.

One gentle reminder concerning entering our events. Please, Please, Please get your entries in on time. All the event’s closing dates are shown on each schedule. Note the closing date for our August Regional event is two weeks before the competition. We will accept post dated cheques, the monies are always banked following an event and you can always withdraw before the closing date without loosing your entry fee. It really causes a lot of hassle if we accept late entries and adds a lot of time recalculating new start times etc. Also please make it clear which event and class you are entering as it can be quite easy to make mistakes our end if these things are not very clear. The 2013 entry forms are slightly different from last years as the fees have been altered a little and simplified, I hope.

Do not forget that we are awarding rosettes for overall results, combined Dressage, Cones and Marathon results, and these are sponsored by Zilco Harness and I thank Fiona Bonney for her generosity for this.

Lets us all hope the weather is better than last year so we can all enjoy this season. I look forward to seeing you all during the year.

Regards

Julian Burleton

WPEC Driving Organiser.