My photos from the British Eventing competition can be viewed here: Thoresberton International Horse Trials 2020.
The International classes at Osberton act as an annual National Championship for six and seven-year-old classes as well as popular long format 2-star and 3-star competitions for older horses.
This year, as a result of the Covid pandemic, the decision was made not to host the British Eventing competition on the Osberton Estate, where residents might have been exposed to the virus as a result of the influx of competitors, but instead at Thoresby Park, a few miles away.
Thoresby was to have hosted their own first international horse trials in the spring of 2020, replacing the event previously held at Belton, but the cessation of equestrian sport as a result of the British lockdown put paid to that. Bede Events decision to host the October event at Thoresby meant we all got to see how it might work in April of next year, albeit with better weather, perhaps.
My trip to the aptly renamed Thoresberton was primarily on behalf of Land Rover, for whom I will need new images for next season for PR and Marketing purposes, and for the trade stand which will be on site at Land Rover sponsored events. Two Land Rover Ambassadors, Zara Tindall and Harry Meade were competing and, conveniently, they are also ambassadors for feed company Dodson & Horrell, for whom I had been working that week.
Two of my personal Brand Ambassadors were also taking part so this was a good opportunity to get library images for their websites. Eliza Stoddart was competing in both the 6-year-old 2-star competition with Nexgen Champions Codebreaker but also in the 3-star section with James and Lizzie Saunders-Watson's Clifford. Heidi Coy had three in the 3-star competition and one, Porsche, in the two-star.
Whilst I was able to collect some useful images during the day I was also very close to the third fence when Harry had a very nasty fall on his last horse of the day, being dragged by a stirrup for some distance before he was able to free himself. Harry is providing updates via his website and social media but it is clear that in addition to a badly broken arm and lots of cuts and bruises he will have to take some time to recover from the concussion he suffered as a result of being kicked by his horse.
