Horse_amp_amp_Hound__06_February_2018
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BEST FOR<br />
ADRENALIN JUNKIES<br />
Duke of Beaufort’s<br />
Point-to-Point<br />
When? 3 March<br />
Where? Didmarton, Gloucestershire<br />
Pictures by Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy, aberCPC Alamy, Gary Blake/Alamy, Peter Nixon, PA Archive/PA Images, Sandpolo/Christian Lawson, Gary Blake/Alamy and PA Archive/PA Images<br />
Common Ridings: an adrenalin-pumping ride in the Borders to commemorate a slice of history<br />
BEST FOR GETTING YOUR CULTURAL FIX<br />
Common Ridings<br />
When? Throughout the summer<br />
Where? Eleven towns in the Scottish Borders<br />
What to expect:<br />
Dating back to the lawless 13th and 14th<br />
centuries, Common Ridings began when<br />
townspeople rode their boundaries to check<br />
them and protect them from marauders.<br />
The summer spectacle continues today<br />
with adrenalin-pumping rides across open<br />
country. Multi-medalled eventer Ian Stark<br />
is a regular.<br />
“The first time I took part in the Common<br />
Ridings, I was helping out at a local riding<br />
school, getting the horses ready. When one<br />
of the borrowers didn’t turn up, I got to ride<br />
instead and after that I wanted to go every<br />
year,” he remembers.<br />
Set your alarm early doors to bag a prime<br />
picnic spot — and try to borrow a 4x4 to keep<br />
up with the action.<br />
Free to watch<br />
returntotheridings.co.uk<br />
BEST FOR DRESSING UP<br />
Trooping The Colour<br />
When? 9 June<br />
Where? <strong>Horse</strong> Guards Parade, London<br />
What to expect:<br />
There is something mesmerising about<br />
watching more than 1,400 officers and<br />
men, 200 gleaming horses, more than<br />
400 musicians from 10 bands and corps<br />
of drums march and play as one on <strong>Horse</strong><br />
Guards Parade.<br />
The spectacle of pageantry is in aid of<br />
The Queen’s official birthday — and you can’t<br />
help thinking that her well-trained eye is<br />
mostly focused on the horses of the Household<br />
Cavalry and King’s Troop.<br />
“The Queen’s eye for detail and equestrian<br />
expertise exceeds all others on duty that day,”<br />
says Lieutenant Piers Flay of The Blues and<br />
Royals. “Her eyes and those of the world are<br />
upon our soldiers — there is simply no greater<br />
privilege or honour.”<br />
While tickets are hard fought for the real<br />
deal on 9 June when The Queen takes centre<br />
stage, there are rehearsals the preceding<br />
Saturdays, with The Major General’s Review<br />
on 26 May and The Colonel’s Review on<br />
2 June. The dress code escalates during<br />
these three, culminating in morning dress<br />
for Trooping the Colour.<br />
£5 for The Major General’s Review<br />
£10 for The Colonel’s Review<br />
£35 for Trooping the Colour<br />
householddivision.org.uk<br />
Munnings Exhibition<br />
When? Until 7 May<br />
Where? National Heritage Centre at Palace<br />
House, Newmarket, Suffolk<br />
What to expect:<br />
<strong>Horse</strong> lovers can’t help but feel inspired —<br />
and a little nostalgic — by the work of Sir<br />
Alfred Munnings, one of England’s finest<br />
equestrian artists.<br />
Head to the Moller Exhibition Gallery at<br />
Palace House in Newmarket for his Painting<br />
Winners exhibition, which looks at how his<br />
work was influenced by Newmarket and racing<br />
scenes. Drawings, sketchbooks, studies and<br />
the finished pieces are on display, alongside<br />
the methodology that he used to create his<br />
masterpieces. And when you’re in need of a<br />
pick-me-up, grab a table at the Tack Room<br />
restaurant next door, where saddles hang from<br />
the walls and jockey silks replace paintings.<br />
Tickets £11 (for general admission to the<br />
whole of Palace House)<br />
palacehousenewmarket.co.uk<br />
Hats, frills and a buzz at York’s Ebor Festival<br />
Ebor Festival<br />
When? 22-25 August<br />
Where? York Racecourse, Yorkshire<br />
What to expect:<br />
Dust off your hats and pray for good weather to<br />
see York Racecourse at its best.<br />
“York’s facilities are second to none with<br />
easy access for racegoers and excellent views<br />
of the horses in both the paddocks and on the<br />
track,” says North Yorkshire-based trainer Brian<br />
Ellison, who landed the Ebor with Moyenne<br />
Corniche in 2011. “If I was to recommend a day<br />
at the races to any racing fan it would be York’s<br />
Ebor Festival. The atmosphere there is electric<br />
and you always feel a real buzz — a sense of<br />
excitement and anticipation.”<br />
Tickets from £12 for the Ebor Festival<br />
yorkracecourse.co.uk<br />
What to expect:<br />
Locate all of your clothes before heading to the<br />
Duke of Beaufort’s Point-to-Point; you’ll need<br />
them at this picture-perfect spot nestled on the<br />
Badminton Estate. But you don’t need to be on<br />
a horse for the adrenalin to start pumping, and<br />
there’s no shortage of steaming food stands to<br />
thaw you out in between races.<br />
Besides the racing there’s a dog show,<br />
bucking bronco and shooting simulator —<br />
but the raffle alone should lure you; last year<br />
£1,000 cash was up for grabs, alongside<br />
a season ticket to Badminton <strong>Horse</strong> Trials,<br />
and a day’s hunting for two with the Beaufort.<br />
Tickets £12.50 for adults<br />
beauforthunt.com<br />
Bravery, stamina and instinct at the Melton<br />
Melton Hunt Club Ride<br />
When? To be announced in the early autumn.<br />
From November.<br />
Where? Moves around the Quorn, Belvoir and<br />
Cottesmore hunting countries<br />
What to expect:<br />
An adrenalin fix (without putting yourself in<br />
the firing line...) and a terrific spectacle.<br />
“The Melton Hunt Club Ride is one of the<br />
great tests of horse and rider,” says H&H’s<br />
hunting editor Catherine Austen. “Unlike most<br />
other hunt races, there are very few ‘markers’<br />
you have to keep to a certain side of — it is<br />
as much of a test of a competitor’s ability to<br />
‘read’ natural country and decide on a route<br />
that suits their horse as it is a test of bravery,<br />
jumping power and stamina.”<br />
Tickets around £5<br />
melton-hunt-club.org.uk<br />
Tipperary Side-Saddle Meet<br />
When? 17 <strong>February</strong>, 11am<br />
Where? Cloneen, Co. Tipperary<br />
What to expect: Like an old-fashioned<br />
painting coming to life, “The Tipps” side-saddle<br />
meet will take you back in history, as beautifully<br />
turned-out followers (with nerves of steel…) dig<br />
out their habits and tackle this famous country.<br />
The hunt ball follows that evening at the Hotel<br />
Minella & Leisure Centre in Clonmel.<br />
Free to watch<br />
tipperaryfoxhounds.com H&H<br />
8 <strong>February</strong> <strong>2018</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> & <strong>Hound</strong> 31