Equestrian
Horse riding is a sport that anyone, regardless of age or ability, can have a go at. Horse riding could be described as one of the most versatile sports that you can take up and once the basics of equestrianism have been mastered, then there are numerous opportunities for people to ride out in the countryside or to take part in the more challenging such as polo or show jumping. There are currently around 4.2 million riders, vaulters and carriage drivers in Great Britain with 16 independent member bodies.
There are a range of disciplines that fall within horse riding and equestrianism. An overview of equestrian activities and the sports that horses can be used in include the following:
Dressage, Endurance riding, Eventing, Reining, Show Jumping, Vaulting, Polo, Horse Racing, Driving, and Rodeo.
Olympic Sport
Equestrian is the only Olympic sport in which men and women compete against each other on equal terms. It is also the only one in which humans and animals compete together.
At the London 2012 Games there are three disciplines of the sport of Equestrian. Dressage, Eventing and Jumping:
Jumping
Venue: Greenwich Park
Dates: Saturday 4 August - Thursday 9 August
Gold medals up for grabs: 2 (Team and Individual)
Athletes: 75
Eventing
Venue: Greenwich Park
Dates: Saturday 28 July - Tuesday 31 July
Gold medals up for grabs: 2 (Team and Individual)
Athletes: 75
Dressage
Venue: Greenwich Park
Dates: Thursday 2 August - Wednesday 8 August
Gold medals up for grabs: 2(Team and Individual)
Athletes: 50
http://www.london2012.com/games/olympic-sports/index.php
Paralympic Sport
Para-Equestrian is a multi-disciplinary sport - all events are mixed, with athletes grouped according to their functional ability.
Venue: Greenwich Park
Dates: Friday 31 August - Wednesday 5 September
Events: 10
Gold medals up for grabs: 11
Athletes: 78
http://www.london2012.com/games/paralympic/index.php
Get Involved
Horse riding lessons are important if you have never ridden before as mastering the basic skills will make horse riding more comfortable and enjoyable. If you are interested in getting involved in equestrianism then there are a number of riding clubs and schools in Cheshire & Warrington as well as nearby areas.
Information on all Cheshire & Warrington Equestrian clubs can be found here at the British Equestrian Federation website.
A list of riding schools has also been provided by Cheshire Horse.
National Governing Body
THE BRITISH EQUESTRIAN FEDERATION
(BEF) is the National Governing Body (NGB) for horse sports in the UK and it is affiliated to the Federation Equestre Internationale, which is the international governing body for all equestrian sports. The BEF was established in 1972 and it is the largest representative body within the equestrian industry. The major aims of the BEF are to help provide leadership, vision and purpose for all affiliations involved in equestrianism.
NGB Website: www.bef.co.uk
Contacts
Sonia Birch
BEF Regional Development Co-ordinator
Email: soniab@bef.co.uk
Tel: 07813 332362
Additional Websites
Cheshire Horse
Hoof Cheshire aim to provide a unified brand and coordinated approach to develop all things equine.
Riding Diary this website contains information on Horse shows and equine events.
Whole Sport Plan
Sport England funds national governing bodies to deliver our three outcomes - grow, sustain and excel and provides additional support to help them achieve this. Each sport has developed a WHOLE SPORT PLAN that explains how it plans to achieve these targets. This summary also helps partners identify possible opportunities to work together
What is Equestrians Whole Sport Plan?
Click here to view Equestrians Whole Sport Plan.
How are Equestrian progressing against their 2009-13 Targets?
Currently not available but will appear here soon.
Sport Factsheets
In June 2008, Sport England published detailed sport evidence packs, which bring together data from the first year of the Active People Survey, (APS 1) the Taking Part Survey, and Sport England's market segmentation.
These packs were prepared to help sport's national governing bodies develop their 2009-2013 plans but they also provide a detailed overview of sports facts relevant to all in the sports sector.
Following the detailed sport evidence packs, further sport specific information has been compiled in a series of sport factsheets. The factsheets provide information on weekly participation rates by key demographic groups.
Sport Facts 2008-09 (Detailed results from Active People Survey 3) - Click here to view
Sport Facts 2007-08 (Detailed results from Active People Survey 2) - Click here to view
Latest News or Events
For up to date news about Horse Riding please visit the British Equestrian Federation news section.
For all up to date equestrian news and upcoming events in the North West region, please visit the British Equestrian Federation regional news section.
Coaching (Including Courses & Awards)
The Cheshire & Warrington Sports Partnership hopes to develop Coaching CW into a 'one stop shop' information and management tool, for coaches and employers of coaches in Cheshire & Warrington.
If you are looking for information in relation to coaching in your sport or advice, guidance and possibly funding then please visit http://www.coachingcw.org/
