British international showjumper, producer of young horses and highly respected coach, Chris Smith, ponders how to make the national championships in to a flagship event
Potentially, the British Showjumping (BS) National Championships could be an amazing show, it’s just lacking something. It is hard to put your finger on what that something is, but I think it needs a bit of a shake-up to make it successful.
Perhaps it’s the lack of atmosphere more than anything. Driving in is like arriving on a building site. They can’t help what’s going on around the show, but there’s no banner, or anything to say you’re at a national championship. It’s a shame as it should be our biggest national show of the year.
The speed class, which I won, finished at 7pm and I counted just eight people watching – there were more course-builders and judges than spectators.
I think holding the show at Bolesworth in 2020 highlighted some real issues, as Nina Barbour did a fantastic job there. Could the organisers listen to feedback then get together with BS chief executive Iain Graham – and I don’t think this is down to BS – to come up with a new concept?
I’ve been to some of the European national shows and they are spectacles. Our flagship event isn’t.
Conflicting schedules
The schedule could do with some tweaking because the juniors and seniors are pretty much separate shows now and the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) wild card series is held over three consecutive days, which is a lot of jumping.
On the first day, the 1.30m and 1.40m ran at the same time, but the same riders contest both classes, so they were calling Joe Trunkfield and put him on a three-minute warning, but he also had three horses to ride in the wild card. I think people got a bit fed up. The flagship class should be on a Saturday but it was on a Thursday afternoon, when everyone’s at work.
Scope Festival used to have something for everybody, with some of the best classes you’d ever jump and it was rammed; people had a good time.
We’re lucky to have shows like this, but we don’t make the most of them. We have some of the best facilities and the best riders in the world, we just need something to bring them in.
The national championships are never going to have prize money to match the Global Champions Tour, but other countries’ national championships attract their top riders.
Butlins for showjumpers
Perhaps organisers could involve someone who understands what riders and owners want – there was no one in hospitality, no parties and it was a ghost town by 8pm. That’s what made Scope work so well. You had the best riders there and it was like Butlins for the rest of them.
The courses at this year’s championships were good, the results were fair, the jumping was fantastic and Rebecca Marsh deserved the title. But there’s an opportunity for change, so let’s make it happen.
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