British Eventing (BE) is the national governing body for the sport of eventing – a three-phase competition in which a competitor rides the same horse in the dressage, cross-country and showjumping phases – in Britain.
The responsibilities of BE include co-ordinating the calendar of affiliated events which take place each year and setting and maintaining the standards which fixtures must meet to be affiliated to BE. Some of these events will also be affiliated to the FEI, the international governing body for horse sport, if they run international classes.
British Eventing is a membership organisation with around 15,000 members, who pay an annual fee to join, with different categories of membership available such as full, owner, supporter and corporate memberships. Horses must be registered with BE to compete in affiliated events. Day ticket schemes allow riders and horses to try BE competitions without paying the full membership and registration costs.
BE is run by a non-executive board, whose members serve on a voluntary basis, and a team of full- and part-time paid staff who work either out of the headquarters near Kenilworth, Warwickshire, or regionally in the field. The chief executive is Jude Matthews. Hundreds of volunteers are also needed to run events, in roles such as dressage writers, cross-country fence judges and showjumping arena party.
Affiliated eventing in Britain was run by the British Horse Society until 1997, when the British Horse Trials Association (BHTA) was set up as an independent body. The organisation changed its name to British Eventing in 2001. Eventing is still sometimes known as horse trials.
BE is a member body of British Equestrian (previously known as the British Equestrian Federation and still shortened to BEF), which brings together sport organisations such as BE and its equivalents in the other Olympic disciplines (British Dressage (BD) and British Showjumping (BS)) as well as non-Olympic sport federations, industry bodies such as the British Grooms Association and the British Equestrian Trade Association and charities such as World Horse Welfare, the Riding for the Disabled Association and the British Horse Society.
“We understand our members cannot wait to get out eventing, and we are confident that with our protocols in place we will be able to resume sport quickly once Government guidance allows us to”
“It is incredibly disappointing to be entering a third lockdown and certainly not the start to the new year that anyone wanted”
The rider secured 27 wins and a further 46 top-10 placings during the 2020 season
“This is such an exciting development for the sport and one which we hope will provide more of our members with an inspiring goal”
“We checked with EquiRatings to see if there is any statistical evidence that knocking down rails in showjumping is indicative of the possibility of an increased likelihood of falls in cross-country and it turns out that yes, there is a relationship”
“The rider working group has really championed this new concept and we have worked closely together to shape this into a product that fits their objectives”
Jockey club regional managing director Ian Renton said it was “truly a great honour” to be awarded the five-year contract
The Dutch dark bay was crowned British novice champion in 2016, finishing ninth in the young horse championships at Osberton the same year
Here we explain the eventing points system to help you get your head around it...
Governing bodies have issued advice for members and reminded riders of their individual responsibilities following the three-tier lockdown rules that came into force in England on 13 October
The amnesty on six-month boosters, announced in July, was given by two of the sports’ governing bodies in order for members to bring their vaccinations up to date
‘We have all loved seeing competitors of all levels enjoying their sport, and their owners proud of what they and their amazing horses have achieved’
‘We are acutely aware of the need for equestrian competitions, events and businesses to resume’
Governing bodies have provided clarification on flu vaccination requirements as more sport gets underway
British Eventing has said the classes are ‘excellent news’
