Situated on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border, the house was built in 1671 and has been the ancestral home of the Earls of Bradford. Today the House and Park is a Charitable Foundation, the family collections of porcelain, antiques and portraits are available for all to enjoy. It is through staging events such as the Horse Trials that the ongoing restoration and maintenance of this historic Estate is financed.
The superbly constructed course, designed by Janet Plant, will run over a thousand acres of rolling wooded parkland and the fences are solid and imposing. Each class runs over a different course designed to be testing but fair. Janet Plant comments “it is a real buzz and privilege to design on such a fabulous estate. Once again we welcome the Charles Owen Pony Trial, which we have run for a number of years’ - this has attracted a large number of entries and will prove to be an exciting competition”.
The course for the Novice classes – sponsored by Moores Metals, Landsbrook Stud and Mirrors for Training plus the Charles Owen Pony Trials will run on the central park giving wonderful views from the vantage points which is greatly appreciated by owners and spectators. The Show Jumping has been relocated down near the Kidney Pool. There will be a separate arena each day which should produce good going for everyone. The Show Jumping course will be designed by our new designer Martin Cox who has a great deal of experience and we give him a warm welcome to the ‘Team’.
Advanced Sections:
For many of the top riders in the Advanced sections this event acts as an ideal ‘warm –up’ for the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in May. The Advanced course includes four new beautifully designed fences!
These horses will run Cross Country on Sunday between 1 pm and 4pm – so be sure to be in the park early! The event are delighted long-standing supporters, David and Catherine Witt, owners of Rookery Park Stud, are kindly continuing their sponsorship of the Advanced class.
Once again the hotly contested Open Intermediate Under 21 section will see our young riders and juniors competing for a place in the British European teams this summer. Friends of Weston Park support the Open Intermediate sections and in addition there will be three Intermediate sections all battling for a place in the British Intermediate Championship qualifier.
