Important update: BDSW Area Festival move

It’s with great sadness and apologies that, in conjunction with BD South West Regional Development Officer Amanda Heath, Duchy College has made the decision to relocate their Petplan Equine Area Festival, scheduled to run on 16-18 August 2019 to near by Bicton Arena.

Following significant investment to renew all ground works, infrastructure and install a new 20 x 60 silica sand mix surface at the College, it’s been agreed that more time is needed to enable the arena to bed in to ensure that it reaches its top class potential for future competitions at Duchy. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond the control of the Duchy team, it’s not been possible to achieve this for the Petplan Equine Area Festival.

Helen West, Arena Manager at Bicton Arena, said “We’re so disappointed for Duchy College not to be able run their show because their new arena is not quite ready for such a high profile competition. We’re delighted to be able to step up and assist them to provide our BD south west members with an alternative venue allowing this show to continue and run as planned, just at a different venue.”

Duchy College Organiser Hazel Young added, “We’re really sad that following the significant investment made to completely renew our outdoor arena, it’s not yet bedded in sufficiently to host such a prestigious event. Time got the better of us, despite the onsite team working hard to get everything to the best standards for competitors. We’re grateful that our neighbours Bicton Arena have been able to step up and support us at such short notice and we are confident that the BD members will have a great show and we wish each and every one of them good luck. We look forward to welcoming them back to Duchy soon.”

All entries for the warm up and Pet Plan classes will be directly transferred to Bicton Arena. Due to the change in venue, we will now only run on Saturday and Sunday which has resulted in the Friday classes now running on Saturday. The warm up classes will now run in 20 x 60 arenas and different tests will be used. Please refer to the attached sheets one and two for more information and details.

All class entry fees will be directly transferred and honoured by Bicton Arena. All stabling and hook ups will be automatically refunded in full by Duchy College, please contact Hazel Young with any queries regarding this.

If you require stabling or hook up, please go to www.bicton-arena.co.uk and following link on the home page in a purple box.

A revised show timetable is attached showing provisional class running times – but please continue to check as this may be subject to change. Late entries are now being taken but only for riders who have met the original qualification criteria for competing at Duchy, these will close at midnight on Tuesday 13 August 2019. Times will be released around 1500 on Thursday 15 August 2019. Bedding and forage may be purchased on arrival. The stabling link will go live at 1000 on Monday 12 August 2019.No horses will be admitted on site before 1900 on Friday 16 August due to another event being hosted at Bicton on that day.

We thank all members for their affected for their patience. Any questions or enquiries can be directed to Amanda Heath, RDO on 07894 232355.