News
NAF Five Star Hartpury Festival of Dressage: all systems go
- Written By: British Dressage
- Published: Wed, 07 Jul 2021 15:31
As the dust settles after the NAF Five Star Winter Championships, competition at Hartpury is back in full swing this week for the NAF Five Star Hartpury Festival of Dressage (07-11 July 2021). The five-day festival has attracted riders from 11 nations across the CDI3* and CPEDI3* classes, alongside Premier League competition and Shearwater Insurance Young Horse semi-finals.
The CPEDI3* classes get underway today, which promise a wealth of top class para dressage as riders make their final mission for Paralympic selection for Tokyo. A large entry of leading athletes across the grades, including Sophie Christiansen, Sir Lee Pearson, Georgia Wilson, Natasha Baker, Erin Orford, Sophie Wells and Charlotte Cundall, will be going all out to make an impression over the next three days.
The CDI3* Big Tour has an exciting line-up preparing for competition which starts on Friday with the Hartpury University & Hartpury College Grand Prix at 15:00. We look forward to British challengers such as Nikki Barker and Durable, Steph Croxford with Mr Benn, Tom Goode and Dior, and Alice Oppenheimer with Headmore Dirubinio, who’ve all enjoyed top Premier League placings in recent months.
Joining the charge are the established international pairings Louise Bell with Into the Blue, Richard Davison with Bubblingh and Finland’s Mikaela Soratie with Hot Casanova, plus an array of exciting combinations new to international Grand Prix.
The Big Tour continues on Saturday night with the NAF Five Star Superflex Grand Prix Freestyle at 19:00, with a break halfway for the ever-popular Elite Stallions Young Horse Prix St Georges, and concludes Sunday with the NAF Five Star Superflex Grand Prix Special at 15:15.
Starting with the Hazlewoods FEI Prix St Georges at 08:00 on Friday, the CDI3* Small Tour boasts a stellar line up. Recent Premier League victors Dan Sheriff (Incognito), Kate Cowell (Ray Ban 13), Matt Frost (Helga) and Nathalie Kayal (Cleverboy) feature alongside Wellington CDI winners Sarah Millis (Impressive VDC) and Nikolas Kröncke (Flanell), plus, fresh from winter championships success, Andrew Gould (Genie) and Alice Oppenheimer (Headmore Dionysus).
The Small Tour continues with the CDI3* Hartpury University & Hartpury College FEI Intermediate I at 12:15 on Saturday and the Baileys Horse Feeds FEI Intermediate I Freestyle on Sunday afternoon commencing at 15:15.
As well as the CDI3* and CPEDI3*, there's the finale of the Premier League season and the Shearwater Insurance Young Horse Championship semi-finals for four, five and six-year-olds - making for five of the busiest - and best - days in the dressage calendar!
Want to attend this year’s festival?
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a requirement to record visitor information to assist with any necessary track and trace efforts. Therefore, tickets will not be available to purchase at the gate and you will not be permitted entry without prior registration to attend.
Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 July
Entry is free on these days but you will be required to register via Eventbrite. Click here to register.
Friday 9 - Sunday 11 July
Friday, Saturday and Sunday daytime - £6 each day
Under 16s free each day
Click here to purchase tickets
If you’re not able to join us at Hartpury, you won’t miss a minute of the action as our preferred streaming partner Horse & Country are covering all three arenas via their H&C+ platform. You’ll need to be a subscriber to view but it’s quick and simple to join. There’s no contract involved and you can subscribe on a monthly basis for £5.99 per month or yearly at just £59.99.
Tickets for the Gala Evening are now sold out, however the evening will be available to view on demand on Horse & Country from Sunday.
Sponsors of this year’s event include NAF M Power, Baileys Horse Feeds, Equestrian Stockholm, Equito Horseboxes Wales and West, Stubben, Rural Planning Practice, Elite Dressage, JS Teamwear and Hazlewoods.
