'Eventing faces a huge dilemma'

Rising costs and bad weather are tough for stakeholders, says Mark Phillips

- Mark Phillips

I NEVER thought I’d live to see the day that we would have to cancel cross-country on the freedraining Cotswold slopes at Gatcombe.

My son Peter, who is the event director, the British Eventing (BE) steward and the technical advisor all did everything they could to be able to put on the Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing, but eventually after more than an inch of rain in 24 hours from Storm Antoni, it was impossible to stage the five British championships.

On Saturday, the crosscountry was cancelled as even the fleet of Land Rover Defenders struggled in the conditions. This meant the demise of the regular novice and intermediate classes, but we hoped that all the championships could run on the Sunday. A whole new ring was created on higher ground for the Pony Club so that their Mars Arena could be used for better ground in the showjumping warm-up.