Please be aware that there is a yellow weather warning for the whole country on Sunday due to high winds. Evie will review the forecast late on Friday night to make a decision about running the event, so please check back here on Saturday morning. If we’re going ahead, your obstacle lists & maps will be posted at 5pm Saturday.
If this is cancelled we’ll contact everyone to find out preference for transfer/refund.
In the meantime we’ll proceed as if it’s going ahead, so here’s your info & times. I hope you’re all looking forward to Sunday! Please read all the information on this page carefully.
Directions – the address for the venue is Middleton Park EC, Middleton Grove, Leeds LS11 5TZ, and you can use this link to get directions from your starting point. If you put ‘Middleton Park Equestrian Centre’ in Google maps app it will put you at the signpost-less roundabout at the bottom of the hill, just go up the hill to keep the sports centre on your left and hedge on your right, the EC is at the top of the hill on the right.
Parking – it is tight at this venue, so please park as close as you can reasonably & safely manage. Please bring a poop scoop/gloves and clear up after your horse. Horses must not be left unattended tied outside horseboxes.
Dogs are not allowed on site, and there is strictly no smoking or vaping on site at all. If you need a nicotine fix please go beyond the main gates on to Middleton Grove.
Times– please be prepared to go slightly ahead of your time in case there are any withdrawals on the day. You’ll be asked to leave the warm up arena 2 minutes ahead of your class time to allow you to get to the main arena entrance ready for your class. If we start to run late & the previous competitor is still waiting to go in, please pop back to let the warm up steward know that there’s a delay. To help us run to time, please start your control of paces as soon as you can – there’s no time for everyone to stroll round the arena first!
WHTG membership – Being a member means you’re also eligible for the WHTG winter leagues. If you enjoy it and join us within a week of this competition, your results here will count towards the league.
TREC GB membership year started on 1/10, if you want to be eligible for the national winter leagues please ensure you have joined or renewed as a red or blue member by the competition date & provide us with your current member number.
Rosettes and prizes – Ruth will work hard to get results out quickly, please be patient. Prizes, rosettes and scoresheets will be available for you to collect from the office area just inside the main RDA centre doors.
We want to reduce our environmental impact so you can decline your rosette & tell Ruth, she’ll mark her sheet and we’ll give a charity donation of £1 instead.
Helpers – we have got some wonderful judges giving up their Sunday to help, if you smile and say thanks it won’t help your marks but it will lift their spirits!
Food – we don’t have a caterer, so bring sandwiches if you’re here a while, but we will have tea/coffee/hot chocolate as well as Ruth’s home made goodies on sale in the results room from 10am (first door on the right inside the main entrance) in aid of Prince Fluffy Kareem, and there are some vending machines on site so please bring some cash with you & remember your travel mug.
Toilets & viewing gallery are inside the main entrance also, just follow the corridor round to the right for both. If you don’t have time to walk the course then viewing the course from above in the gallery is a good way to work out where you’re going to go.
Spectators – please don’t enter the arena unless you’re helping out a competitor in class 1/2/3. Please keep all children under close supervision and for safety please do not take pushchairs/prams to the warm up, horse walk or near the main arena gate.
Important notes
- We are not using number bibs so please confirm your name on entry if Evie hasn’t met you before. Evie will have pre-printed score sheets arranged in starting order so please don’t swap unless it’s unavoidable!
- No more than 4 horses in the warm up arena at once please. Pass left to left and if you are walking please come off the track.
- Please use green (novice/young) or red (kicker) tail ribbons as appropriate for your horse, and give plenty of space to any horse wearing a ribbon.
- Course maps and obstacle lists including scoring guidance for non standard obstacles will be displayed in the warm up arena but will also be posted on this site on Saturday night at 5pm so you have time to learn your courses. Obstacles are ridden unless specified as led (other than for the in hand class).
- For biosecurity reasons please do not go near the resident RDA horses, and make sure any family/friends you bring stay away from them too.
Things to bear in mind for the classes:
- The TREC GB rulebook is available here
- Golden rules for the obstacles are: look for the number cones to do them in the right order, keep red flag on your right and white on your left, try to avoid refusals, don’t change pace, don’t stop in the middle, don’t touch any part of the obstacle. If it’s a compulsory walk obstacle then make sure you correct any jogging. Choose your pace before the start flags and stick to it until your horse’s back feet are out of the finish flags.
- Competitors in the unaffiliated classes in hand & starter may ask for assistance from the judges if required eg which obstacle is next.
- If your horse wears a martingale you must lead using headcollar & rope, not the reins.
- The only assistance allowed in affiliated classes is help getting back on your horse (a mounting block will be provided).
- Everything is optional but if you want to miss an obstacle out you must ride up to it, halt and tell the judge that you won’t be attempting it.
- Circling or crossing your tracks at any point on the course counts as an effectiveness fault at the next obstacle.
- Doing an obstacle from the wrong direction or in the wrong order will be an error of course so elimination (though we will let you finish your round) – look for the flags and numbers & if you get lost come back to walk/halt and look around for the next number.
- The start of the timed PTV (obstacles) section is the end of the paces corridor so you need to go straight to obstacle 1, and classes 1/2 will have 5 minutes. Affiliated classes have 4.5 minutes. Take your own line novice is 4 mins, TYOL open is 3 mins.
- If you are struggling to complete an obstacle, move on to the next otherwise you risk running out of time.
- If you run out of time before completing all the obstacles, the judges will shout ‘time’ and you should then leave the arena. If you have started an obstacle when the time is up you will be allowed to finish it.
If you need to withdraw on the day please text/ring Ruth on 07929 322163 or Evie on 07939 471564.
