Eventing’s stars of the future will be out in force at Bicton Arena’s affiliated horse trials this weekend with Emily King, recently named as a squad member for the Junior Europeans in France next month, among the entries.
Emily, from Sidmouth in East Devon, recently finished third in the advanced section at the Festival of British Eventing on Brookleigh, a horse she has entered in the open intermediate class at Bicton.
Janou Bleekman, who competed at the Pony European Championships in 2011 and 2012, is another Devon-based rider with a huge future who is competing at the event.
While Emily is firmly following in the footsteps of her world famous mother Mary, who also has three horses entered, Janou is the daughter of Clarissa who represented Great Britain on many occasions, including as a member of the Gold Medal winning team at Gawler in 1996.
Other entries include William Fox-Pitt and Lucy Wiegersma, both members of the British senior team that competes at Malmo next month and Australian Olympic rider Sam Griffiths.
Bicton Arena’s manager Helen West said: “We have nearly 400 riders competing over the two days and we’re thrilled with the level of support. It’s a great opportunity for people to come along and watch all the action.”
