Pet Plan Equine Supports festivals for 10th Year

Petplan Equine, one of the UK’s leading equine insurance providers this year celebrates its 10^th anniversary as title sponsor of the British Dressage Area Festivals.

The Petplan Equine Area Festivals or “The Petplans” as they have become known is a series of 15 dressage competitions that runs from August to September with the Finals held at Hartpury College alongside the British Dressage Winter Championships in April 2010. Held at top dressage venues throughout the UK, Area Festivals, which attract around 3000 participants, give riders the chance to compete in beautifully prepared arenas and experience true championship conditions.

This year Petplan will be looking out for competitors and horses that have been competing over the past ten years with interesting stories to tell and will be introducing special initiatives. Tell Petplan your story for example: How you train for the festivals alongside your job; How important are the festivals to you and why? Have you beaten the odds to attend the Festivals? by emailing pressoffice@petplan.co.uk. If your story is used on the new Petplan Equine website www.petplanequine.co.uk Petplan will send you a £50 Love2Shop voucher!

Whether this is your first or tenth year, don’t miss out! If you are an amateur dressage rider and have ambitions to compete at a major dressage event then your chance may be closer than you realise.

In addition to existing British Dressage members, the competition is open to non-members who may qualify for the Area Festivals on ‘Class Tickets’. Any horse and rider combination that has achieved a minimum of two scores of 62% or above for Preliminary to Elementary level or 60% or above for Medium to Prix St Georges at any affiliated competition since 1st January 2009 can take part in one of the 15 Petplan Equine Area Festivals that run from August to October.

To enter riders must submit two score sheets from the same calendar year as the Area Festival they want to compete in, along with their entry form for the competition. Non-members of British Dressage may qualify for the Area Festivals on ‘Class Tickets’ but once the scores have been obtained the rider must become a full member of British Dressage in order to take part in the Area Festival. Horses must be registered before entering the Area Festival from Novice upwards however they need not be registered to enter an Area Festival at Preliminary level.

Last year an initial entry of over 2600 combinations entered the Area Festivals, from which more than 280 combinations qualified to compete in the ninth annual Petplan Equine Area Festival Championships that took place in April at Hartpury Arena in Gloucestershire alongside the British Dressage Winter Championships.

Riders from all over the UK competed over five days for the ten new Petplan Equine Area Festival Championship titles ranging from Petplan Equine Area Festival Preliminary Champion to the Petplan Equine Area Festival Prix St George Champion.

Alison Andrew, Marketing Manager for Petplan said: “Petplan Equine is delighted to be able to support British Dressage and provide grassroots riders with the chance to experience the thrill of riding in a championship arena. This is the tenth year of the Petplan Equine Area Festivals and the standard of riding continues to improve year after year. We are looking forward to seeing some of the UK’s brightest amateur talents competing in this year’s competitions and in many cases achieving the dream of a lifetime.”

‘Class Tickets’ are available from British Dressage at a cost of £6 and enable riders to take part in an affiliated class without becoming full members. To enter an Area Festival or to purchase ‘Class Tickets’ contact British Dressage on 024 766 98830 or visit www.britishdressage.co.uk.

The dates of the 2009 Area Festivals are as follows:

15 PETPLAN EQUINE AREA FESTIVALS (Late Aug – Oct)

Further information on how to enter for the Area Festivals is available from the Petplan Equine website at www.petplanequine.co.uk/events/dressage or visit The Tack Room at www.yourstables.co.uk.