We are working hard behind the scenes in readiness for resumption of Equestrian activity at Bicton Arena. Any recommencement plans will be carefully thought out and fully in line with Estate policy. Clinton Devon Estates is a family business, responsible for the stewardship of some of the most beautiful surroundings in Devon. The Estate operates a balanced scorecard with a carefully aligned portfolio of businesses within it. During the COVID-19 crisis it is more important than ever that all aspects of the Estate share the same strategic priorities.
With this in mind we are developing a robust system of protocols in line with both Government guidelines and those of the National Governing Bodies of Equestrian Sport. On the re-commencement of Equestrian activity, the main focus will be on social distancing in order to protect the health and safety of the Bicton Arena Team, Estate staff and our valued customers. We are looking at operating a one-way system throughout the site which will be stewarded to prevent any areas of congestion. Our key objective is to enable all who visit the site to feel safe.
Following British Showjumping’s most recent update we have sadly cancelled the Pony Premier Showjumping Show which was due to take place on June 19th – 21st. It is our intention for a staged re-introduction of Equestrian activity to commence at Bicton Arena from July 1st 2020. However please be aware this will be reviewed regularly and could be subject to change in line with the Government advice given.
We would like to say a big thank you to all of you for your support, patience and understanding during this difficult time and we trust that you are looking forward to the resumption of Equestrian activity here as much as we are.
The Bicton Arena Team
01/06/2020
Since the last blog, I have been busy on our farm doing most of my ground jobs. I gave all the horses time off in April- May to enjoy some grass and glorious sunshine, as I knew we would not be competing in the foreseeable future. Having already pressured washed and disinfected some of the stables I finished the remaining ones. Next job was to paint the Solarium, which now looks ten times brighter! Another job was to replace some of the old rails in the paddocks, Dad was teaching me and supervising me – to make sure I was doing a good job! Waste not want not! Inspired by Caroline Moore’s videos I decided to make some skinny poles out of the old rails. I have been putting them into practise with Blue and TJ to educate them for what they may experience going cross county. I have also made some Cavaletti crosses and re-using used cattle lick buckets for trotting poles.
I have started riding TJ and Blue to get them ready for a busy winter (all being well)! Castle is still having a well-deserved break and seems to be enjoying more siestas than normal!
It is exciting news of the 2020 qualified Science Supplement Cup riders will be able to compete at the 2021 competition. I have not told Castle this news yet due to his siestas, but I am sure once he starts training, he will know Badminton is calling and perhaps some competitions at Bicton!
I have been rather cheeky and been helping myself to the snack draw, with the lockdown being slowly eased, I am happy to be getting back in the saddle while increasing my own fitness regime.
Hopefully, we will soon get back to a form of competition in all disciplines when it is safe to do so.
Let us all stay safe and heed the Government guidelines.
Following the announcement made by the Prime Minister on Sunday night and subsequent statements released by Sport England and the British Equestrian we are looking at ways to reopen some of our facilities. We fully appreciate that riders are keen to return to a more normal way of life, but the safety of The Estate Staff, Bicton Arena Team and our valued customers is of paramount importance. We will be working in close liaison with our H&S advisor to ensure we have appropriate risk assessments in place along with robust procedures for all to follow. We are working hard to enable facilities hire to resume on a one to one basis and will publish further information regarding this as appropriate.
Today I should’ve been at Badminton Horse Trials with the lovely On The Brash, who is fit and raring to go at home with New Zealand event rider, Caroline Powell in Suffolk. I’ve owned Rufus (as he’s known at home) since he was six months old. He lived with me until he was nearly four when he was then sent to Northern Ireland to be broken in by my step-father Eric Smiley before coming home to start his career with Helen West, Bicton Arena’s Manager, who rode him to Intermediate level. Rufus has been with Caroline for nearly three years now and she has taken him round Badminton once and Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials twice.
I adore Rufus, he is my horse of a lifetime. The storms we have weathered to get where we are now have definitely been worth it. I don’t get to see him much and I must admit I was really looking forward to seeing him this week. Having Rufus complete at Badminton in 2018 was a dream come true, he loves cross country and always has his ears pricked – I was in tears when I watched him come through the finish line and I will especially miss it this year. But, we look forward to 2021, getting back to Badminton and potentially the Tokyo 2020 Olympics too!
Whilst it is deeply disappointing not being able to welcome you through our iconic gates, our primary focus is to support the huge efforts being made by the government to keep us all safe. The current lockdown will continue to at least the 10th May and there is much speculation about when and how the restrictions may be lifted. The Government has started talking about a “Re-start strategy” and not “exiting lockdown”. We believe that this is because we are unlikely to exit lockdown all at once. The existing measures are likely to be lifted in phases, and new measures may be put in place. Whenever the re-start begins, it is set to be a marathon rather than a sprint.
We have been in regular communication with the governing bodies of the Sport and a great deal of work has gone into preparing a number of scenarios to ensure we have an appropriate plan in place for when we have a green light to re-start. This includes working through adjustments that can be made to run within the confines of social distancing and incorporating new advances in technology to enable this. The BEF’s most recent announcement gives an excellent overview of this work:
We will continue to keep you updated and very much look forward to welcoming you back to Bicton Arena.
Helen West, Bicton Arena Manager
During this lockdown, I have kept myself busy doing some of my “summer” jobs at home. Pressure washing/disinfecting the winter stables, deep cleaning tack, harrowing and rolling paddocks as well as tidying the yard.
In between these jobs I have been riding my horses to keep them ticking over, doing basic schoolwork and pole exercises. As the guidance has been not to do jump exercises, I have been free schooling the horses and this allows me to keep an eye on how they are moving. I find free schooling handy because it allows me to see how they are going – most of the time I am riding on my own and don’t have any mirrors on our ménage.
Last month I entered an online dressage competition with Castle who scored a 71.90% to win his section. It was very easy to register, no membership fee! Sadly, with new guidance this competition has also been suspended so my other two horses Blue and TJ didn’t get a chance to compete.
Castle also been keeping me on my toes, constantly reminding me of his humorous nature! We were asked to take part and provide a video clip for the Loo Roll Challenge, which ended up with Castle pulling the funniest face every time we tried it!
I have been watching videos of last season’s competitions to analyse my riding style and looking to see if there are any tweaks I can make. I have also been continuing with Pilates work (at home), to help keep my body balanced and supple for the horses.
With all of this in mind, the Governing bodies for each discipline have been doing a fantastic job in releasing statements for competitions and training and excellent advice. I know BE are still working out how to resolve the issues that the cancellations have caused – especially (in my case) the 2020 qualified Science Supplements Cup competitors – fingers crossed for us all they can work out solution for when the sport is allowed to start up again.
Horses with a purpose are used to hard training and routine like humans and they won’t completely just “let down.”
I think it’s important to still give them some attention and sense of routine. Some horses may just like being left alone, in which case is really easy to let them be and not worry about them. For horses that are more demanding / human dependent, or who will start pacing the fence line out in the paddock as soon as you turn your back are the ones we all struggle with the most.
My top tips would be to only turn out as much as they’re used to at the start and maybe progress to longer if you can, or maybe even try turning out with a friendly horse to keep company. Horses that like and need a job are best to still do some sort of controlled exercising even if it’s every other day.
Alternate what you do with them so that they’re not always out hacking or just going in the school. You could even use this time to polish up on your ground work (eg horsemanship, stable management). Something enough to keep their brains thinking.
You can try giving them treat balls or hanging toys to keep them entertained in their stables.
Feeding wise, they get as much forage as they need, I like to cut their hard feeds a little but not so much that they start to lose condition. We feed our horses Baileys and even with cutting down on their feeds I’ll always give them a low starch diet to keep them looking and feeling good and Performance Balancer which helps keep their top line too. Of course, with any changes you want to be aware of any Tying up or Laminitis!
Any routine is changeable, and all horses adapt differently but if they’re happy then we’re happy. 🙂
Coriander Cousins – Groom for 5* event rider Chris Burton
Beccy Barrett has branched out and gone into “showjump restoration.” As I am sure you can imagine, the showjumps take quite a hammering with the usage they get, so we have a rolling maintenance programme which includes sanding them down and re-painting them. With the enforced lockdown, this seemed a worthwhile job that could be undertaken whilst adhering to social distancing measures. Beccy has swapped the award-winning Rolle Estate Office at Bicton for the salubrious storage barn to commence with “project paint”.
Day 1 saw her rearrange the setup to enable greater productivity. She had Matt and Bart moving things around for her in the workshop to optimise her setup. This included making space for Pixie, who was set to be her trusty co-worker and see off anyone who dared approach the storage barn. Following day 2, when a glitch in the system resulted in two newly painted poles falling to the ground and getting covered in dust and grit, the production line was adapted and refined to prevent repeat disasters. Whoever knew she would prove to be such an expert in workplace efficiency.
Having now painted in the region of 100 poles, which all had to be sanded, under coated and then top coated, Beccy has perfected her brush technique. I haven’t quite got the heart to tell her that she is still on the schooling set, and that we have 3 competition sets for her to move on to. This may prove a false starter as paint has become increasingly difficult to source since the lockdown began. Our competition sets require bespoke paint as they are different shades of red, blue, green and yellow, so she may yet get a reprieve if we are unable to source the right paint. When we do eventually get up and running again, clients will be in for a treat when they hire the arena as the schooling set will be transformed. In the meantime, if anyone out there has any paint contacts, please do get in touch so that we can keep Beccy supplied with materials to crack on with the competition sets.