EVENTING CANTERBURY

SOUTH ISLAND THREE DAY EVENT

Friday, April 24 – Sunday, April 26

Canterbury Park (Canterbury A&P showgrounds), Wigram Road, Christchurch

The South Island’s leading eventers will converge on Christchurch next week for the annual South Island Three Day Event at Canterbury Park.

A vital qualifier for the National Three Day Eventing Championships in Taupo next month, the event has attracted strong fields, providing the public with a great opportunity to see some of the South Island’s top riders in action only 15 minutes from the city centre.

Despite only two entries in the Tavern Harewood FEI CCI** the competition will prove tough between last year’s CC1** winner Dunedin’s Christen Hayde andTandarra Sweet As, and Ashburton’s Larissa Srhoy and Starburst. Srhoy, who won the Advanced class at Amberley Horse Trials at the start of this month, was also a winner of the event back in 2007 aboard Just Be Nimble.

Perhaps the toughest contest will come in the DEVI Heating Systems FEI CC1* which has attracted 19 starters from throughout the South Island.

Leading Canterbury’s charge will be West Melton’s Emily Butcher. After missing the event last year to compete at the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials in Englandwith the hope of gaining qualification for the Olympics, Butcher has a three pronged attack hunting for major spoils including the ultra consistent Gibstar.

Since purchasing the 10-year-old in January Butcher has taken him from Training through to Open Intermediate, finishing second in the Open Novice at the South Island Championships at Wakiptu (Queenstown) after owning him for less than a week, first in the Open Novice at the National Equestrian Centre at McLean's Island (Christchurch), first in the Open Intermediate at Tui Creek, and most recently first in the Open Intermediate at Amberley. Her other rides are Transcend and My Shout.

Butcher will strike some fierce competition from her southern counterparts though including Hayde who has two horses entered in the class - Granville and TandarraSweet Talk – and Katharine Christie who rides Pete, winner of the main class at Eventing Southland’s inaugural event at Donovan Park (Invercargill) in January.

The Back On Track Pre Novice is also well supported more than 30 entries, as are the Lysaght Horsecoaches of Canterbury Training and Training 4, 5 and 6 year olds, and the Pacific Vet Pre Training.

The event is again been held at the well-appointed Canterbury Park on Wigram Road, home of the Canterbury A&P Show, but this year the organisers are praying for good weather. Last year the event was nearly abandoned after constant rain left the cross country awash.

Competition will get underway on Thursday (April 23) with the Saddlery Barn South Island Young Event Horse Championship, followed by the start of the dressage phase on Friday (April 24).

The thrilling cross country phase will is scheduled to start at 10am on Saturday. Designed by Auckland’s Tich Massey, the designer of the international course atPuhinui (Manukau) this year’s New Zealand Pony Club Championships venue, the CCI courses are bound to be testing for horse and rider, providing a great spectacle for the public. Canterbury’s Nick Pyke is designing the Pre Novice and Training, while his son, Matt, is in charge of the Pre Training.

The competition will come to an end on Sunday with the all important show jumping phase, followed by presentations. Entry is free on all days.

Time table

Thursday, April 23       Saddlery Barn South Island Young Event Horse Championship

                                    Start time 12.30pm

Friday, April 24            Dressage All Classes

                                    Start time Midday

Saturday, April 25       Cross Country All Classes

                                    Start time 10am reverse order of classes

Pre Training (Class 6) - Open Intermediate (Class 1)

Sunday, April 26          Showjumping All Classes followed by presentations

Start Time 9am - Pre Training (Class 6), Training (Classes 4 & 5) and Pre Novice (Class 3)

Start Time 1pm – CCI* (Class 2) followed by CCI2* (Class 1)

Presentations 2.30pm