TREC 2006 European Championships
Friday, November 25, 2005
Fourteen nations eligible for TREC's European Championships on Exmoor
Great Britain, as host nation, can field a squad of 24 riders in next year's (subs - 2006) TREC European and Young Rider Championships.
The championships, due to be held on Exmoor in September, will be the discipline's first senior European event since 1997, although there have been European titles contested by Young Riders. Rob Jones, The British Horse Society's competitions officer and TREC national organiser, is currently assembling long lists of potential members for each team. "We have sent Young Riders to previous European contests and seniors to World Championships but obviously this time we have a lot more freedom to select the teams because there are relatively few travel problems involved," he said.
With one World Champion, one Young Rider Gold medallist, two team silver and one team Bronze medal successes for the British in previous years, and high expectations of team and individual medals in 2006, there will be keen competition for places.
"Interest in TREC has blossomed in the past two or three years and we have a very wide base of experienced and talented riders and horses to choose from," says Mr Jones. "It will, I think, involve putting together a generous list of horse and rider combinations and then whittling them down as the year progresses."
All 14 nations who are members of the international governing body, the Federation Internationale de Tourisme Equestre (FITE), are eligible for the championships, which will be divided into two classes, one for adults and one for Young Riders. Competitors are also expected from the United States and Canada, although, obviously, they will not figure in European placings.
With the exception of Great Britain, who will field a team of four and eight individuals in each championship, every nation can enter one team of four in each adult and Young Rider class, with a further two individuals. Each team member can also compete for individual honours. TREC, the youngest of the international equestrian disciplines, is closely allied with equestrian tourism. Championships organiser, Margaret Barron, is working closely with the Exmoor National Park Authority, the National Trust and West Somerset District Council so that the south west hosts, not only a competitive event, but a shop window of the region's attractions.
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