SOMERFORD PARK INTERNATIONAL 2023 – CANCELLED

 19.5.23

Somerford Park International Horse Trials 2023

It is with great consideration and regret that we are cancelling Somerford International Horse Trials 2023.

We have come to this decision for the following reasons, firstly and most concerning is the Insurance situation, Somerford is not prepared to run without abandonment insurance including the adverse weather policy.

Having built up a trust with our client base over several years we are not prepared to jeopardise this and leave our clients out of pocket in a challenging economic climate.

We self-insured last year and due to the high volume of cancellations this year the cost for us to insure has escalated by over 100% and is proposed to increase by a further 26% next year.

Events are now expected to absorb more costs passed on from the governing bodies as well as the escalation in costs to stage an event.

We have always worked at generating sponsorship and have long standing mutually beneficial partnerships which were created to take the event forward, however this sponsorship money has now become the lifeline for the event to run.

Somerford has always produced the event as a showcase to reflect our business and has not had the expectation of running with financial surplus.  We are now looking at the risk of a large financial loss at a level we are not prepared to absorb.

We would like to thank all of those who have supported Somerford Horse Trials, whether that be as a sponsor, rider, volunteer, trade stand or spectator over the years.

We hope this is not the end to eventing at Somerford and that some changes within the governing body can be made to protect and improve the sport we all love.

Somerford Park Farm