Words & Photos by Julian Portch

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The first weekend of eventing since the start of the Pandemic.

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Arriving at Barbury felt very different this year with the Covid instructions being reinforced at the entrance. Almost everyone parked where they were asked to. There was no festival mood, which normally washes over you at Barbury, but there definitely was an air of nervous anticipation that we all wanted a successful and safe weekend of eventing. Blue rubber gloves where in use by all collecting ring and arena parties, so that boards, poles and gates were not being touched.

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At NagMag we focus on the cross country, which did not disappoint. The riders were constantly coming past us, with few incidents.  The Cross Country was paused a couple of times over the weekend , as the event was starting to get ahead of the riders’ times.  Tom McEwen on FLEETWATER CAPRICCIO won the Intermediate Section and Therese Viklund on VISCERA won the Open Intermediate Section. A victory by Holly Simms on KALYPSO DU BUISSON Z means that she is the first ever winner of a BE100 section at Barbury Horse Trials. We hope that the BE100 section will continue in the future at Barbury.

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The weather was superb, sunny with a light breeze. There was live coverage by Horse and Country too, as the Horse Trials were run behind closed doors.

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Our thanks must go to Alec Lochore and the whole team at Musketeer Event Management for running a safe and exciting competition.