Firle Place, Nr Lewes, Sussex, BN8 6LP

Words and photos by Julian Portch

 

BEDE Events must be congratulated on laying on a demanding Area Festival at Firle Place, whose main sponsor was Science Supplements. The damp weather conditions made the cross country course even trickier than it had been designed. Numerous riders failed to complete and the old water complex caught out many combinations. One rider asked me how the course was riding and I suggested to her just to take it steady. I knew she had a quick pony, so she had a job on her hands. She would have gone clear, except for her pony rushing the second element of the Science Supplements Complex, but she managed to stay on and complete. Not a bad effort, Elsa Priest, for your first Area Festival and only your second BE event, as you won your first ever event at Chilham Castle, just a couple of weeks earlier, aged 12 and a bit!

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Sunday was supposed to be very wet, but as it turned out, was quiet a dry day. The XC course still presented trouble to several riders. However the overall assessment of the course was that it was just what was needed for an Area Festival. Several happy riders will now have the wonderful experience of riding in the Grassroot finals at Badminton 2022, also sponsored by Science Supplements. See you there.