‘Our first foray into Horse & Hound’s new online event entry system, Equo, turned out to be quite an adventure! In the end, almost one third of our competitors tackled the internet and entered with Equo… and I’m sure this number will continue to grow!

Organising an outdoor event of any description in England at the beginning of November is always a challenge ­– and this was no exception. Heavy rain in the preceding days caused some re-routing of the larger tracks, but our wonderful sandy land meant that we could still go ahead.

Offering qualifiers for the popular Horseware Ireland hunter trial series (with the finals held at Eland Lodge every October) meant that we were fairly well assured of a reasonable entry. As it happened almost 220 sets of hooves pounded round the five courses ranging from 50cm to 1m. This presented its own challenge due to the lack of available daylight and the early morning fog! This called for the strategic relocation of some fence judges. However, after a couple of early hiccups, our small but brilliant team managed to keep us on schedule most of the day. A huge thanks to them all!

We always introduce a few new, refurbished or relocated obstacles for each track – most of which did their job, particularly the new skinny hanging log at 10 in the 80cm classes! Then in the 90cm class the new Bulmers cider glass (which replaced our old arrowhead) saw a few faults, although most riders cleared it on their second attempt.

To end the day the 1m opens cantered through the rising mist, with the most spectacular sunset as a backdrop. Fourteen-year-old Georgia Stanton triumphed here, earning her ticket to next year’s Eland Lodge final, together with a bottle of Prosecco that was presented to her mum, Helen, in recognition of her part in the victory!’

We look forward to hearing what White House Farm Equestrian have in store next!

To view and enter upcoming events at White House Farm Equestrian Centre please click here.

Would you like to see your show report featured here? If so then please upload your events to www.equoevents.com and send your report to your local Equo representative within 10 days.