The organiser of the Gunnedah Show Society Showjumping Festival has expressed his disappointment at the event losing its prime segue into the NSW Indoor Show Jumping Championships in Tamworth, saying it impacted badly on last weekend’s event.
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But Gunnedah Show Society president Rob Witts is hopeful the long-standing status quo will return next year and the Showjumping Festival will precede the Tamworth event by a week and thereby attract a slew of leading riders from Queensland, Victoria, southern NSW and Sydney.
Witts said competitors from those areas bypassed the Showjumping Festival this year because the Pony Club Association of NSW State Combined Championships, which starts on Saturday, took the NSW Indoor Show Jumping Championships’ dates, pushing the latter back two weeks.
While Witts still described this year’s showjumping Festival as a success, he said up to 30 horses were absent from the event because of the rescheduling.
And although he said the outcome was disappointing, the society had not lodged a formal complaint.
“We just have to grin and bare it,” he said. “That’s just the way it is.”
Witts said the State Combined Championships were booked at AELEC at the same time for the next five years, so it was imperative the Showjumping Festival was rescheduled to again be a week before the NSW Indoor Show Jumping Championships.
“As far as I know it’s just a matter of us applying for the date and if there isn’t anything running on our [desired] date, we should be able to have it,” he said, adding that the society will apply to the NSW Showjumping Council for the date change.
Witts said competitors at the Showjumping Festival told him that riders did not come to this year’s event because of the date change.
“That was the reason they didn’t attend and if we did align ourselves with Tamworth Winter again [the NSW Indoor Show Jumping Championships], they would come again,” he said.
He added: “We’re probably talking about 20-30 horses [that didn’t come this year].
“And when they have two rounds per horse and there could be up to 60 rounds a day, it [the fewer competitors] makes a big difference in the number of competitors you have. Some of those guys bring five horses each.
“And what also happens is they bring grooms and young riders with them.”
Despite the drop-off in competitors, Witts said the quality “was as good as it ever was”.
“Those who come here enjoy the show,” he said.
“They said they like the attitude of the people running it … the friendly nature of the town.”