Olympians in action and great family fun

From 29 April – 1 May, Sydney will host one of the nation’s most prestigious equestrian events offering everything from Olympic qualifications in eventing, World Cup jumping and fun for all the family.

The Sydney International Horse Trials (SydHT) have been held since 1957 and in 2016 will again take place at Sydney International Equestrian Centre - venue of the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

The event will see athletes vying to earn Olympic nominations for Rio. A number of Olympic hopefuls including Shane Rose, Christine Bates, Sonja Johnson and Stuart Tinney will be looking to impress selectors in the eventing competition. Rose, an Olympic silver medallist from Beijing 2008 will be riding two horses (CP Qualified and Virgil) that are both frontrunners for Rio. Olympic gold medallist Tinney will compete with four horses in the 3 star classes with all eyes on his World Equestrian Games mount Pluto Mio.

All up there will be around 15 high performance combinations competing at the event, and it will be one of the last times to see these talented athletes and horses in action on home soil before the Rio Games. Since the event’s inception, 17 riders that have won the event have gone on to compete at the Olympics, so a win at the SydHT will be in everyone’s sights.

The SydHT also hosts the Greater Sydney World Cup Show which draws jumping horses and riders from all over Australia. Sunday 1 May is the big day for Jumping, with the World Cup qualifier competition for elite athletes. A number of World Cup qualifiers are hosted across Australia throughout the year and a leader board is kept to ultimately have a winner who may go on to the World Cup Final overseas. This is a hotly contested series with riders travelling from State to State to try and gain points to take out the Australian Series. This competition will provide top class jumping, horses negotiating big fences, tough distances and the added element of the closed arena. As well as the main event there will be a number of other classes as the curtain raisers to this special class. 

There will be over 500 horses competing throughout the weekend, however it is not just about the outstanding equestrian competition though, with plenty of fun and entertainment for all the family. There is a Kids Zone with free face painting, jumping castle and petting zoo to keep the budding young equestrian fans busy. For the big kids there is also a shopping village with trade stands offering everything from saddles to horse rugs to fashionable clothing. There is also a highly sought after raffle, with up to $10,000 worth of prizes on offer.

There are also unique behind the scenes tours with leading event rider and coach Peter Gillis and Olympic Groom Daniel Power. On Saturday 30 April, the tour will include walking the cross country course with world renowned UK course designer Mike Etherington-Smith and former Australia's Eventing Coach, Wayne Roycroft. On Sunday 1 May, Roycroft will join John Vallance for a walk of the Show Jumping course.