The Pony Club Announces New Championship Venue & Sponsor for 2012

23/09/2011 - General, National Championships

The Pony Club Championships, incorporating the disciplines of Dressage, Show Jumping, Eventing, Polocrosse and Mounted Games, will be held on August 16-19th 2012 at Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire by kind permission of The Marquess of Cholmondeley.

The organisation of the event, which enjoys around 1800 Pony Club Members competing over four days, will be a joint collaboration between The Pony Club and Musketeer Event Management (MEM), headed by Alec Lochore, Eventing Manager for the London 2012 Olympics.

Alec Lochore comments, “The Musketeer Team are delighted to be collaborating with The Pony Club to deliver, what we hope will be, a very memorable Championships at this spectacular venue.  We look forward to continuing to develop the event and the site for years to come and hope that this hugely important festival of youth and equestrian endeavor will feature strongly going forwards.

Cholmondeley, which also plays host to a British Eventing competition, features a spectacular back drop for the event with its Castle, as well as land suitable for disciplines requiring level space, such as the Dressage and Polocrosse, in addition to numerous natural features which lend themselves to the Cross Country element of the Eventing Championships.

Lord Cholmondeley comments, “I am delighted that The Pony Club, one of the largest youth organisations in the world, has chosen Cholmondeley Castle to host their prestigious Championships.  We look forward to welcoming Area winners from all corners of the United Kingdom to Cheshire to four days of top quality competition”. “The grounds of Cholmondeley Castle lend themselves ideally to this exciting multi sport event and we look forwards to working with The Pony Club and continuing our successful relationship with the Musketeer Event Management Team as we develop what I hope is a long term relationship”.

As well as a new venue, Chief Executive Judy Edwards is delighted to announce that The Pony Club Championships will also be enjoying an exciting new title sponsor for Eventing in 2012, with Strutt and Parker Property Consultants and Estate Agents, taking up the reins. The Pony Club Eventing Championships at Open level are considered one of The Pony Clubs most prestigious accolades, and have seen many of today’s equestrian stars such as Mary King, William Fox-Pitt, Laura Collett, Pippa Funnell and Zara Phillips taking part at the start of their Eventing careers. Also a former winner of the Eventing Championships, Madeleine Lloyd-Webber is now The Pony Club’s President.

Further information about The Pony Club Championships can be found HERE