Barbury Castle Estate to be sold …..

Sarah Carless

The future of Barbury Castle International Horse Trials is uncertain following the announcement that Barbury Castle Estate is to be sold.

British Eventing has said the popular event will remain on its 2017 calendar for the time being but contingency plans were being sought should the event be cancelled.

British Eventing was recently been informed by Nigel Bunter at Barbury Castle Estate that after 11 years of staging an event there, he and his wife Penny had made the decision to sell the property.

Nigel explained: “We want to move whilst we are young enough to embrace such a big change to our lifestyle. We will miss Barbury of course but the time is now right for us. We have loved being part of the horse trials which was conceived over a quiet drink with David Green and we owe a huge debt of gratitude for all the support that Barbury has received particularly from the riders and owners who made Barbury so special.

“There are a million more thank you’s and we will try get round to thanking the very many people who helped to make the event success especially the amazing team that turned out every year and who made Barbury such a friendly and welcoming venue. ”

Chris Farr, British Eventing’s Sport Operations Manager, commented; “Barbury Castle International has been a phenomenal success since it first came into the BE calendar in 2005, raising the bar for our sport in so many ways. This popular venue has been a key part of the plans for many riders and teams during its time but until the future is certain Barbury Castle International will remain in the calendar for 2017. In the meantime, the Fixtures Team of British Eventing are looking into contingency plans for the future should they be required.

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Nigel and Penny Bunter, and the whole team at Barbury, for all they have done for the sport in the past 11 years.”