| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2008 sees the ride return to Barbury Castle after the unfortunate but necessary cancellation of the 2007 event due to the Foot and Mouth situation at the time after a very sucessfull and popular inaugural event in 2006.
Below is a brief history of how the ride grew and developed over the years, leading it to the inaugural Barbury Castle Challenge in 2006.
THE ROUTE TO BARBURY 2006
The year 2000, the start of the new millennium, and the established Ridgeway ride over the Lambourn Downs was in need of a new organiser. Although fairly new to Endurance at the time, Jill Kent was suggested as a potential new organiser as she had for many years run a small pleasure ride for Wiltshire Bridleways Association in the area – thankfully Jill accepted the offer. So with a well established venue and route, together with a new organiser for 2000, the Ridgeway Ride was back on track. That was until 4 weeks before ride date, when the venue owners unexpectedly withdrew the venue!! With nearly 100 entries already booked for the ride, it looked like the Ridgeway Ride was going to have to be cancelled, unless Jill could find a new venue and work out a new route in 4 weeks....which, with a lot of hard work, she did!! So an all new Ridgeway Ride over the stunning Marlborough Downs was born.  2000 - Humble Beginnings |
Having saved the 2000 event by finding an old farm track we could use to park people on (thanks to Mr and Mrs McMurray) the dilemma was now do we let them all in or will we have to ballot some out. The decision was made to let everyone come, on the understanding that parking would be tight – which it certainly was! The ride was a great success, however for the Ridgeway Ride to continue it was obvious that a larger venue would be needed for 2001! Thankfully a new venue was found nearby for 2001 – a disused old Army Parade Ground, used by kind permission of Mr Henry Cowley. With entries pouring in for the 2001 event, and organisation well under way, no-one could have predicted the dreadful Foot and Mouth outbreak which forced the cancellation of all rides. However a small ride was put on towards the end of the year, and everyone was very happy for the opportunity to be out competing again.  2001/2 - Old Army Parade Ground |
The Army Parade Ground was kept as the venue for 2002 but its size meant we had to limit the number of entries we could take due to parking restrictions, so unfortunately we had to turn people away. An 80km ride was introduced for the first time this year attracting a small but reasonable entry, with Mary Korn and Myzak being the only completion in this class with a Grade 3 award - 2002 being the first year a full range of classes were run under Endurance GB rules. Some redesigning of the areas around the Army Parade Ground, and a very hard working team of parking officials, expertly led by Jill’s husband Don, ensured we could take a larger number of entries for 2003.  2003 - Venue Clearing |
By now the popularity of the Ridgeway Ride was such that once again all the available places on the ride filled up very quickly. Due to venue limitations in size, we initially had put a limit of 150 entries, but in the end took 170. Unfortunatley we still had to turn many people away. With demand for places on the ride increasing year on year, it was increasingly apparent that, in order for thre ride to grow, another new, and much larger, venue would be needed for 2004. So moving to its 3rd venue in 5 years, and with the kind permission of Mr & Mrs J Milton, the Ridgeway Ride moved on to Sheppards Farm, Draycot Foliat. This was what could only be described as a venue with a view!  2004/5 - Sheppards Farm. |
With a large field for parking and a separate area for vetting, and all within view of the Marlborough Downs themselves, we hoped we could accommodate everyone, but once again it was not to be as the places on the ride filled up in record time, in fact we recived nearly 70 entries in the post on the day that entries opened, and had filled all available places within 14 days, meaning once again we had to dissapoint may people. Despite Jill’s efforts, no new (and bigger) venue could be found, so Sheppards Farm was once again gratefully used as the venue for 2005, and yet again, despite everyone’s best efforts to find ways of accommodating more entries, we were oversubscribed.  2005 - Route Marking |
2005 also saw much needed and appreciated sponsorship for the ride for the first time from Mirotec - World leaders in heat reflective treatment technology. TecRug and TreatmentRug – specially designed using ‘space blanket’ technology for horses of all types and breeds!. This year, the 40km class was run using the French Formula to calculate results, which saw Herbie Owen and Flittermousze emerge with top honours and a new Mirotec rug. So how were we going to try and keep up with demand in 2006? Jill had approached the Barbury Castle Estate on several occasions over the years as a possible venue, but with no success. However with a new owner of the Estate, and the introduction of the successful Barbury Castle Horse Trials perhaps things would be different. In October 2005 a meeting took place whereby proposals for running a 2 day ride from the Barbury Castle Estate were put forward.....a nail biting few days later Jill received the phone call to say we could go ahead!!  2006 - Barbury Castle |
So there you have it, a brief history of the Ridgeway Ride from 2000 - 2006 For further information on 'Horses and The Barbury Castle Estate' please click here |
