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| 2011 Equestrian Show |
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| Agri-Epxo Equestrian Show Results |
October 2011 |
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Everyone in the horse world is buzzing with excitement at the developments and construction taking place at Sandringham in preparation for the Annual Equestrian Show from 1 to 9 October 2011. |
If you didn’t get to the Cheese Festival at Sandringham this year; the next time you visit, you’ll be astounded to see a car park for 2500 cars, a double bricked driveway entrance… and GRASS ! (no more dust). This new infrastructure has significantly upgraded the public accessibility of the venue and turned it into the premier agricultural events venue in the Western Cape. |
In December last year we had the pleasure of having Giuseppe Della Chiesa (Chairman of FEI Eventing) visit us to lay out the bones of our new cross country tracks (80cm – 3*). Giuseppe then suggested that we get David Evans (who built the Olympics course in 2008 and designed Nelsons Creek) to come over to assist us again in really bedding down the tracks and designing the meat of the course. David immediately agreed and came out in March for 5 days. |
In late March David Evans, Ann Dalton (Agri-Expo), Rob Ramsden, Mike Greeff, Andy Balula, Linda Philo(GHS) & Louise Zijp(GHS) spent 3 very hot days walking, rewalking, measuring, rewalking, gps’ing, rewalking, measuring… rinse and repeat.
It was decided that for this year we would be running 3 tracks; 80cm, 100cm and 1* and then building additional tracks in years to come. |
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The new tracks feature:
• Near max distance tracks
• Double water complex (yes… DOUBLE !)
• New quarry complex
• Banks, ditches, drops
• Long gallops
• Hills
• Forest sections
• and most important for sponsors… 90% track
visibility from the spectator vantage point |
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The big digger worked on removing the old bank, digging the new double water complex and finished the quarry last week with the help of even bigger equipment (see photo).
As you can see Agri-Expo don’t do things by halves, as that’s probably the biggest digger ever seen on an eventing track in South Africa. |
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If you look at the following photos you will see why you need to upgrade from EV90 to EV100… you won’t want to miss out on this competition.
The new double water jump has been initially dug to get the shape right, and will be dropped another foot in depth to make sure that it’s deep enough once the base has been added. You can just see the 2nd water jump behind and to the right of Ann and Andy. |
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1. Not only are the jumps being prepared, but there is significant work happening on the actual
tracks. This section has been ploughed, flattened and is now being compacted to ensure good
footing right around the entire track.
2. The even bigger 2nd digger was called in to dig out the new quarry complex. (Think dyke, just
bigger... much much bigger).
3. Is that big enough? This is the quarry complex after digging was complete. Nothing small about
what is being done at Sandringham!! |
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4. You can clearly see that work started on the track 20 years ago, as this special tree trunk and
floating branch have been bonzai’ed into forming a unique skinny that you’ll find no-where else in
the world.
5. The first river crossing has been constructed. Here Andy and Ann are both inspecting the drainage
given the amount of rain that has been falling. |
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6. A whole new forest path has been cleared up the back hill.
7. The second river crossing has been rebuilt. This then still needs to be water proofed and covered
with soil.
8. And finally finishing off with the new drop fence off the main arena. |
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After seeing the photos of the progress we hope that you are as excited as the Agri-Expo team are. We’ll continue to keep you up to date as it develops further. Get your horses (and ponies) ready, as you’ll definitely not want to miss out on this event.
The full schedule for the show will be available mid August.
Contact Ann 082 550 4700 or Lara 083 468 9767 |
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Shows & Expos
