By Eleanor Holdsworth

HUNDREDS of horse riders will be competing in a two-day event at Princethorpe College at the end of May.

The 2022 National Schools and Riding Clubs competition will be returning for its seventh year in Princethorpe on Saturday 28th May and Sunday 29th May 2022, 8am to 6pm.

It will see approximately 240 riders taking part in dressage, show jumping, roads and tracks, steeplechase and cross-country.

Admission is free for spectators.

Princethorpe College will be entering around a dozen riders in the competition.

Assistant Head Alex Darkes said: “It is a privilege for us to be hosting this event for the seventh time. It always has a wonderful atmosphere and welcomes riders from the length and breadth of the country which is what makes it so special.”

The event is run by Stoneleigh Riding Club. The club was founded in 1968, originally set up for British Horse Society employees who had been relocated from London to the Midlands.

Stoneleigh Riding Club has been running a two-day competition for 21 years. It was first held in the car park at the National Agricultural College, then at Offchurch Bury, before being moved to Princethorpe College.

Bud Jackson, chair of Stoneleigh Riding Club, said: “Because we missed it [the event] in 2020 and we were pretty much behind closed doors last year, this is the first time in three years that we have been open to the public and spectators, so we are really looking forward to being able to welcome everyone to this beautiful setting once again.”

The competitions are being sponsored by the Wigley Group and Newton LDP.

The route includes a water jump built by The Wigley Group in 2018, which will be a main feature of a revamped cross-country course.

To find out more about sponsorship and trade stand opportunities, or to enter the Two Day Event, visit www.stoneleighridingclub.com.