The Adelaide Equestrian Festival is an annual three-day event held in the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. It was known as the Australian International Three Day Event up until 2022. It comprises

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

cross-country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

and

show-jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ...

and is usually staged in late April. The event is unique in being held in a city-centre, taking place in the

Adelaide Park Lands The Adelaide Park Lands are the figure-eight of land spanning both banks of the River Torrens between Hackney and Thebarton and separating the City of Adelaide area (which includes both Adelaide city centre and North Adelaide) from the surro ...

History

The Adelaide International Horse Trials was created in 1997 to replace the Gawler Horse Trials that had been staged in

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

, north of Adelaide, since 1954. In its period as the Gawler Trials, it was a successful competition and was selected to host the

Eventing World Championship The World Eventing Championships, or the eventing competition in the ''World Equestrian Games'' (WEG), began in 1966. It includes both a team and individual competition for the best horses and riders in the sport of eventing. The World Championship ...

in 1986. On this occasion the Australian Post Office issued a special set of commemorative postmarked covers featuring a set of four stamps called Horses of Australia. In 2007 the event was renamed the Australian International Three Day Event and was held at the end of November each year. Since 2011 the Australian International is part of the

HSBC FEI Classics HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In ...

, an international eventing series of all CCI*****-events around the world.Australia’s First HSBC FEI Classics™ Competition
16 November 2011 In 2022 the event was renamed the Adelaide Equestrian Festival and held at the end of April each year.

Event

The event, managed by Adelaide Horse Trials Management Inc, is held throughout the East Parklands in separate stages over three days. The dressage phase is held on Friday on the arena in front of the heritage-listed Victoria Park Grandstand. The cross-country phase is held on Saturday across the parklands and attracts the most spectators. The course starts in the arena in front of the grandstand, crosses Wakefield Road to Ityamai-itpina / King Rodney Park (Park 15) and then crosses Bartels Road into Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka (Park 14) and then returns to the arena again. The cross-country course has been designed by Michael Etherington-Smith, who has designed courses for the Olympics in 2000 and 2008 and other CCI***** events, and more recently, by Australian Wayne Copping. The water jumps in Rymill Park are regarded as some of the most challenging in international competition. The final show-jumping phase is held on Sunday in the main arena in Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16). The event also incorporates the Australian stages of the biannual

Trans Tasman Championship Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (film ...

, which has been staged in Adelaide since 1985. A youth Trans Tasman is held in the alternate years.

Winners

References

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External links

Adelaide Equestrian Festival
Eventing Horse Trials, Adelaide International Equestrian sports competitions in Australia

History

Event

Winners

See also

References

External links