British Eventing has announced the winners of its 2014/15 course designer scholarships.
Range of experience
Three candidates were selected following a final selection day at Captain Mark Phillips’ farm in Gloucestershire, who was one of the judges.
Helen Westcompetes at two-star level and has just been longlisted for the British CIC2* squad. She has also helped design the course at Bicton for the last two seasons.
Four-star rider Beanie Sturgis from Wiltshirehas run her own event Dauntsey since 2007, although this year was the first time that she tackled designing an Intermediate track.
BE registered course builder Lloyd from Warwickshireis the least experienced of the three. His company runs unaffiliated events at Offchurch Bury, and he is hoping to get the venue included in the BE calendar.
High standard
“The standard of candidates was very high this year,” said Captain Phillips. “Helen stood out as having a good eye for the ground and how to use it. Beanie is undoubtedly worthy of some top level mentoring to help her progress as a designer.
“Lloyd is the least experienced but showed great potential, which is one of the criteria for these scholarships.
Now in its second year, the scheme is supported by the Bill Thomson Bursary which was set up to help new course designers learn their craft and to fund safety developments.