Everything Horse magazine Everything Horse UK Magazine, March 2015 | Page 13

EQUESTRIAN NEWS
Sunshine Tour UK
championships come
to Hickstead

Sunshine Tour (c) Local
Rider - Dulcibelle Lineker
with Dukeshill Diamonte

Many of the world’s most famous
equestrians have competed at Hickstead,
and now hundreds of unaffiliated riders
will have the chance to follow in their
footsteps.
For the first time, the finals of The Sunshine
Tour series will be held here at the All
England Jumping Course in West Sussex (18
September 2015).
It’s an exciting new departure for
Hickstead, which is able to host these
popular unaffiliated championships after
the recent addition of new facilities,
including a spectacular all-weather arena
and new hard-standing for parking.
“Thanks to the support of a Hoof Capital
Funding award and investment from the
family, we have been able to extend our
season and ensure that many more people
benefit from access to the wonderful
facilities at the All England Jumping
Course,” said Hickstead Director Edward
Bunn.
“We are delighted to be hosting The
Sunshine Tour UK championships, which
will offer hundreds of unaffiliated riders the
opportunity to compete here.”
The Sunshine Tour is a national series that
encourages grassroots and unaffiliated
riders to participate in competitions in the
disciplines of dressage, showjumping and
showing.
The 2015 Tour will be held at various
venues throughout the UK between
January and September. Riders who finish
in the top six places at their event will
qualify for the Championships at Hickstead.

Added Sparkle and
Shine at The Great
Charity Challenge
in Florida, from
Equidivine
British equine glitter tattoo company
Equidivine, were pleased to accept an
invitation from Horse & Style magazine
to attend this year’s Great Charity
Challenge at the winter equestrian
festival, Palm Beach Equestran Centre,
Florida.
Suitcases packed with every colour of
glitter imaginable and bespoke quarter
marker stencils, Michelle Inch made the
journey to Florida to support the charity
event. This annual show jumping event
which is one of the highlights of the
winter equestrian festival, sets teams
of over 100 professional riders against
each other, not only in their ability
to win the class but also to dress to
impress according to the set theme. As
superheroes took the saddle, Michelle
and the team from Equidivine set to
work on the Kerkorian/Couch team that
was set to compete on behalf of the Take
Stock In Children charity.
In a night when the creative costumes

became competitive business Equidivine
decorated “Team Powerpuff “ with stars,
stripes and sparkle including the logo of
the chosen charity. As the evening class
started, the lights certainly caught the
sparkle of the glitter ensuring the Power
Puff Girls, Nicole Shahinian Simpson, Kira
Kerkorian, Tara Couchstood stood out
and were named as one of the top three
best costumes of the class.
The fund raising teams consisted of
3 riders who all worked together in a
timed relay. Against the powerpuff girls,
the incredibles, marvel heroes and even
batman were seen jumping at The Palm
Beach equestrian centre. This year’s
charity total was an impressive 1.5
million raised to support over 34 Palm
Beach County charities.
“This really was a fabulous event
to support, it was great fun helping
decorate the teams and making new
friends in the USA, but more importantly
a huge amount of money was raised
for worthy causes, of course at the end
of the night all the glitter stencils were
easily removed using warm water, so
all the horses went back to business
as usual in the ring the next day” said
Michelle of Equidivine.
For further information on the range of
Equidivine products please visit
www.equidivine.com

Rebecca Stansfield, Director of Sunshine
Tour UK, is now working to expand the
series even further.
“The Sunshine Tour offers a fabulous
opportunity for unaffiliated riders to
experience the fun and excitement of
competition. We want to welcome as
many people as possible, so we’re keen to
team up with more venues right across the
country,” Rebecca says.
Qualifying events are already underway,
and riders who wish to enter should visit
the Sunshine Tour U ,