THE cream of showjumping talent from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe can be seen in action at The Shongweni Festival at the Durban Shongweni Club showgrounds from 8 to 12 August.
Top South African riders such as Jonathan Clarke, Mandy Johnstone, Barry Taylor and Ronnie Lawrence will compete for honours in this year’s World Cup Qualifier on the Sunday.
ALSO READ: Rolling with the punches
Last year’s world cup winner, Lisa Williams, and her horse, Vitality Campbell, are in Europe competing on the international circuit.
St Mary’s Grade 11 pupil, Hannah Garton of Hillcrest, who recently qualified to compete in the Youth Olympics taking place in Buenos Aires in October this year, will also be competing in The Shongweni Festival.
Family activities include clothing, food and beverage stalls, a licensed restaurant, kiddies play area and the opportunities to test drive the Land Rover and Jaguar model lineup.
Highlights of the festival include: 1.50m Land Rover Durban FEI World Cup Qualifier (Sunday, 12), The Hausberger Financial Services 1.50m Cup (Thursday, 9), the 1.40m FNB KZN Outdoor Grand Prix (Saturday, 11), the Ride, Kick and Drive competition (Thursday, 9) and UNITY South Africa Dance entertainment ( Friday, 10).
The festival has a strong focus on providing opportunities to deserving development riders, as well as making telling contributions local charities.
The charities that will benefit from the event include SARDA and Mthatha Horse Rescue.
ALSO READ: Bikers prepare for foot up trials
Event organiser, Jodi Wolhuter, said, “Show jumping has traditionally been seen as an elitist sport, and we aim to change this with our support of local charities and development riders.
“We are hoping to raise a large sum of money in this regard, and this is made possible thanks to the overwhelming support of our riders and our sponsors Land Rover Durban and FNB.”
Entries to the event were sold out within hours of opening, with 300 eager riders and more than 500 horses set to make their mark at the event.
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Highway Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.
