BTC SPRING NEWSLETTER
February 20, 2025
I hope everyone is well and looking forward to the spring team chase season starting at the Duke of Beaufort’s team chase on 23rd March. As of Wednesday 19th February entries are open.
We are very excited to be including a new venue in the calendar this spring with two more currently planned for spring 2026. Please look out for social media posts from the Wynnstay as their courses take shape ready for 20th April.
Thank you to everyone who responded to the end of season questionnaire and who attended the AGM in December. The feedback has reassured us that the recent developments have been well received and the areas we are now concentrating on fall in line with what both competitors and events feel is important. We are always very happy to hear back so please get in touch. Contact details are on the BTC website. Hopefully our increased communication will keep everyone abreast of current team chasing matters and the progression of the sport.
BTC LEAGUES
Thank you to our amazing league sponsors for 2024, Premier Performance and Stuart Nichols Waste Disposal Ltd, who have both offered to continue their respective support of the Open and Intermediate leagues for this year. Prize money will return for 2025 and will be down to 5th position in each league, so hopefully this will encourage as many teams as possible to compete in the leagues. We are currently exploring possibilities with potential sponsors for other areas and are always open to new partnership opportunities.
Please get in touch with Suze Tucker – sponsorship@britishteamchasing.co.uk.
MEMBERSHIP
Thank you to all those who paid a voluntary membership last year. With over 70% of responses to our questionnaire supporting a membership for 2025, it was proposed and agreed at the AGM there will be a compulsory membership set at £15/yr for Associate Members and £5/day for Temporary Members. Once registered and logged in as a rider on the BTC entries system, select the membership tab on the menu to join. The board believes membership is the best way to ensure the future of the sport as it has become increasingly difficult to raise income through sponsorship in comparison to years gone by. Fortunately membership subscriptions can be set at this very affordable level due to the large number of competitors that take part in our sport. This additional revenue will allow BTC to support events through a new grant and loan process for numerous areas including but not limited to:
- Weather resilience – both wet weather and dry weather
- Course improvements - such as improving/protecting hedges, sprucing hedges, installing removable stock proofing
- Cancellation support
- Building of new courses
- IT support
- Logistic Support
- Timing equipment
BTC plans to be able to direct funds towards riders in a number of ways, including running training days and improving prizes at the National Championships. The first training clinic is going to be aimed at those new to or yet to try team chasing. We are currently planning the clinic and will announce the date and location in due course.
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
As a BTC member, you will have access to exclusive benefits, including discounts from our fantastic partners:
🏇 Premier Performance – www.premierperformance.uk
🏇 Treehouse Sporting Colours – www.treehouseonline.co.uk
🏇 Evo Equine – www.evoequine.co.uk
🏇 Equiclass – www.equiclass.co.uk
🏇 Rider Eye – www.ridereye.co.uk
🏇 LeMieux Team Kit – 30% off (email admin@britishteamchasing.co.uk for details) www.lemieux.com
Details will be sent out to all members and also available on the BTC website Members Area. All new members will receive an email with an invite to sign up to this area.
INSURANCE
We expect to include Rider Public Liability Insurance as an additional member’s benefit in 2026. We have been working hard on this and have been offered a policy in principle, but this will take some time to be drawn up and approved. For annual members this policy of last resort will cover them 24/7 whether at a team chase or not. There has been confusion from competitors as to whether they are covered by any policies they may already have in place, so please can everyone double check their policy details. Please be aware that many policies included by other member organisations exclude team chasing.
RULE CHANGES
Any amendments to the Rules, Regulations and BTC governance are highlighted in the respective documents which can all be found on the BTC website. The requirement for riders to be checked by the on-course medics following a fall or unseat has generally been fulfilled. Riders must get checked otherwise they will be stood down for 21 days. The rule preventing a rider competing after two falls in one day has been removed. They must still be checked after each fall and be cleared before they can ride again. Riders must also take responsibility for their own wellbeing and not ride again if they have any symptoms of concussion. This can present hours after a fall and so be aware it may become apparent even after being checked by a medic.
An amendment has been made to the scoring system for the Open league when there is not an Open class. Points awarded will be relative to all the teams in the class not just the Open teams.
ENTRIES
The entries system has undergone an upgrade which should help everyone especially the team organisers who can now make multiple entries and pay for them in one go. Horses will shortly be linked to their riders. Riders are now recognised on the system by a username rather than their email address so email addresses can be used for more than one family member. Everyone registered on the system will receive an email in the next 24hrs with their username which will be the name separated by an underscore (ie fred_bloggs), passwords remain the same. If you have any issues please check the FAQs and then if further help is required please email admin@britishteamchasing.co.uk.
We are upgrading the apps so that there will be no requirement to log in to use the chat functions and making it even simpler to switch between each event app.
COURSE NEWS
In order to encourage more riders and teams to enter the open classes, BTC is encouraging the courses to reduce the dimensions of their larger hedges. Not only will this make the hedges easier this year, it will allow for new growth, which is more forgiving, to bring the hedges back up to their former glory in the future.
BTC will also guarantee prize money at the National Championships down to 8th place, so make sure you qualify. For any teams which haven’t already qualified for this year’s Championships at Worcestershire on 13th April, you can apply for a wild card entry via this form - https://forms.gle/EnACU2LbaPkTH9Ns9
Optimum times are set in the following ranges 425 to 475m/min for Novice (approx. equivalent to BE80 to BE100) and 475 to 525m/min for Intermediate (approx. equivalent to BE100 to BE Novice). The actual optimum time will take into consideration the course and conditions on the day.
CHARITY PARTNER
We raised £750 for the Bristol Children’s hospital charity via the Tumblers Club last year and this year will be supporting Thames Valley Air Ambulance following their attendance at a team chase last year. Please use this link to donate if you take a tumble and become eligible for one of the end of season tumblers prizes – BTC JUST GIVING
Enjoy your team chasing in 2025 and good luck to all!
Roddy Stanning
chairman@britishteamchasing.co.uk
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