SUMMER NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2026

This time a year ago we were two weeks out from our first team chase of the autumn season bemoaning a lack of rain and having already lost our season opener. With the recent rain and early preparations undertaken by the courses things are looking positive for this year, especially with more rain forecast for the majority of the next fourteen days. Fingers crossed it lands where we want it.

Our first two events have offered full refunds for any teams entered by 31st August if they have to cancel.

This policy should encourage you to enter early, in order to safeguard your entry fees, and will allow early spending on groundworks.

A win-win for all, so please make the most of it and enter before the end of this bank holiday weekend.

It is great to see new people joining the team chasing family. There is a constant flow of new riders registering on our entries system and becoming BTC members (please remember you are limited to three day memberships per year before you need to become an annual member).

We now have over 3,500 registered riders and nearly 4,000 registered horses. For those of you new to BTC please feel free to get in touch if you have any queries. BTC has an official Facebook page – British Team Chasing and a more interactive Facebook group - BTC Riders and Supporters, which everyone can use. These are your most reliable Facebook sources of info about team chasing and the only places where we can ensure you receive timely and accurate responses and be directed to the most useful resources. Our Riders & Supporters page content is intentionally limited to purely team chasing topics and we promise won’t get swamped with less relevant posts, no horse sales!!

There are also contact us and help sections on the BTC website and the entries system to direct you to assistance.

You can always email BTC Admin directly as well.

BTC and each event have their own apps which are well worth checking out and link you straight to where you need to go, whether it be the entries system, live results, official photographers, chats to find teams or course maps specific to that event. We really recommend using the ‘find a team’ and ‘find a rider’ functions on the event’s app. This means all the available riders and spaces for that event can be found in one place, allowing quick and easy contact.

Please keep updated with announcements from the events by following their social media profiles too, but we will make sure all information is shared across the BTC social media spaces.

SPRING SEASON ROUND-UP

Thank you to all the events (committees, volunteers and landowners) for their hard work and generosity which resulted in the most successful spring season for years in terms of entries. From the positive feedback we received it shows the sport is in rude health.

The Bicester had bumper entries which included their hugely popular Intermediate Optimum class giving riders an opportunity to introduce their horses to an intermediate. A mention must go to the tractor drivers who managed to get all the vehicles in and out and repair the parking field that evening!!



After the Bicester we were hosted by the Fernie at Tur Langton and with 99 entries it was another great day. Most teams successfully completed the novice and intermediate courses, though the Open class only had three teams finish!

On to the Worcestershire, whose entries were up by 30% with an improved completion rate all-round. Some thoughtful alterations to the novice course resulted in 90% of the teams posting a time. A smooth round from Team Ride Away 1 held off The Wishful Thinkers to retain The BTC National Championships title.

You can read a round up of the day and more about the National Championships here: National Championships 2026

Once we had dried out after the late in the day deluge at Abbeylands the season moved northwest to Park Eyton for the Wynnstay Team Chase. In its second year both courses had a few changes which worked well and an improved layout brought a great atmosphere for spectators and competitors alike. Many of you haven’t yet ventured to Park Eyton. You should put 2027s renewal in the diary and make every effort to get there the evening before for the pre-event party.

To round up the season we had a new event at Usk Valley. The most stunning location and with no expense spared on the fences this really is an event for the picture book. Nearly 90 teams entered, which must be a record for a first event, showing Usk Valley has a bright future. We look forward to an Open there in the next few years!!

BRITISH TEAM CHASING

Open League 2026

intermediate LEAGUE 2026

LOOKING FORWARDS

Dates for the Spring 2027 season are being finalised and will be announced shortly. The season will start off at an event with a twist. We will be having our first ever ‘Surf n Turf’ team chase. Given the variable weather we are going to take out the risk of cancellation by having a season opener on and around two vast arenas at Pyecombe Equestrian Centre. The permanent facility with ample hard standing to park on and indoor catering facilities should give us as much weather resilience as possible. This event will be an opportunity to get your horses out competing, remove the ring rustiness and build teamwork without the need to be fully fit. We hope this will prove to be great precursor to the past few year’s spring events. We are discussing with a few of the current events the potential of them hosting open classes in the future as well as talking to a new event planning to run in Autumn 2027.

For 2027 we are looking to bring in Novice league to add a fun element for those of you who like to compete at several novices throughout the year. We will announce the proposed format prior to the AGM (to be held late November or earlier December). If this is a success we will look at running an intermediate optimum league too.

BTC BOARD MEMBERS

The length of term for members of the BTC Board of Directors is three years and this term is up at the end of 2026. If anyone would like to propose someone or stand themselves please email Annie Leyland for further information – secretary@britishteamchasing.co.uk

I hope everyone is suitably happy with this current weather and looking forward to this autumn’s season. Please get your entries in asap to encourage the events to go above and beyond in preparing the courses for the riders and horses.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.

Roddy Stanning

Chairman