Elkton, Md. – Fair Hill International in partnership with the Fair Hill Foundation today announced Ian Stark has been hired to design its new cross-country course in preparation of hosting a five-star competition in 2020. As Fair Hill’s cross-country course designer, Stark will direct the layout of the new track and utilize the terrain to make it both unique and challenging. He visited the site earlier this week for an initial survey to begin the course construction.
Responsibilities Stark will manage for the new course include designing the plan for galloping lanes, creating the fences to jump, and ensuring the footing throughout the course meets the highest standards of the sport. Under Stark’s leadership Fair Hill’s new cross-country course will contest eventing athletes at the highest level. The hiring comes as Fair Hill begins a series of upgrades to the facility making it suitable for hosting five-star events.
Stark said, “I am thrilled and excited to be involved in America’s new five-star event at Fair Hill and can’t wait to get started planning the cross-country course. This is every designer’s dream.”
Stark is an Olympic eventing medalist and world-renowned course designer who has been inducted into the Halls of Fame of the British Horse Society, Sporting Scotland, Scottish Borders, and the Event Riders’ Association. Fair Hill International and Fair Hill Foundation selected him because of his experience and reputation for designing some of the most respected and demanding cross-country courses throughout the world.
“Fair Hill International is delighted to welcome Ian Stark to the team,” said Trish Gilbert, President of Fair Hill International, Inc. “His global reputation and experience will be invaluable to the five-star competition. We all look forward to working with him as we bring this event to fruition.”
Fair Hill International has a 30-year history of producing prestigious three-star competitions. Next year’s five-star event will be produced by Fair Hill International along with support from Fair Hill Foundation and Five-Star Host Organizing Committee.
Five-star events are the pinnacle of the sport of eventing. They feature the most advanced dressage test and longer, more complex cross-country courses. There are only six five-star events in the world and currently just one in the United States which takes place annually in Kentucky.
The countdown to the 2024 United States Eventing Association (USEA) American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is getting shorter and the tentative schedule is officially set! For the second year in a row, the AEC returns to the iconic Kentucky Horse Park from August 27 through September 1 and will offer 26 divisions, including brand new Starter divisions and all levels of recognized evening up through the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final.
What’s a Hunter Pace? The Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center's Hunter Pace is a cross-country-style course around Sherwood Forest over various natural obstacles/terrain. The course ends with a final treat for riders to take in stunning views of Mt. Hood with a loop through the old Far Hill Farms field. The beginning of the course will first start with a warm-up loop around show jumping obstacles in the outdoor ring at Sherwood Forest and then riders will continue directly onto the course. Sign up as a solo rider, pair, or team.
Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.
As he was finishing tacking up his horse in preparation to navigate the cross-country course at the 2024 Twin Rivers Summer Horse Trials, James Alliston expressed concern about navigating the 101 Freeway. That’s because as soon as he crossed the finish line aboard Intermediate level winner Addyson (Ampere x Nickerbocker) at 10:38 a.m. on Saturday—his fifth cross-country round of the morning with three at Preliminary and two at Intermediate—the West Coast-based five-star rider had to drive 185 miles on the 101 Freeway from Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, to San Francisco International Airport to catch a 4:35 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.