Alec Lochore: Spring 2014

Friday 16th May 2014

Alec Lochore – Director of Blair Castle International Horse Trials starts our blogging series…

We are enjoying a great spring at Blair Castle with the grass already looking green and lush. On a glorious Scottish morning, where else would you want to be?

I recently spent a constructive day at Blair with Ian Stark, our new course designer, and Peter Wilson, our course builder. We have come up with some new course concepts for the 2014 event, which will then be developed for 2015 so everything is starting to come together.

The Sports Turf Research Institute have been advising us on how to create the perfect dressage arena for the European Championships next year and now Souters Sports have started work in the Main Arena. It is important to us that we provide the very best surface for the horses to perform on and I am confident that, with the valued input of the Institute this will happen.

I remember feeling like this in Greenwich, when we started on the Olympic site and it all suddenly became real!

We were sad to lose Barclays as a sponsor and the search is on in earnest for a company to step in and join forces for the 2014 event but it is all systems go and everything certainly seems to be coming together for a fantastic event.

Nicky and Lucie are working hard in the office; trade stand bookings are buoyant and we have put the finishing touches to our new Box Office system.

I’m back on the road again now, heading to the US for my brother’s event, CHC International at Chattahoochee Hills, before returning home for my event, Houghton International and then back up to Blair!