Royal affair for Weston Park with Zara Tindall
Zara Tindall is bringing a royal touch to the Weston Park Horse Trials in Staffordshire this weekend.
The Queen's granddaughter is one of more than 500 entries to the premier equestrian event at the ancestral home of the Earls of Bradford.
It acts as a warm-up for the famous Badminton Horse Trials in May. Tindall, who was born Zara Phillips, is due to ride three horses on Sunday.
They include High Kingdom, the mount with which she won silver in the Team Eventing at the London 2012 Olympics.
She is competing in both the intermediate and advanced eventing classes and will be joined by some of the world's leading riders, including Oliver Townend, Australian Sam Griffiths, Laura Collett, and Izzy Taylor.
Three-time Olympic medallist William Fox-Pitt and New Zealand's veteran eventer Andrew Nicholson will both be making their respective returns from serious injuries last Autumn.
The course, designed by Janet Plant, will run over a thousand acres of rolling wooded parkland and the fences are solid and imposing.
Plant said: "It is a privilege to design on such a fabulous estate, I walked the ground 10 days ago and it was refreshing to remember just how well the old turf feels."
Novices and intermediate U21 classes go on Saturday, while the main dressage, showjumping and cross country events are on Sunday.
Admission is £10 for adults, with accompanied children under-12 going free.
