A lamentable number of five combinations have been entered to contest the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix Championships to be held at Stable Hulsterlo in Meerdonk, Belgium, on 11 - 13 November 2016. Traditionally the Nationals take place in August but due to the Olympic Games, in which only 1 Belgian rider competed, the entire Grand Prix Championship had to be postponed.
This belated staging of the 2016 Belgian Championship has been highly detrimental for the organisation. Several riders have given their horses a break after the summer show season or have just opted not to show at the Nationals. It is also highly questionable whether an audience will appear in Meerdonk to witness the Championships.
In August show organizer Thomas Eyckmans explained to Eurodressage that "the Belgian federation does not allow that a Belgian Championships (to be) organized in an Olympic year and during the same period of preparation for the Olympics. That is why we were forced to organize a separate Belgian Grand Prix Championships on 11 - 13 November."
This has resulted an a heavily thinned out field of four riders on five horses. The amount of riders has been boosted to four only thanks to the decision of Under 25 rider Laurence Roos to move up to the senior division; otherwise there would only have been three.
Competing in the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix Championships are:
- Jeroen Devroe - Eres DL
- Jeroen Devroe - Aaron
- Laurense Roos - Fill Rouge
- Jorinde Verwimp - Tiano
- Tom Heylen - Gucci H
Photo © Astrid Appels
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