As we near the end of 2020, several riders will be looking forward to the break over Christmas. However, the most competitive will already be looking ahead to the 2021 competition season as the new showjumping calendar is released. While this calendar is still open to adjustments at this early stage, especially with regards to the latter half of the year, the provisional calendar is overflowing with competitions across the country for South African showjumpers.
January starts slowly as we re-enter the new year after a well-deserved break, with the first graded competition taking place at Fourways Riding Center on the 16th and 17th, however, due to the mandatory Officials Seminar happening that same weekend, it’s unlikely any other shows will occur. The following weekend is where venues across Gauteng spring into action to kickstart the 2021 showjumping season, with events happening at Maple Ridge, Kyalami Park, Dunblane, Eaton Farm, and Steyn City.
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February kicks off with the first Burlington graded show of the year while the rider-favourite Revil Stables provincial show takes place in Polokwane. The Eastern Cape will also see its first show of the season kick off alongside a SANESA event. The first major competition of 2020 will be hosted by Kyalami Park Club and will see top-level riders strutting their stuff for the first time in 2021 at the Reonet Rider’s Grand Prix including the Rider’s Grand Prix Series from the 12th to the 14th. Mpumalanga will also kickstart its show season on that weekend with the first SANESA qualifier. Closing out February will be the Puresan Stokkiesdraai Cup and Rider’s Grand Prix from the 26th to the 28th.
March will see the Erreplus President’s Cup take place from the 11th to the 14th and will be hosted, as always, by Maple Ridge. The rest of March will remain quiet in terms of national events, however, there will be several graded provincial events in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Of the 3 shows in the Eastern Cape, the event from the 19th to the 21st will be a three-day sponsored event with exciting prizes. Mpumalanga will host its 2nd SANESA qualifier.
April will see action very early on as the Easter Festival incorporating the SA Outdoor Grand Prix will commence on the 2nd and continue through to the 5th; a major title show that will see riders across the country flocking to Gauteng. Heartlands, a stunning new venue in the North West, will host its inaugural national-status event, the Heartlands Cup, from the 16th to 18th while, in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, venues such as Burlington Stables, the PE Riding Club, Fourways, Border Equestrian Club, Kawena, and Penbritte will host provincial events, the lottery being the first qualifier for the Penbritte Thoroughbred Series.
FEI World Cup Qualifier season gets underway in May after 2020’s series was cancelled. Hosted by Kyalami Park Club and sponsored by Reonet, the event will take place from the 29th of April to the 2nd of May. 17 provincial shows across the country will see out the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th weekends of May, however, the FEI World Jumping Challenge will have its first leg hosted by Maple Ridge on the 22nd. The closing weekend in May, from the 27th to the 30th, will see the 2nd World Cup Qualifier of the year take place in Brits, hosted by Stokkiesdraai. May will also see the first of two Callaho Warmblood Stud online auctions take place from the 11th to the 15th.
June starts with the Eastern Cape hosting its Adult Championships, after which, many of the top riders will make their way to KZN as the province’s calendar kicks into high gear with the KZN Open Champs including the Rider’s GP Series from the 11th to the 13th. Following very closely after that will be the first of 2 Shongweni World Cup Qualifiers, the first hosted by Foresyte Shows from the 17th to the 20th, whilst back in Gauteng, Fourways Riding Centre will host the 2nd leg of the FEI World Jumping Challenge.
The Blouberg Cup gets July underway in Limpopo from the 1st to the 4th, and becomes another venue to incorporate the Rider’s GP Series. This national status event is followed by the Gauteng Championships from the 9th to the 11th at KEP, while just a few days later, the 2nd Shongweni World Cup Qualifier, hosted by Highway Shows and sponsored by Discovery, will see riders head back to Durban from the 15th to the 18th. The final weekend in July sees KPC host the final leg of the FEI World Jumping Challenge for Gauteng riders.
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August‘s only CSN-and-higher status show will be held at Stokkiesdraai and will see riders across the country come together for the South African Adult Championships from the 6th to the 9th. The remaining weekends will be filled with provincial shows in both Gauteng and Eastern Cape, however, the final weekend will see the Western Cape host its first leg of the FEI World Jumping Challenge at Europa.
The Polokwane Leg of the World Cup Qualifier series will be hosted by Revil Stables and run from the 2nd to the 5th of September, while the following 2 weekends will see provincial shows hosted in Gauteng. The Eastern Cape hosts its Youth Champs from the 17th to the 19th and then Maple Ridge steps up again with the national-status Youth Extravaganza from the 23rd to the 26th. Closing off September is the Western Cape’s 2nd leg of the FEI World Jumping Challenge alongside the Eastern Cape’s SASJ Challenge.
After this year’s hiatus, the South African Derby returns in the first week of October, once again hosted at Kyalami Equestrian Park from the 30th of September to the 3rd of October, followed by the traditional post-derby event from the 8th to the 10th. The 2nd Callaho online auction will then take place from the 12th to the 16th. The month will then be closed out with the Kromdraai World Cup Qualifier at Maple Ridge from the 28th to the 31st in Gauteng whilst, in the Western Cape, the 3rd leg of their FEI World Jumping Challenge will be run on the 30th and 31st.
November goes quiet on the national show front, with a number of provincial shows hosted across the country. Despite not being of national status, the annual Burlington Cup is a surefire highlight of the annual calendar for riders across the country from the 10th to the 13th. KPC will host the Gauteng leg of the SASJ Challenge on the 20th and 21st and then there will potentially be either a World Cup Qualifier or Rider’s Grand Prix hosted by Sunera in the Western Cape from the 26th to the 29th. This show, however, is still unconfirmed and should only be pencilled in on the calendar.
Unlike this year, December of 2021 will be very quiet comparatively and will only see one National show in the form of the SA Youth Championships. The venue and dates are still to be confirmed, however, the calendar tentatively suggests that it will be hosted in the Western Cape over the weekend of the 11th and 12th. A graded Christmas show at KPC on the 11th and 12th and then a show hosted by Eaton Farm will conclude the year’s events for 2021.
While these are the dates currently published, they are always subject to change. Always ensure that you keep up to date with the calendar on SASJ’s website, as there are always adjustments made to the calendar for various reasons.
-The JumpOff-
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