SEPTEMBER 30 - TINA COOK (pictured), Britain's double Olympic bronze medallist, is the latest major name to sign up to the new Express Eventing competition at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, an event officials hope will be the sport's equivalent of Twenty20 cricket.

 

The event, due to be held on November 30, is a condensed version of the traditional eventing which will take place during the course of one afternoon.

 

The competition begins with a four-minute freestyle-to-music test in which extra points are given if difficult movements such as canter pirouette and four-time canter changes are attempted.

 

The dressage scores are converted into time faults - the leader starting on zero - for the showjumping and cross country.

 

The 12-fence showjumping course is followed by a timed “pitstop” while riders change into cross-country gear before setting out on a 20-fence cross-country course that will include water complexes, banks, ditches and hedges.

 

British-based Australian Stuart Buntine, a former top level eventer and current horse trials organiser, has been working on the concept of Express Eventing on and off for nearly a decade.

 

He said: "I wanted to organise something which would draw people together where they could see the whole thing in one afternoon.

 

"And I wanted it to be a serious competition.

  

"I want to promote the sport to a new audience.

 

"Tim Henman retired a millionaire without ever winning a major, while these guys risk their lives on a daily basis for a pittance."

  

There will be 42,000 seats available for spectators in the Millennium Stadium for Express Eventing but only the top two of the three tiers of seating are to be used.

  

Buntine said: "From that height you see the whole sport from a different angle because you are above it all.

 

"Every time I go up there the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

 

 "If we used the bottom tier of seats it would be just like watching a normal horse competition.

 

"Also, not using the closest seats to the arena releases some pressure from the horses and riders and makes the bowl seem bigger."

 

There is a prize pool of £250,000 available, including £100,000 to the winner, which probably explains why all the top riders have signed up for the event.

 

Mary King said: "It's a really exciting concept and will hopefully bring new people into the sport.

 

"It'll be interesting to see if it develops into a tour of events and whether a specific type of horse will be suited to this competition."