Brigstock is a village in the county of Northamptonshire, in the East Midlands of England. The village is the home of the Brigstock International Horse Trials which are based at Fermyn Woods Hall in Brigstock. Horse Trials is a sport that originated from the training programme for cavalry horses in the military world, where discipline, maneuvering, and speed were required in the field of battle.

'Eventing' is a word that is associated with horse trials. The word refers to a test for a horse and rider. There are three elements, or tests, that make up eventing. These are Dressage, Show Jumping and Cross Country. Each element is tested and scores are given by a panel of judges. An overall score is awarded, based on the combined score of each test. The first horse trials ran at Brigstock in the nineteen seventies, when these trials were part of the run up to the Badminton Horse Trials. They were stopped for a few years and revived in the year 2006.

The Brigstock International Horse Trials usually has in excess of forty stands for people in the industry and more than 3,000 people attending the event, which is held over a weekend. Trade exhibitors at horse trials tend to be organizations that offer something that is of interest and value to the people attending the event. These include items to kit out horses like saddles, reins and stirrups. Other items offered by suppliers at horse trials would include items to kit out riders. Such items would include helmets, gloves, jodhpurs, riding crops, and other items.

As mentioned above, dressage is a part of the Brigstock International Horse Trials. Dressage is a test in which the horse performs a number of movements which demonstrate its suppleness and agility. These movements are observed by a panel of judges who award a score to each performance.

Show Jumping is a popular part of the Brigstock International Horse Trials in which a number of fences must be jumped by the horse and rider within an allotted time. Penalties in terms of points are levied if jumps are not made, or are not made correctly, if the rider falls off the horse, or if the jumps are not completed within the allocated time.

The third and final test of the Eventing process that you will see in the Brigstock International Horse Trials is Cross Country. Here, natural objects are jumped within a given time, and the penalties mentioned above apply. Horses and riders doing the Cross Country test at the Brigstock International Horse Trials will have to negotiate water or jump through unusual objects like a tree that forks sideways in two directions.

Men and women riders will compete on the same terms, as there is no separation for the different sexes. There are different levels at which you can compete in the Brigstock International Horse Trials. These levels are Novice, Intermediate and Advanced. Working through these levels enables the horses and their riders to develop the skills and experience that they will need to enable them to progress.