I love a spontaneous day out and at the weekend I decided to take Tally to a fairly local Point to Point at High Easter, Essex.
What is Point to Point?
For those of you who are not familiar with Point to Points, they are essentially amateur level national hunt racing. They are usually run/hosted by the local hunts and in the past horses have to hunt at least 3 times each season to qualify for a point to point. But I believe this rule may be changing. You can find out more about the sport by visiting Weatherby’s Point to Point website.
The perfect country day out!
Point to points are the perfect day out for the country person or family. Children and dogs are welcome (although check online if the point to point is held at a racecourse.) There is always a bar and a burger van. There is often a small fairground too which usually opens after the racing has finished. Find other activities for horsey and non horsey people here.
Degouche – Trained by Scottie’s old owner.
Place your bets
There will always be a handful of bookies on site for you to have a flutter. Although I personally can’t help but feel that this level of racing is more of a lottery than professional racing, you can still study the form and watch the horses in the pre parade ring.
Enjoy the horses
Many of the horses running will be ex racehorses who weren’t good enough to continue running under rules. In fact Scottie left racing with the aim of Point to pointing and his old owner actually had a few horses running at the weekend. So you may spot horses you recognise or who were owned and trained by some big names! One of the horses running on Saturday had been trained by Nicky Henderson!
Not only do you have the horses racing to oggle. But you also have the members of the hunt riding around on their incredibly well behaved horses and helping to catch the inevitable loose horse after they dump their amateur rider at one of the many jumps!
Ivy Gate – Trained by Scottie’s old owner
I had a fantastic day at the races and it was nice getting out and spending some quality time with the dog. Even if she was a bit of a grumpy old lady and didn’t understand why we were there! I highly recommend you have a look to find your local point to point and plan a day out.
Last Updated on 05/06/2022
