British breeders and owners will be pleased to learn that the BEF has announced the Futurity season officially open!

Every year, the BEF holds a number of Futurity evaluations around the country, allowing owners to get a professional opinion on their young horse's potential in a friendly environment. The evaluations are open to horses from foals to three-year-olds who are destined for careers in dressage, eventing, show jumping and endurance. The BEF use the evaluations as an opportunity to identify potential world class horses to place on the World Class Equine Pathway. Horses are seen by a vet and by a panel of judges in an arena where they trotted up and allowed to go loose. They are marked against a criteria and owners are given a detailed comments sheet at the end of the event, along with their youngster's grade.

The 2010 dates for Futurity evaluations are:

Tues 13 July - The Grange, Devon
Thurs 15 July - Solihull Riding Club, West Midlands
Tues 20 July - Plumpton College, East Sussex
Thurs 22 July - The College (Keysoe), Bedfordshire
Tues 27 July - Alsager Equestrian Centre, Stoke-on-Trent
Thurs 29 July - Arena UK, Lincolnshire
Tues 3 August - Myerscough Equestrian Centre, Lancashire
Thurs 5 August - Triley Fields Equestrian Centre, Monmouthshire
Tues 10 August - Richmond Equestrian Centre, North Yorkshire
Thurs 12 August - Solihull Riding Club, West Midlands
Tues 17 August - Catherston Stud, Hants
Thurs 19 August - Fountain Equestrian Centre, Aberdeen, Scotland
Tues 24 August - Writtle College, Essex
Thurs 26 August - Tall Trees, North Cornwall
Tues 31 August - Plumpton College, East Sussex

Entries will open on the BEF website (see link below) on the 1 June 2010.

Editor's note: Are you taking your horse to a Futurity? Need advice from other users or just want to tell us how wonderful your horse is? Chat to other H&C users in our Breeding & Rearing Forum.