BTS with Helen West: How Course Designers and Event Organisers Adapt to Modern Eventing

Eventing is most often consumed in moments: a start box countdown, a flag cleared, a finish line crossed. Yet what sits beneath those moments is a far more intricate system, one built on judgement calls, financial realities, and an ongoing negotiation between progress and preservation.

Few individuals have navigated that system from as many vantage points as Helen West. Rider, organiser, course designer, and former CEO of British Eventing, her career reflects not only personal evolution, but the shifting demands of the sport itself. What emerges from our conversation is less a linear career story and more a portrait of eventing at a crossroads, balancing performance with responsibility, tradition with scrutiny, and ambition with long-term sustainability.

Helen West did not follow a conventional pathway into eventing. Without a family background in the sport, her early years were shaped instead by an instinctive pull towards horses, one that quickly overrode expectations of a different sporting direction.

She began in dressage, progressing rapidly through the levels, before transitioning into eventing as soon as age restrictions allowed. From there, her career followed the traditional high-performance route, moving through junior ranks to championship success, before confronting the far less structured reality of senior competition.

“I don't come from an eventing background. Mum played Wimbledon Veterans tennis, and I was supposed to play tennis. But that was never going to happen; all I wanted to do was ride. I actually started out riding dressage, and was very fortunate to have an ex FEI team pony on loan who I competed up to PSG level with at the age of 12. But I remember chomping at the bit to go out eventing as soon as I could, and being super excited when British Eventing brought the age restrictions forward a year so you could ride at Pre Novice level from 15 rather than 16!”

“I went up through the junior ranks and won gold at the YR European Championships in 2001. But back then, once you entered the big senior world, there was no support. You came out of this closeted program into the big open world, and it was really tough. I had a deal with my parents that I wouldn't have to go to university if I did well in my A levels, so I stayed on at school, and after finishing my exams I branched out into running a full-time business from my little yard. Throughout my twenties, I rode at Bramham, Blenheim, Boekelo and Burghley. I never rode at Badminton, I qualified three times, and three times, for whatever reason, didn't get there. But looking back, I definitely realise how fortunate I was to be able to make a career out of something I absolutely loved.”

“When I reached my thirties, I hit a crossroad because the good horses I produced were always sold, and I became short of horsepower. I remember being in the start box at an event one day and thinking to myself I didn't really want to set off because I didn't feel the horse should be competing at that level. And sure as eggs are eggs, I had a nasty fall and finished very battered. I drove home with my tail between my legs and thought, do I want to do this for the rest of my life? It’s a fickle world, and I didn't like being in a position where giving my honest opinion would potentially lose me the ride. I needed the income from those horses I was riding. It’s a fickle world, and I didn't like being in a position where giving my honest opinion would potentially lose me the ride. I needed the income from those horses I was riding.”

“Once I got home from this event, my Mum had Horse & Hound open on the breakfast bar with a job advertisement for managing Bicton Arena. I was very familiar with the venue, having grown up in the South West and been there a lot over the years. I looked at the ad and said, Mum, I've never organised anything in my life. And she responded, yes you have, you've organised my 70th birthday party!”

“It was like interviewing for MI5, but after the most extensive interview you can possibly imagine, they offered me the job in 2013. Bicton was losing quite a bit of money, but I had a real vision for the place and wanted to make it a premier event venue in the South West.”

“I remember looking at the books and thinking, crikey, they’re spending so much money on designing and building tracks, even for the Pony Club events. So I thought, well, hang on, I've ridden to 5* level, surely I could put a few cross country fences around the place! And that is honestly how I got into the design side. I quickly got a bug for it, and loved giving people and horses a positive experience jumping my tracks.”

Over the past decade, the operational landscape of British Eventing has shifted significantly, financially, structurally, and culturally. For organisers, the margin for error has narrowed, while expectations have expanded. West’s perspective is shaped not only by her role at Bicton, but by her time leading the organisation through one of its most challenging periods, emerging from the disruption of Covid into a financially fragile environment.

“British Eventing has certainly seen huge changes over the last 10 years. I entered as CEO at the tail end of Covid, after months of no sport running. It was a very challenging time, staff morale was at an all-time low, and financially the organisation was not in a good place. Months of no sport, combined with a declining membership, and a £3 million failed IT project, meant that the reserves were depleted. I had to make some really tough calls to ensure the financial survival of the organisation. It was borderline whether it was even solvent, so I had to restructure, make redundancies, and say no to a lot of people just to stay afloat. It wouldn't be here today if I hadn't done that.”

“Modern-day riders’ expectations have gotten so much higher, and the reality is that they don’t always align with the price they’re paying. We want to keep the sport affordable, sustainable, and accessible, but when the bar has been set that high, it comes at a cost. As a rider, I’m ashamed and embarrassed to admit that I used to drive to these stately homes and think, God, they must be making so much money from this event. But having spent many years on the other side of the fence, I now know how little money is made. In fact, the vast majority of events run at a loss. I think riders need to understand how expensive it is to even build a single cross-country fence. It highlights a growing disconnect within the sport, where rising expectations are not always matched by an understanding of what it takes to deliver them.”

“One of the things I looked at whilst on the board was a tiered system, to make it clear to the customer what they were getting for their money. Running an international event can cost as much as four times that of a grassroots event. We need to be charging a premium to justify the bells and whistles that come with it; the dressing, the flowers, the carvings etc. A more stripped back event could then be run at an accessible price, of course still adhering to all safety standards.” 

“It’s a real cultural shift which isn't going to happen overnight, there are so many interlinked pieces. Ultimately it's a strategic decision that needs to be made in alignment with the direction of the sport. Will the sport become more facility-based, or will events continue being run on Greenfield sites with big houses in the backdrop?”

Course design has also evolved considerably in recent years, particularly around safety, technicality and again, rider expectations. Eric Winter just did a talk at Eventing Ireland, mentioning how, previously, a higher-level event would be downscaled to be educational. He also reflected on how grassroots courses have changed and why riders must learn the skills needed to jump banks, ditches and natural terrain. Course design has undergone a parallel evolution. Advances in safety technology, combined with shifting rider expectations, have fundamentally altered how cross country tracks are approached, both in philosophy and in execution.

“Cross country course designs have evolved hugely in recent years, largely driven by the risk management side of the sport, and the increase in frangible technology. Anywhere where you can make a fence frangible, the expectation is that you should. This is shifting the whole strategy of the sport to potentially catch horses out, which I don't think is fair. There needs to be a balance in utilising frangible technology, but retaining an authentic feel to the courses, so they don't just become a set of show jumps round a field.”

“One of the most limiting factors when course building is cost. There are lots of things I would love to be able to do if I had a bigger budget. For example, utilising natural materials like timber is great for creating that more authentic feel. But to meet modern safety standards, a large log would have to be quartered, hollowed out, and reassembled to be compliant with today’s MIM devices. It's now become very expensive to build those types of fences, and for many events simply isn’t viable.”

“Certainly at the lower levels, you want the courses to be very rider-friendly. Those riders want to come out and have a nice day. But I think the danger is that courses are being dumbed down. In the bigger picture, is that doing the sport any favours? No, it's not, because we're not including fences that we think are potentially going to cause problems.”

“As Eric Winter alluded to, those riders don't want to jump a ditch, they don't want to jump a sunken road, they don't want to jump more difficult questions. That inevitably creates conflict between course designers and venue organisers who need riders to spend their money with them, to ensure the sustainability of the event. But actually, you're sacrificing the education of horses and riders, and that’s a road we don't want to go down. In simplifying the sport at lower levels, there is a risk of narrowing the pathway to the top, where those same questions cannot be avoided.”

When delivering a major event like Bicton Horse Trials, there are many moving parts, from horse welfare and rider safety to logistics, volunteers and spectators. Delivering an event of Bicton’s scale requires a constant balancing of priorities, where welfare, logistics, and experience must operate in alignment rather than isolation.

“There are so many different aspects to delivering an event of that magnitude, horse welfare, of course, is always the number one. The design of the track and the footing is obviously close to my heart, too. But I think the key component for modern-day sport is the experience that horses have on the day, and with increasing importance, the experience that the public and media see. Eventing remains the only discipline where there is an acceptance that many of the event roles are volunteer-based. All of the other events we run within showjumping, dressage, even The Pony Club, all of those roles would now be paid. We require a huge bank of volunteers in eventing, at Bicton we have around 250 volunteers a day, which is a major piece to coordinate, and ensure their welfare is looked after. This reliance on volunteer infrastructure remains one of eventing’s defining characteristics, but also one of its most pressing challenges.”

“Something we've upped in recent years would be the owner's hospitality; we now have a dedicated lounge, which gives them that exclusive experience. Gone are the days when an owner would sit in a field on a plastic chair to watch their horse, and the chair would sink into the ground...”

“You've also now got to consider what the public wants too, to encourage non-horsey attendees and keep the whole family entertained. The May event has become much more of a country fair feel, rather than just a competition model. We have had to diversify to a wider audience by incorporating events like jousting and stunt riding to make the event financially viable.”

Your husband, Andrew Fell, plays a key role in ground preparation at Bicton, which has become an increasingly important factor in how riders plan their seasons. Ground conditions have become one of the most scrutinised aspects of modern eventing, influencing not only performance, but decision making at every level of the sport.

“Yes, Andrew does play a key role. He's an Irishman, so he comes from lush fields of green grass and Irish footing, something that he tries to emulate over here. It’s become very key in the riders’ minds. It costs a lot of time, money, and emotion to get these horses to the top level, and keeping them on the road is very challenging. The footing plays a major part in that. And that expectation doesn’t just sit with the riders, top-level coaches such as Dickie Waygood and Chris Bartle, are absolutely looking for the footing to be as good as it possibly can be.”

“We're fortunate at Bicton to have an all-weather surface in a grade one listed parkland setting, which is quite unusual. The number one priority with footing will always be safety, and generally, softer footing is safer footing. The firm ground is fast ground, and you see more accidents. If the ground is less forgiving, the horses can feel jarred and start to question, rather than picking up that longer stride. So there's definitely a correlation between footing and safety. We generally see far fewer horse falls at our October event, where the ground tends to be softer.”

Bicton Horse Trials gained national attention in 2021 when it stepped up to host the UK’s only CCI5* event that season. Since then, it has continued to develop as a venue for riders from grassroots through to elite level. Since stepping into the spotlight in 2021, Bicton has established itself as more than a replacement venue. It now occupies a distinct position within the UK eventing landscape, bridging grassroots participation and elite competition within a single setting.

“I feel that Bicton’s USP is being a modern venue in a grade one listed setting, it's incredibly beautiful. We host every discipline from grassroots to elite level, and there aren't many UK venues that do that.”

“Last year, we had 140 ponies and children competing in the 40cm, and that is the future of the sport. Engaging these kids and encouraging them to go down the eventing path is so important. For many parents, it would be much easier to go down the showjumping or dressage route, so to invest in all three phases is a massive commitment. We need to get them in and hooked on that early. When we ran the pop-up 5* event in 2021, it just showed what can be achieved when everyone sings off the same hymn sheet. Everyone said the FEI would never go for it, it'll never happen. It was a case of having the right people around the table with the will to get it done, it was a fantastic event for the sport, and that's something I'm incredibly proud of.”

Looking ahead, the sport faces a period of both uncertainty and recalibration, shaped by Olympic inclusion, public perception, and its broader social licence to operate. Are there particular trends in course design, event organisation or rider participation that excite you, or areas that you think the sport will need to address?

“I think we have challenges ahead of us. It’s confirmed that equestrian sport will be included in the Brisbane Olympics, but as of yet, we don’t know whether that will include eventing. But what would happen to the sport if it was lost from the Olympics? There would be huge implications in terms of funding and viability. You could end up with the sport centred around the UK, US, Germany and France, and lose participation from the rest of the world. Eventing has a lot of work to do to ensure its survival over the next 10 years, and the riders need to understand that a bit more. They don't really engage with it, as a rider you're in the moment, you don't really look up at the bigger picture.”

“There's a lot of pressure today for the sport to present a good picture. 20 years ago, everyone would gather around the water, and want to see a horse fall, and it was exciting. The thrills and spills were what made the sport, and that aspect has changed hugely. The narrative around eventing is no longer shaped solely from within. It is increasingly influenced by how the sport is seen, interpreted, and questioned from the outside.”

“However, you have to accept that it is a risk sport. You're never going to stop horses falling. It's a hard one to hear, but that’s the reality. Instead, we need to focus on telling the story and celebrating all the wonderful things about it, without feeling like we have to justify it all the time. There is nothing to hide, and we want to share that with a wider audience.”

You’ve also been involved in major international competitions, including the FEI Asian Championships, and have designed courses in the United States. West’s experience extends well beyond the UK, offering insight into how eventing operates across different cultural and structural contexts.

“I am now one of the very few female level 3 FEI course designers. And I'm actually in the process of gaining level four, where I will certainly be the only female. It's the weirdest dichotomy because the sport champions itself on equality, and throughout my career as a rider, I never felt disadvantaged to be a woman. Being on the other side of the fence has been quite a shock. Sometimes I feel like I have to work twice as hard to justify my position, but I enjoy the challenge of breaking the mould. At my first FEI seminar, I was told that I was in the wrong queue to collect my lanyard and that the ground jury queue was next door! I had to explain that I was actually the course designer, and the lady behind the desk apologetically admitted that she had never seen a female course designer before!”

“I've been fortunate to design at big competitions all around the world, including the US, Ireland, Thailand, and I will be designing the Nations Cup in Poland this year. It doesn’t matter what country you’re in, it's the same sport. But some subtle differences and nuances are pertinent to the culture of the country. For example, in the States, they would be significantly more risk-averse than we are in the UK. There is a very prescriptive nature; the riders expect everything to be perfect, to be on a distance, preferably on the flat, preferably on a surface! Certainly at 4* level, most events would hold dressage and showjumping on a surface; they rarely ride on grass like you would do in this country. The riders would also be less instinctive and have less gut feel than perhaps in the UK. And that's something we need to be careful that we don't lose over here. Lots of riders used to get into the sport through the hunting side, and we’re losing that.”

“We need to be mindful that we don't turn into a nation of riders that have learnt everything in the arena, and then get out onto the grass, and guess what? The wheels fall off.”

“There is, of course, a huge difference in the resources that are accessible to course designers in different countries. When I was in Thailand, I had six helpers as my build team, and communication relied heavily on translation tools. They wouldn't have the experience of the sport that we have been exposed to in the UK, but actually that's what makes it so rewarding to work with those countries, they are so keen to learn and improve. But make no mistake, they've had a lot of investment, and they've got some great horsepower. I was very impressed with the quality of the riding and the feel that was displayed. It’s great to see the sport in different countries, and to appreciate the differences, as well as what we've got back home. It’s an exciting year ahead!”

As preparations continue for another season at Bicton Horse Trials this May, the event represents more than a fixture on the calendar. It reflects the direction of travel for the sport; where welfare, sustainability, and experience are no longer separate considerations, but interconnected priorities. Helen West’s career mirrors that evolution. From rider to organiser, designer to leader, her perspective offers a clear insight into a sport that is not standing still.