In March 1982 Threshold Books published their annual review of Horse Trials and it included upcoming fixtures, details of the events and reports from the previous year's competitions. Of the 110 or so venues shown just 11 survive. Some 20,000 starters took part and the season ran from mid March to mid October. Today there are just over 80 venues providing 50,000 starters (down from a peak of 90,000 in 2012). Whereas most events ran on just 1 day for 150 riders today the same events must run over 2 days to be viable as commercial concerns. Such change raises all sorts of questions, but for those organisers who have competed and visited so many events over the intervening time it is remarkable to see the differences.
