POTENTIAL sponsors are being asked to saddle up and ride to the rescue of a popular horse show.

Organisers of Brinkworth Horse Show have been struggling to attract backing for the event, which is one of the highlights of the summer for many local riders.

Now they have launched a desperate appeal for help from local businesses.

Committee member Sara Jeapes said in the past the show had been able to donate money to charity, but in recent years money had been too tight.

Staging the show costs in the region of £5,000. The insurance premium alone is £600. Without insurance the show cannot go ahead. Other expenses include first aid cover, marquee hire and a donation for the use of the site.

A contribution is also made to the air cadets who provide marshals for the car park, “because without people like them we wouldn’t be able to run the show.”

Two years ago the afternoon classes were washed out by torrential rain and the departure of the St John Ambulance first aiders.

“Without them we couldn’t continue,” she explained. “Last year we were trying to recover from that.”

This year they had taken the decision to cut show jumping from the programme. She said the local firm they usually hired the jumps from was winding down to prepare for retirement and had sold most of them off.

“It costs about £1,500 to hire the jumps for a day and there isn’t anybody else around here to do it,” said Sara.

“It is a bit of a nightmare. We desperately need to put the show on. When I was younger I was going to a show every weekend in the summer. Every village had a local horse show.”

Brinkworth was one of the few still running in the area but the struggle to keep it going had become almost a full-time job.

It was cancelled in 2007 because of the foot and mouth outbreak, but competitors were back the following year. Six years later it had to move to Grangewood Farm at nearby Dauntsey because its venue had been sold.

Emailing companies, waiting for replies that didn’t come and deciding whether to chase them all took time and effort.

“We never ask for much. I think our biggest sponsor gives us £200,” she said.

Some firms including local estate agents, vets and garden centres had stepped up and taken out adverts in the programme, but some of the larger sponsors had dropped out.

This year’s show schedule for August 21 features more dressage classes, including a chance to turn up and have a go at the discipline. Driving classes are being held the day before.

Showing classes range from leading rein for tots to mountain and moorland native breeds to hunters and veterans. And the gymkhana games, a family favourite, are also still on the programme.

Anyone interested in backing the show can email brinkworthhorseshow@outlook.com for more information.