High Easter
Point-to-Point:


Stables: 8m NW of Chelmsford nr A1060 (Exit 8, M11) CM1 4QL

 High Easter is one of the most distinctive and demanding point‑to‑point courses in East Anglia, set in open farmland near Great Dunmow. It has that classic Essex feel: big skies, long views, and a track that looks straightforward at first glance but always asks proper questions of stamina, rhythm, and jumping accuracy. It’s right‑handed, galloping, and usually well‑presented, but the ground can ride testing when the wind gets up across the plateau.

The course is essentially a broad oval on gently undulating land. Horses are rarely on perfectly level ground, and that constant rise and fall shapes the rhythm of a race. The back straight has a steady, energy‑sapping climb that exposes anything racing too freely, while the turn into the home straight opens out into a long, honest run‑in where sustained pace matters more than a sharp turn of foot. Horses that travel kindly and jump economically tend to thrive because the approaches to several fences feel slightly uphill, and anything that wastes energy at the timber can lose momentum quickly.

The fences themselves are solid, fair, and traditionally built, spaced in a pattern that encourages rhythm rather than frantic adjustment. Front‑runners can do well if they settle early and handle the rising ground, but the long straight gives hold‑up horses a chance provided they jump fluently and keep travelling. It’s a track where neat jumping and stamina are rewarded, and where races often change late as horses meet the final rise.

High Easter’s atmosphere is part of its charm. Meetings feel rural, friendly, and well supported, with Essex farming families, hunt followers, and regular East Anglian point‑to‑point fans spread along the rails. On bright spring days the place feels open and expansive; on breezier ones it can be exposed, with the wind rolling across the fields and making the ground ride more demanding than it looks. It remains a proper, honest test — the kind of course where a horse has to jump well, stay well, and cope with a rhythm shaped by long straights and steady gradients.