THE announcement that the I.C.E. Horseboxes All England Dressage Festival will not take place at Hickstead next year has come as a huge blow to riders and fans in Britain and Ireland alike. First held in 2021, the show grew from being a three-day Premier League competition to a six-day CDI3* and CPEDI.

“Regrettably, we’ve made the difficult decision to end our running of our dressage fixture, but we would like to thank all our sponsors, especially I.C.E Horseboxes, as well as organiser David Crockford, and all the riders and owners who supported the fixture over the past four years,” said Hickstead director Lizzie Bunn.

“The timing of the event in May made things challenging due to the weather, but the main reason is that we cannot make it economically viable. The costs – particularly of judges and officials – at over £50,000 are exorbitant and, despite our best efforts, the event still ran at a loss.”

Training centre

In addition to members of Dressage Ireland, who have competed at the west Sussex venue and will miss this international fixture, the show has been used in the past by DI’s judges’ committee. “It’s a huge loss,” said Vida Tansey (List 1), chairwoman of that sub-section. “We used this show for Levels 1 and 2 training and exams and will now have to find another venue.”

Irish international rider Dane Rawlins was very much involved in securing Hickstead as a training centre for Irish judges, while the organisers of the All England Dressage Festival were always very accommodating.