Hickstead Set to Host Premier League Dressage in 2021

The team behind Hickstead, The All England Showjumping Course have announced that an exciting three-day fixture for Advanced Medium, to Grand Prix Dressage, will take place in May (21-23), 2021.

Fans and competitors were left hugely disappointed following the closure of the sister site, where the dressage had been held for 27 successful years.

After considerable discussion, planning and investments, the new event will instead be held on the grounds of the world renouned Hickstead.

Dressage at Hickstead had been the brainchild of rider Dane Rawlins and Hickstead founder Douglas Bunn, and it quickly became established as one of the leading dressage venues in the world, with the European Championships taking place there in 2003. It was also the chosen venue for an annual CDIO competition, which included the British leg of the FEI Dressage Nations Cup series.

Dane made the difficult decision to close Dressage at Hickstead in August, and the site has since been dismantled.

We are immensely grateful to Dane for his many years of hard work and dedication to Dressage at Hickstead.”

says Lizzie Bunn, Director of Hickstead.

We understand that many riders were saddened to lose the venue, and while it was unsustainable to keep running the dressage side as a separate entity, we have been working hard this season to formulate plans to hold dressage competitions within the main Hickstead site.”

Recent investments have allowed for £500,000 to be spent on making several existing grass rings into two vast all-weather arenas, with top of the range Andrews Bowen surfaces. During the winter months, these arenas are used for cross-country and showjumping schooling courses, but at the beginning of the 2021 summer season, they will be transformed to create a Premier League dressage venue with a number of arenas running concurrently as well as an international sized warm-up arena.

We want to test the water with our first Premier League show, to gauge the initial levels of support and interest – with a view of going on to potentially bigger events,”

We are currently discussing a number of other options, including hosting existing finals here, plus hopefully an international competition in 2022. But this very much depends on the entire dressage community getting behind this new venture and making it a success.”

Lizzie added.

When informed that dressage would be continuing at Hickstead, a venue he has had so much success at, Carl Hester said:

This is fabulous news and most welcome. We need to keep up the momentum and build our future teams, and venues with world class facilities like Hickstead are key to that. Experienced riders use Premier Leagues to bring our younger horses on, while these events also give up-and-coming combinations a chance to taste the big occasion. On behalf of the riders and owners, I’d like to thank the Bunn family for providing this opportunity, and for continuing the next chapter of Hickstead which will follow on from all that Dane and his team achieved.”

For more information visit www.hickstead.co.uk

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Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.