Scheduling challenges and rising costs mean historic venue cancels international dressage

The Royal Windsor Horse Show will not host a dressage competition in 2025, as the CDI classes have been deemed financially unviable.

Aside from a Covid-enforced hiatus from 2020 to 2022, a CDI has been hosted at Windsor for eight years. Charlotte Dujardin and Uthopia claimed victory in both the grand prix and freestyle during the event’s first edition in 2014, and Gareth Hughes (Classic Goldstrike) and Emile Faurie (Bellevue) took top honours in the grand prix and freestyle last year.

For dressage fans both at home and abroad, Windsor holds lasting sentimental value as the host of the 2009 European Dressage Championships. It was one of the most exciting competitions of the modern era – Britain secured a team silver medal, Edward Gal and Adelinde Cornelissen traded world record scores at the top of the leaderboard, and Totilas announced his arrival on the world stage with one of the most iconic freestyle performances in the sport’s history.

For many, the memory of that historic competition still lingers, adding to the disappointment of losing the dressage fixture at such a venue.

“In recent years [the CDI] has been generously sponsored by Defender,” a spokesperson from organisers HPower Group said. “The format of the competition means that we have to run the grand prix class on the Wednesday before the main opening of the show on Thursday.

“The costs of opening the showground for that one class on Wednesday combined with the high costs of running the actual event itself, has led to the difficult decision not to continue with CDI4* dressage at Windsor in 2025.

“However, we will be staging a dressage masterclass on the Thursday of the show. More information will be released shortly but it is shaping up to be a very appealing replacement.”

The financial sustainability of international dressage events in Britain has increasingly come under pressure. Rising operational expenses and inconsistent sponsorship have made it challenging for organisers to keep these events viable.

Unlike other disciplines, dressage also faces greater challenges in attracting large audiences and commercial backing, leaving organisers struggling to cover expenses.

The cancellation of the CDI at Windsor comes on the heels of the loss of the All England Dressage Festival at Hickstead, announced last October.

Despite this loss, HPower has confirmed that it will continue to run an FEI Dressage World Cup qualifier at the London International Horse Show.

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