17 February 2014 – International and national Dressage will return to Royal Windsor Horse Show this year after an absence of 4 years, as the UK’s largest outdoor show becomes a CHI (Concours Hippique Internationale) for the very first time.
The CDI3* FEI Dressage Grand Prix will take place on the evening of Thursday 15 May and the CDI3* FEI Dressage Freestyle on the evening of Friday 16 May. Fifteen competitors will be invited to take part, five from the UK and ten from overseas, and it is expected that there will be six nations competing in total. The addition of the International Dressage competition allows Windsor to reintroduce its popular evening programmes, which will also include equestrian displays from The Household Cavalry and The King’s Troop, as well as The Pony Club Mounted Games, The Shetland Pony Grand National, and an Arab Horse Display from Bahrain.
In addition, a new Advanced Medium Freestyle Dressage Championship has been introduced to the programme. The Royal Windsor Freestyle Challenge will be staged on the afternoon of ‘Windsor Wednesday’ (14 May) when Windsor will throw open its gates to all visitors offering free of charge entry for the day.
A total of 12 competitors will be invited to take part in the Championships. Eligibility to receive an invitation will be awarded to the five best placed horse/athlete combinations at the Charles Owen Advanced Medium Open Final at the NAF Five Star Dressage Winter Championships taking place at Hartpury College on Saturday 12 April, and the five best placed horse/athlete combinations in the Nupafeed Advanced Medium Freestyle Final at the same Championships on Sunday 13 April. An additional two wild cards will be offered at the discretion of the Organising Committee*.
As well as International Dressage, Royal Windsor Horse Show 2014 introduces CSI3* Show Jumping to its already established international Driving and Endurance competitions.
The 71st running of the Royal Windsor Horse Show takes place on 14-18 May 2014 in the beautiful grounds of Windsor Castle, Berkshire. For a full programme of events, visit www.rwhs.co.uk.
* In the event of any horse/athlete combination being placed in the first five places of both competitions at the NAF Five Star Dressage Winter Championships, eligibility to receive an invitation will pass to (i) in the first instance, the next best placed horse/athlete combination in the Advanced Medium Open at the NAF Five Star Dressage Winter Championships, (ii) in the second instance, the next best placed horse/athlete combination in the Advanced Medium Freestyle at that same show, (iii) in any number of subsequent instances the next best placed horse/athlete combination in each of the two competitions mentioned above on an alternating basis.
For more information or image requests, please contact Hannah Grissell at Revolution Sports + Entertainment – E: hannah@revolutionsports.co.uk, T: 0207 592 1207.
Tickets can be purchased on the door, online or by telephone. For pre-purchase, visitors should go to www.rwhs.co.uk or telephone the box office on 0844 581 4960 from the UK and +44 (0) 121 767 4660 internationally. Royal Windsor Horse Show is organised by HPower Group, also organisers of Olympia, The London International Horse Show – www.hpower.co.uk.