Fresh look for dressage championships, plus a new ‘best of British’ concept
A change of venue, different dates and a new concept are on the cards for 2027 as part of British Dressage’s (BD) overhaul of its championships.
The 2027 BD National Championships, held at Somerford Park for the last six years and Stoneleigh before that, will move to Hartpury and will be brought forward two weeks to the end of August, rebranded as the Summer Championships.
BD is also creating a new British Masters initiative to “celebrate the best of British dressage at international level”, which will run at Wellington Riding in June, as part of the existing CDI and CPEDI fixture. It will be open to all BD members who are FEI registered.
Points will be awarded to the top five in each category and, British Masters champions will be crowned at grand prix, small tour, under-25, youth age groups and para (all grades).
At the 2026 BD AGM, chief executive Jason Brautigam said BD has been “reviewing the commercial viability of the national championships in its current form over the last few years”.
He added that Somerford Park has provided “a wonderful home to the nationals”, and that BD is “enormously grateful for the generous support of the King family”, and thanked Kelvin Bywater and his team at Show Direct.
“Escalating costs and declining attendance have obviously made it a challenging event to run on a greenfield site, where we need to bring in temporary infrastructure, power, and facilities,” he said, adding that the format will change from a paid spectator event to a competitor show.
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“We’re aiming to mirror the model we've used successfully for the Winter Championships, where admission is free for all spectators and live streaming available for all classes. This will ensure that the event continues to thrive long term, encouraging greater attendance, enhancing media coverage and providing an increased profile for our competitors, our partners and our sponsors.”
Mr Brautigam said one of the drawbacks of having the nationals in September is that this is after the international season finishes, so “we rarely get to see top British combinations compete”. This led to the idea for the British Masters.
“The event will have a strong British heritage feel and will be a spectator-friendly show with trade stands and hospitality, and people will be able to watch top combinations competing for selection for the major international championships,” he said.
H&H columnist Richard Davison said he loved the championships at Somerford, that it had a “fantastic atmosphere” there, and he is sad to see it move.
“But if it's not viable because of all the extra tentage and temporary facilities they need, I understand the need to innovate and keep trying other venues,” he said.
He added that it is “fabulous” that BD will run the British Masters across so many levels.
“The British Masters is a really interesting concept; the dressage community do like seeing our team horses. The governing body has to bear in mind that, especially in respect of horses based abroad, there will always be exceptions to whether those horses can attend,” he said, adding that he would therefore caution against this developing into a compulsory selection trial.
Fellow H&H columnist Anna Ross said past championships have been great and – without taking anything away from them – she welcomes the news about the new fixtures.
“What I would like to see, and what I think was a really nice part of when the championships were at Stoneleigh, is the two arenas next to each other,” she told H&H.
“Sometimes that could be frustrating – I remember nearly falling off once when the crowd started clapping for the other competitor! – but if they could coordinate the timing, there is nothing more inspiring for a young person than riding into the arena at the same time as a member of the British team. Everybody being in there together really is the spirit of that championship.”
She said she “loves” the British Masters idea, adding that the Wellington show is already top quality, and for fans to have the chance to see likely team contenders just before they go to international championships “will make everybody feel more part of it”.
“Then we’ll have the Summer Championships to look forward to, I think it will be a really nice bounce from one to the next – everyone will have fired up their inspiration to go and knock it out of the park,” she said.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.