Hickstead Derby will go ahead despite the rain

Days of heavy rain, culminating in a near-continuous downpour on Saturday, have forced Hickstead to drastically reorganise its programme for Sunday.

The DFS Derby will continue as scheduled, beginning at 2.30pm, but the rest of the day’s show jumping and showing classes in the International Arena have been moved to outside rings.

“If we hadn’t spent £40,000 on a radical new drainage system, I doubt if we would have been able to use the International arena at all,” said show secretary Lizzie Bunn. “As it is, the arena stood up to three days of use extremely well. We have had to make these changes in order to preserve it for the very demanding DFS Derby class.”

The Hickstead Pony Masters competition has been moved to ring two and will start at 12 noon. The day’s showing championships will be decided in the outside rings immediately after the qualifying competitions.

“There will be a full programme of competition, both show jumping and showing, in the five outside arenas,” said Lizzie Bunn.

www.hickstead.co.uk

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now