Hickstead’s Royal International Horse Show keeps Nations’ Cup
Hickstead has retained its place as one of eight European venues to host the new FEI Nations’ Cup Series.
Plans by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) to revamp the show jumping series following the end of a five-year sponsorship deal with Samsung, had led to fears that Hickstead’s Royal International Horse Show would lose the class.
But at CSIO Barcelona on Saturday (20 September) FEI officials announced the new venues: La Baule, France; Rome, Italy; St Gallen, Switzerland, Falsterbo, Sweden; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Aachen, Germany, Hickstead and Dublin.
The only change from the previous competition venues is that Barcelona has been dropped and Falsterbo added.
Daisy Bunn of Hickstead said: “We are absolutely over the moon. We went to Barcelona with a feeling of trepidation but are absolutely delighted.”
Changes to the format of the series include an increase in prize money to Euro 300,000 (£240,000) for each event.
www.hickstead.co.uk
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.