British equestrian magazine Horse and Hound reported that Britain will host a dressage World Cup qualifier for the first time in eight years at the Royal Olympia Horse Show in London in December 2004.
This means that the show will be extended to seven days to accommodate the qualifier.
The FEI awarded the qualifier to December's show following on from the overwhelming success of last year's Horse & Houndsponsored first ever dressage gala evening, which was staged with the possibility of a future World Cup qualifier in mind.
British Dressage chairman Desi Dillingham told Horse and Hound that “this is possibly the most important development in British Dressage in decades. It gives an amazing platform to promote Dressage to a huge audience. It will also give British riders the opportunity to show how good they are in front of their home crowd.”
Richard Davison, who takes on the role of technical advisor again, says: “Olympia is fantastically organised, and the atmosphere is unique, Foreign riders love it. So I hope we'll have a very big uptake from abroad too.”
Until last year, Olympia, now in its 34th year, had normally run over five days. The step up to six days last year, and now to seven, makes it the longest show in Britain, with two top international competitions under one roof.
The last dressage World Cup qualifier held in Britain was at the Horse of the Year Show at Wembley in 1996.
Source: Horse and Hound
Image copyrighted: Dirk Caremans