Floors Castle horse trials fall at financial hurdle

The event returned in 2022 after a three year absence due to Covid

One of Scotland's top equestrian events will not be held next year as it is no longer financially viable.

Organisers of the Floors Castle international horse trials said a significant cash injection would be needed to allow it to return in future.

Kick On Events said it had made the decision not to stage the event in 2024 with "huge regret".

The Scottish Borders trials have attracted some of the top stars in the sport to the region in past editions.

Bruce Edwards, from the organisers of the three-day event, said the decision had ultimately come down to money.

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"There's a number of financial reasons that have all come together to make the final decision but ultimately it has come down to the financial viability of the event," he said.

"We have not been able to make it work."

He said the logistics of organising the event meant it required significant financial support.

"It would be very difficult to make particularly the international stack up without a huge injection of cash from somewhere, whether that's a sponsor or donation of some kind," he said.

"A national event would be easier to make work but we did look at that and discussed it with the estate and at this time felt it wasn't what we wanted to move forward with."

Floors Castle provides an impressive backdrop for the competition

He said planning for the event - held in May - usually began about six months prior to it taking place and took up a large percentage of their time.

However, he said the door remained open for someone to come along and revive the trials in future.

"Never say never but the national event still has significant costs to put on, there would need to be a big change in what we did," he said.

"It is definitely not insurmountable that somebody could want to come along and put money in and move it forward."

Floors Castle said it was "hugely grateful" for the work Kick On Events had done over the past two years.