This year’s London International Horse Show (LIHS) timetable has had a radical shake-up, with just one “extended afternoon performance” on the final day.
The annual festive equestrian extravaganza at Excel London (17-21 December) traditionally runs until the Monday before Christmas and finishes around 10pm after an action-packed evening performance.
However, a new-look timetable for 2026 means the five-day show will conclude after Monday’s afternoon performance at 5.20pm in the International Arena and 6pm in the Thomas Family London Arena. There will not be a separate evening performance.
London International Horse Show grand prix
One of London International Horse Show's headline showjumping classes, the CSI5* Turkish Airlines grand prix, will now bring the curtain down on an “extended afternoon performance” in the International Arena, which is scheduled to start at 11.30am.
This means a bumper six-hour performance for spectators who have bought tickets for Monday. For showjumping fans and competitors, there will now be only one CSI5* showjumping class on Monday instead of two.
John Whitaker: “A really good idea”
John Whitaker, who has competed at the London Horse Show – previously held at Olympia – for half a century, welcomed the timetable change from its usual late-night finish.
“I think I can speak on behalf of all the riders and say this is a really good idea,” John told H&H. “It’s great to be able to get home from shows in good time, so we always like it when the grands prix are held in the afternoon rather than the evening.
“We used to drive the horses home straight after the final evening performance at London, which made for a very late night – early hours of the morning even – finish. That was the easiest option traffic-wise, though, and it feels like a waste of a day if you don’t pack up and leave until the following morning.
“So it’ll be good for everyone at London this year to be finished a bit earlier on Monday.”
The loss of a key London crowd-pleaser
Instead of having two display performances and two Shetland Pony Grand Nationals on the final day of LIHS, these will now be reduced to just the one on Monday afternoon.
The 148cm mini stakes, which last year ran on Monday morning, has been moved to the Thursday morning slot on opening day of the show (17 December).
One casualty of London Horse Show’s new Monday timetable is the crowd-pleasing jockeys challenge in aid of The Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF). In this fun-filled class, teams of highly competitive Flat and jump jockeys such as AP McCoy, Harry Skelton and Oisin Murphy, go head-to-head over the coloured poles, including a joker fence.
The class previously took centre stage on Friday evening after many jockeys had been racing not far away at Ascot. It was held in the 9.40pm slot on Monday evening last year, the final competition of the show, but it has been dropped for 2026.
“A difficult decision”
A spokesperson for the London International Horse Show said: “We are always striving to keep innovating at London; bringing in new and exciting classes and occasionally this does mean replacing something in the schedule.
“Whilst trialling having no Monday evening performance this year we made the difficult decision to remove the jockeys' class. That doesn't mean that it won't return in some way at a future date.”
The jockeys challenge helped raise funds and awareness for the vital work the IJF does in the racing industry and beyond.
A spokesperson for the charity said: "We've been delighted to be part of the London International Horse Show for the past 10 years or so and it's been a fabulous event that raises great awareness of what we do – and is loved by both the crowd and the jockeys alike.
“We love working with the show and am sure we'll be back at some stage in the future.”
There are many more new competitions, masterclasses and displays to enjoy at this year’s London International Horse Show (17-21 December) and you can follow all the news and action with H&H.
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