Colourful figure who brought showjumping to international stage:THE WORLD of showjumping has lost a major figure in Douglas Bunn, who has died at the age of 81. As the owner of Hickstead, he created the most successful permanent jumping course in Britain and has done much to develop the sport internationally.
Douglas Bunn, the son of a wholesale fruiterer, was born at Selsey Bill in Sussex. His father encouraged him to ride, even though his first pony had thrown him through a sheet of glass, and by the age of 10 he had won many junior showjumping competitions.
He read law at Cambridge University and was called to the bar where he practised for six years, but during this time, he continued competitive riding.
Often he attended court wearing white breeches under his gown so that he could go straight from there to compete or to exercise his horses.
He represented Britain as a member of the team at the Royal International Horseshow – and later became captain. He was horseman of the year in 1962.
While still at the bar, he bought 20 acres of marshland from his father, who had used it for grazing horses, and after having it drained, turned it into a holiday caravan park with amenities and amusements. This complex became Bunn Leisure, with four different holiday caravan parks, making it the largest of its kind in Europe and turning Bunn into a multimillionaire.
In 1959, he bought Hickstead Place near Brighton where he established Britain’s first permanent showjumping arena with the highest standard of facilities, giving riders the opportunity to compete against leading continental performers – “a Glyndebourne for horses” – as he put it.
It had a testing course (in 48 years there have only been 49 clear rounds) especially the 10ft 6ins derby bank which, when first built, many riders considered was too dangerous. It was Séamus Hayes who negotiated the bank on Goodbye and won for Ireland the first derby with a clear round. Since then, it has been won 12 times by Irish riders.
Although, as Bunn admitted, it was a mistake to open the course at Hickstead on the day Princess Margaret married Anthony Armstrong-Jones and to have his second day clash with the FA cup final at Wembley, Hickstead became a celebrated equestrian venue.
It hosts the Nations’ Cup and the Royal International Horse Show besides the many different championships that take place here, including the Interschool Showjumping Championships, won in 2005 by Kilkenny College.
There are now six arenas including one for dressage and a polo ground with an all-weather pitch.
In 1974, Bunn had been asked to lunch by the sports producer of the BBC to talk about future events at Hickstead.
After a couple of glasses of port, he devised the Team Chase competition – in which teams of riders tackle challenging cross-country courses against the clock – whose rules were written on the back of the menu. This is now a popular competition in England and Ireland.
With his innovations, he made horse sports fun for the spectator as well as offering new challenges to the competitors.
He was a colourful figure who was not averse to controversy. The most publicised row was with the showjumper Harvey Smith, who had failed to return the Hickstead Derby trophy that he had won the previous year.
There were angry words between the two men, before Smith went on to win the trophy a second time and when passing Bunn on the judges’ balcony, made a two-fingered gesture which Bunn called “disgusting behaviour” and disqualified him.
Smith had the disqualification overturned on appeal and went on to win the trophy twice more.
Hunting was another of Bunn’s sports and he was joint master of the Mid-Surrey Farmers’ Draghounds for 24 years. When the drag took place in Hickstead, he had the line laid over huge drop fences and other formidable obstacles that he delighted in jumping.
He was married, first to Rosemary Pares-Wilson with whom he had three daughters, secondly to Susan Denis-Smith with whom he had two sons and a daughter and with his third wife, Lorna Kirk who predeceased him, two daughters and a son.
Douglas Bunn: born February, 29th 1928; died June 16th, 2009