Organisers of Skelton Show said they were gutted at being forced to cancel the event early this morning.
An estimated five or more inches of rain fell on the venue at Hutton-in-the-Forest in the hours leading up to the event, making the field too waterlogged for the show to go ahead.
Show director John Slee said: “We tried to salvage the situation by getting wood chip in to soak up the water – 54 tonnes, from Jenkinsons – but the rain yesterday afternoon and overnight was phenomenal.
“We met yesterday at 5pm and decided to cancel the horses, then at 6.30am it was obvious we couldn’t continue at all. It would have been unsafe for the public and all the vehicles on the field.
“We’re gutted. I think we would have got up to 10,000 people at the show who were just desperate to be here after two years of COVID. As it is people have still been turning up from all over, including Warrington, Preston and West Cumbria, because our reputation is so good.”
Mr Slee added that the cancellation move had been fully justified when two tractors got bogged down on the field early this morning and had to be chained to other tractors so they could be dragged free from the mud.
Lord Inglewood, who owns the show site, said the cancellation was sad and disappointing but that he completely respected the decision of the organising committee.
He added: “They were just really unlucky with the weather, which was very localised. If the field had been two or three miles further south it could probably have gone ahead.”
With many would-be spectators still turning up at the show site, Lord Inglewood took the decision to open the gardens at his nearby historic home, which would normally have been closed.
