There’s a whole new burst of energy in Belgian dressage in recent times, and the inclusion of Flore de Winne and Larissa Pauluis in the startlist for the forthcoming FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024 in Riyadh (KSA) has boosted that energy even further.

At the FEI European Championship 2023 in Riesenbeck, Germany last September Belgium bagged one of the three places up for grabs for teams not already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It was a huge moment as it was the first time in 100 years for the country to make the cut by direct qualification rather than having to use the composite team route which relies on rankings. 

Both de Winne and Pauluis were part of that team that not only took the qualifying spot but did it in real style, seizing the second of the three available places thanks to sparkling personal-best performances from Pauluis and her 14-year-old gelding Flambeau and from Charlotte Defalque and Boticelli. 

De Winne, who celebrates her 29th birthday today (5 April), was the rookie of the team. Only in her second season competing at Grand Prix level she too scored strongly with the black stallion Flynn FRH who was just nine years old at the time. 

Eye-catchers

The pair were real eye-catchers and further developed their partnership throughout the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League series.

They finished sixth in London (GBR) in December, posting a Freestyle mark of 77.020, and then produced the first of two consecutive 80% scores to take third with 80.330 on home ground in Mechelen (BEL) as the year was winding to a close. 

In Amsterdam (NED) in January they put 80.315 on the board for sixth place, and although they dropped all the way to 15th and last at the final leg of the WEL series in ’s-Hertogenbosch (NED) last month it is clear that this is a combination full of future potential.

De Winne finished equal-tenth in the Western European League qualifying series.

More mileage

Belgian champion, 44-year-old Larissa Pauluis, is considerably more experienced, and with the 14-year-old KWPN gelding Flambeau competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. 

They lined out in five of the eleven legs of the Western European League this season, and in November finished eighth in Lyon (FRA) and eleventh in Stuttgart (GER). They posted another eighth place in Mechelen at the year’s end, and in their final two outings, at Neumünster (GER) in February and ’s-Hertogenbosch (NED) in March, they filled sixth and ninth places respectively.

However Pauluis has opted to bring the 12-year-old chestnut stallion First-Step Valentin to Riyadh instead. During her super-busy Western European League campaign she also rode him twice, finishing eighth in Madrid (ESP) in November and fourteenth in Basel (SUI) in January, finally finishing joint-14th on the WEL leaderboard.  

First time

It will be the first time for Belgium to be represented by two athletes when the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024 kicks off on 17 April, and both are really looking forward to the challenge. 

“I’m really happy, and it’s an honour to go to my first World Cup Final!”, Pauluis said yesterday. She’s very proud of how well the horse she has had since he was just over two years old has grown to the top level of the sport.

“Valentin is a really nice ride. In his 5-year-old year in 2017 he was awarded the title of champion of France. In Belgium he had six outings and six victories and he qualified for the World Championships where he finished in eighth place and he was champion of France for six-year-olds. In 2019 he was vice-champion of France for 7 year olds and he was twice top-10 in the World Championships at Ermelo at age five and seven”, said the rider who has had the horse under her wing since he was two years old and who knows him very well indeed. 

Opportunity

Flore de Winne said yesterday that going to the Final in Riyadh “is an opportunity not to be missed!”

She acknowledged that herself, Pauluis and Defalque are making waves in the sport right now and are flying the Belgian flag high, “and we hope to continue to be exceptional and to enjoy the moment! We are lucky to have very reliable horses and people around us, and this is already a very special year for us - and it can only get better!”, she added.

She described Flynn as her “once in a lifetime horse”. He’ll travel, along with Pauluis’ stallion Valentin under the watchful eye of her father who wants to be with them every inch of the way to the Final.

“I never rode Grand Prix until I got him at six years old, and he has gone to Grand Prix level with a dummy on his back - me!”, de Winne said with a laugh yesterday. “What he’s done is so extraordinary and he keeps on giving his all even though I’m not the most experienced rider”.

She and Flynn will be joining a sparkling line-up at the 2024 Final in Riyadh, so don’t miss a hoofbeat…..

Find all you need to know about the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024 here

With the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2024 now only just around the corner, a talented bunch of younger riders are already preparing to step onto the big stage alongside the superstars of the sport.

The definite entries list of 35 athletes from 19 countries has been confirmed and it’s all-systems-go.

Oldest

The oldest of the younger generation is 25-year-old Khaled Almobty who will be flying the host-nation flag of Saudi Arabia after firmly claiming his place at the Final with victory in the Middle East Sub-League of the Arab League 2023/2024.  

He made a big impression when a member of the winning team at the Group F Olympic qualifier for teams from Africa and the Middle East staged in Doha, Qatar in February last year.

Picking up just five faults in the first round, he steadied the Saudi ship when round two got off to a shaky restart with nine faults from pathfinders Abdulrahman Alrajhi and Babalou. A lovely clear from Almobty and the former Ellen Whitaker ride Spacecake, with which he had only been partnered for a month, put his team back on course and it was left to WEG 2010 silver medallist Abdullah Alsharbatly to wrap it up for the win.

Almobty brings the 12-year-old mare Spacecake to Riyadh along with the 10-year-old KWPN gelding Jaguar King WD which he started riding in October 2023 and which was formerly ridden by Germany’s Zoe Osterhoff.

Three 22-year-olds 

Egypt’s Abdelrahman Shousha has qualified from the North African Sub-League in which he finished second. This 22-year-old brings the 14-year-old bay gelding Quincy 230 which has been competed by a number of different riders over the last few years, including Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Alsharbatly who steered the horse to three CSI3*-W wins in Kuwait in February this year. 

With Shousha in the saddle Quincy also competed at the CSI4*-W and CSI5*-W in Riyadh in December 2023, so both the horse and rider will be familiar with their surroundings when they canter into the arena for the first competition of the Final on April 17. 

USA’s Sophia Siegel from Portola Valley in California turns 22 on 9 April and will ride the 2010 Swedish Warmblood mare A-Girl. She qualified as one of top three in the North American League West USA, finishing second in Sacramento, California last October and twenty-first at the qualifier in Las Vegas in November. This year she has been busy campaigning at 3* and 4* level at Thermal in California throughout February and March. 

With A-Girl she made her mark when finishing second to Ireland’s Conor Swail and Vital Chance de la Roque at the 4* Marshall and Sterling GP on the Desert Circuit in Thermal, California 12 months ago.

Jeanne Sadran from Toulouse in France is also 22 years old and enjoyed a consistently successful career in ponies during which she gained a lot of experience. 

She had a series of strong results in 2023 and made a big impact on the Western European League qualifying series in 2023/2024. 

Along the way she has been supported by giants of the French sport including Julien Epaillard and, most recently, Simon Delestre. She competed in her first CSI5* in Doha (QAT) in 2018 and finished fifth in the CSI4*-W World Cup in Riyadh in 2020 riding Vannan. With the 11-year-old French stallion Dexter de Kerglenn she has risen up the ranks and she finished second at the WEL qualifier in Bordeaux (FRA) in early February having shown great maturity at top level this season.

Twenty-one

Sara Vingralkova from the Czech Republic was leading the Northern Sub-League of the Central European League series before the Central European League Final in Krakow (POL) in February. She finished second overall in the League standings.

The 21-year-old athlete was a consistent performer at Junior and Young Rider European Championships since 2017. She brings the 12-year-old British-bred gelding How Easy with which she finished fourth in the CSI5*-W Grand Prix in Amsterdam (NED) in January to the Final in Riyadh along with the 14-year-old Belgian-bred gelding Kas-Sini DC with which she finished fifth in the CSI3*-W Gold Tour World Cup Grand Prix in Samorin (SVK) last September.

Youngest competitors

The youngest competitors lining out in this year’s much-anticipated Final are Egypt’s Zain Shady Samir and America’s Skylar Wireman who are both just 19 years old.

Zain will partner the 10-year-old chestnut gelding London Eye which has also been competed by both his father, Shady Samir, and fellow-countryman Mouda Zeyada who was winner of the 2023/2024 North African Sub-League in which Zain finished third behind young compatriot Abdelrahman Shousha.

With London Eye, Zain claimed top-20 placings at the CSI4*-W World Cup qualifier in Abu Dhabi (UAE) in December and at the Longines Al Shira’aa World Cup in January. 

America’s Wireman, who together with her mother, Shayne, runs Chestnut Hills Equestrian in Bonsall, California finished second of the three qualified riders from the North American League West USA this season.

Riding the 10-year-old Swedish-bred Tornado she finished ninth at the first leg of the North American League in Sacramento, California last October, and eighth in Las Vegas, Nevada in November before claiming maximum points for a big win at Fort Worth in Texas in December. 

She started riding as a very small child and rose to prominence in 2020 when, at the age of 15, she won the USEF Showjumping Talent Search Final and finished sixth at the Maclay National Championship. She’s a busy young lady, riding between 10 and 20 horses a day between her own horses and liveries stabled at her busy yard.

She was only having her tenth start with Tornado, who was sent to her as a sales horse but which she bought with the help of some family friends, when she posted the win at Fort Worth three months ago. Her mother is her principle trainer, and she also gets help from time to time from 2004 Olympic team gold medallist Peter Wylde. 

Skylar normally doesn’t have a groom, preferring to do everything for her horses herself, but at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2024 she will be supported by groom Alicia Thompson.  

The record 

Canada’s Mario Deslauriers holds the record as the youngest-ever winner of the FEI Jumping World Cup™ title. He set that record with Aramis in Gothenburg (SWE) in 1984 at the age of 19, and it has never been beaten.

The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2024 in Riyadh (KSA) kicks off with the horse inspection on 15 April so don’t miss a moment and don’t miss a hoofbeat…..

Everything you need to know about the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2024 is here 

The FEI Tribunal has issued a Consent Award in an equine anti-doping case involving a Banned Substance.

In this case, the horse Quastina (FEI ID 107MC69/BRA), tested positive for the Banned Substance Stanozolol following samples taken at the CSI5*-W São Paulo SP (BRA), 22 - 27 August, 2023.

The athlete, Lucio Vinicius De Oliveira Osório (FEI ID 10080702/BRA), admitted the rule violation and accepted the consequences. In its final decision the FEI Tribunal disqualified the horse from the event and imposed an 18-month ineligibility period on the athlete; the provisional suspension he already served shall be credited against the imposed ineligibility period. The athlete was also fined CHF 1,500.

The full Decision is available here.

Notes to Editors:

FEI Equine Prohibited Substances

The FEI Prohibited Substances List is divided into two sections: Controlled Medication and *Banned Substances. Controlled Medication substances are medications that are regularly used to treat horses, but which must have been cleared from the horse’s system by the time of competition. Banned (doping) Substances should never be found in the body of the horse and are prohibited at all times.

In the case of an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for a Banned Substance, the Person Responsible (PR) is automatically provisionally suspended from the date of notification (with the exception of certain cases involving a Prohibited Substance which is also a **Specified Substance). The horse is provisionally suspended for two months.

Information on all substances is available on the searchable FEI Equine Prohibited Substances Database.

Last weekend’s tenth and final leg of the North American League at Del Mar in California (USA) brought the 2023/2024 FEI Dressage World Cup™ qualifying season to a close. 

A total of four Leagues took place over the last twelve months across Western Europe, Central Europe, North America and the Pacific with athletes battling for a place at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024 which kicks off in Riyadh (KSA) in just over two weeks’ time.

Pacific

The three-leg Pacific League consisted of a CDI-W in Werribee (AUS) in March and A CDI-W (M) in Boneo (AUS) in October last year followed by the League Final in Cambridge (NZL) in November. 

Pauline Carnovale and Captain Cooks won the Grand Prix at Werribee but the pair had to settle for third in the Freestyle won by Australian compatriot Jessica Dertell and Syriana while Michaelle Baker and Bradgate Park Puccini were runners-up here.

At Boneo, New Zealand’s Mellissa Galloway and Windermere J’Obei W pinned legendary Australian Mary Hanna into second place with Ivanhoe in the Grand Prix while Dertell finished third. And in the Freestyle Galloway and Hanna claimed the same two spots while Australia’s David McKinnon and Forlan finished third.

In this League, which has a particular set of rules, only the winner of the League Final can earn a place at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final and at the last leg which took place at the Takapoto Estate in Cambridge, New Zealand it was a two-way tussle between the host nation’s Melissa Galloway and Wendi Williamson partnering Don Vito MH. 

With clear wins in both the Grand Prix and Freestyle it was 31-year-old Galloway, who has been based in Europe at the van Olst stables in The Netherlands for the last few years, who earned the coveted ticket to Riyadh. With Windermere J’Obei W she finished eighth at the final leg of the Western European League in ’s-Hertogenbosch (NED) two weeks ago with another in a series of personal-best scores.

Central Europe

The 11-leg Central European League began in Olomouc (CZE) in May 2023 and concluded at Motesice (SVK) earlier this month, and the two qualification places up for grabs went to Moldova’s Alisa Glinka and Lithuania’s Justina Vanagaite who finished on level pegging with 80 points apiece.

Vanagaite was first out of the starting blocks with victory in Olomouc riding Nabab, pinning Austria’s Diana Porsche and Douglas into second place. In Mariakalnok (HUN) a few weeks later it was Glinka who grabbed maximum points with Abercrombie ahead of another Austrian, Katharina Haas riding Damon’s Dejaron and then Vanagaite came out on top again at leg three in Pamu (EST) where Finland’s Ville Vaurio and Fairplay came second. 

At the next round in Lipica (SLO) it was third-placed Grete Ayache from Estonia who took the maximum points, and at Brno (CZE) last June Glinka added more points to her tally when finishing sixth. Then it was on to Pilisjaszfalu (HUN) where Ayache’s second-place finish boosted her tally even further while at Samorin (SVK) Vanagaite was back in pole position again before finishing third, ahead of Glinka in fourth, at round eight in Wierzbna Bialy Las (POL). 

Glinka and Ayache both added to their running points tallies at Wroclaw (POL) in October where the best CEL competitor was Hungary’s Benedek Pachl who finished tenth with Donna Friderika, and then Glinka added her last points at the penultimate leg of this League in Motesice (SVK) in November. 

That left her untouchable in the joint lead with Vanagaite on the League table, so at the final leg at the same Slovakian venue earlier this month the top CEL results were posted by second-placed Susanne Krohn and Titolas and Polish compatriot Zaneta Skowronska-Kozubik who finished third with Love Me. 

In the final League standings Ayache finished a strong third with 74 points.

North America

All of the North American League venues were in the USA and the three qualifying places from this series went to America’s Benjamin Ebeling, Kevin Kohmann and Anna Marek.

The action began in Devon last September where Ebeling posted the first of the three wins that would leave him in pole position. At the following leg in Myakka City in Florida in October he made it a back-to-back double with the 16-year-old mare Indeed, pipping fellow-countryman Kohmann riding Duenensee.

In a two-way contest at Thermal in California in November it was five-time Olympian Steffen Peters who reigned supreme with Suppenkasper ahead of fellow-American Tina Caldwell riding Lagerfeld K, and at round four in Ocala, Florida in December it was Kohmann who claimed maximum points ahead of compatriots Jennifer William (Joppe K) and Anna Marek (Fayvel) in second and third.

It was back to Thermal for the next two legs where just two contested round five, and second-placed American Patty Mayer and Pio picked up points in mid-December.

Ebeling and Indeed were the sole campaigners at round six at the same venue, but ten horse-and-rider combinations lined out in Wellington, Florida in January  where Marek and Kohmann added to their points tallies when finished second and third. 

The next two legs also took place in Wellington, Marek pinning Kohmann into second and Susan Dutta partnering Don Design DC into third in early February before Kohmann came out on top at the penultimate leg while Dutta finished second. 

Just two US riders contested the final qualifier at Del Mar last weekend where Anna Buffini and the triple Young Horse champion Fiontini pinned Laura de Cesari and Rossi into runner-up spot.

Western Europe

Five-time FEI Dressage World Cup™ titleholder, Germany’s Isabell Werth, claimed pole position in the Western European League with victory in the last round of the 11-leg series at ’s-Hertogenbosch (NED) two weeks ago. Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry finished second and long-time leader Patrik Kittel from Sweden finished third in the League standings.

Kittel kicked off with maximum cross-over points from his win in the CEL leg in Budapest (HUN) in September and then cemented his strong position when coming out on top at the first WEL leg in Herning (DEN) in October, quickly followed by fourth place at Lyon (FRA) and third in Stuttgart (GER). Third again in Amsterdam (NED) in January and second in Neumunster (GER) the following month he counted his best four finishes to complete with a total of 72 points.

Fry only competed in four events with her World Championship team bronze-medal-winning ride Everdale and posted a double of wins and two second placings. In London (GBR) in December she was pipped by fellow-Briton Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep but she had it all her own way in Mechelen (BEL) two weeks later. The Dutch-based rider then came out on top at Amsterdam (NED) in January but had to settle for runner-up spot behind Werth at the last leg in the series in Den Bosch, finishing on a total of 74 points,

That last-leg victory gave Werth the League victory as she amassed 77 points having also won in Stuttgart (GER) in November and Basel (SUI) in January, And it was a reversal in fortunes in Den Bosch when Fry, who had pipped her in Amsterdam, had to settle for runner-up spot this time out.

The remaining top-ten in the final WEL standings were Matthias Alexander Rath (GER), Nanna Skodborg Merrald (DEN), Morgan Barbancon (FRA), Raphael Netz (GER), Emmelie Scholtens (NED), Borja Carrascoas (ESP) and Flore de Winne (BEL) who finished in that order.

Check out the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Leagues 2023/2024 here  

And check out the final list of entries for the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024 in Riyadh (KSA) here

The FEI Tribunal has issued its Final Decision in a case involving a Prohibited Substance.

In this case, the horse Chaman Ginn (FEI ID 106DF41/ARG), ridden by Juan Benitez Gallardo (FEI ID 10105043/ARG), at the CCI4*-S in Quillota (LTU) 8-12 December 2023, tested positive for the prohibited substance O-Desmethylvenlafaxine.

The athlete was able to trace the probable source of the Banned Substance in the horse’s system back to human cross-contamination caused by his support personnel, who urinated in the box of the horse while being on medication, which was very likely to account for the positive sample.

In its Final Decision, the FEI Tribunal accepted the agreement reached between the FEI and the athlete, according to which the athlete had clearly established on a balance of probabilities, how the Banned Substance 0- Desmethylvenlafaxine entered the Horse’s system. Therefore, the period of ineligibility imposed on the athlete shall be eliminated. The athlete will also not incur any fines, however the results obtained at the event remain disqualified.

The full Decision is available here. 

Notes to Editors:

FEI Equine Prohibited Substances

The FEI Prohibited Substances List is divided into two sections: Controlled Medication and *Banned Substances. Controlled Medication substances are those that are regularly used to treat horses, but which must have been cleared from the horse’s system by the time of competition. Banned (doping) Substances should never be found in the body of the horse and are prohibited at all times.

In the case of an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for a Banned Substance, the Person Responsible (PR) is automatically provisionally suspended from the date of notification (with the exception of certain cases involving a Prohibited Substance which is also a **Specified Substance). The horse is provisionally suspended for two months.

**Specified Substances

The FEI introduced the concept of Specified Substances in 2016. Specified Substances should not in any way be considered less important or less dangerous than other Prohibited Substances (i.e. whether Banned or Controlled). Rather, they are simply substances that are more likely to have been ingested by horses for a purpose other than the enhancement of sport performance, for example, through a contaminated food substance. Positive cases involving Specified Substances can be handled with a greater degree of flexibility within the structure of the FEI Regulations.

Information on all substances is available on the searchable FEI Equine Prohibited Substances Database.

Think Outside The Box

Think Outside The Box is a campaign created to raise awareness around the risk of contamination in and around the stables, and the potential consequences from a rule’s violation perspective as well as general health and safety for horses.

The campaign is centred around four core themes – Behave, Organise, Maintain and Secure – with each theme broken down into specific actionable points and the risks should they not be addressed. The risk for contamination and consequences for EADCMR violations such as disqualification and suspension, being the core driver of the campaign, feature prominently as does safety messaging in relation to intoxication, injury and potential fire hazards.

The campaign portal www.fei.org/think is available in three languages – English, French and Spanish - and includes downloadable assets for the public to promote and endorse the campaign natively on their own platforms as well as dedicated sections for ambassadors and supporters, including the International Grooms Association and Equestrian Organisers Association among others.  

In a competition that was as unpredictable as it was exciting, Ireland came out on top with a superb team effort at the second leg of the Longines League of Nations™ staged at the World Equestrian Centre in Ocala, Florida (USA) tonight, where Switzerland finished second ahead of the American hosts in third place.

The 10 best teams in the world are battling it out over four qualifying events for the eight places on offer at the series Final in Barcelona (ESP) in early October, and today’s line-up included eight of the top 10, and 16 of the top 20 riders in the world rankings. With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games just around the corner all were out to impress, and when nine of the 10 team pathfinders jumped clear over Alan Wade’s 12-fence track it looked like a very even contest.

But then the surprises began to unfold, with the Olympic and World champions from Sweden missing the cut into the second round along with the British. In contrast the Dutch, the Irish and the American hosts all went through on a zero scoreline. 

Drama and tension

The new format, with just three of the four team members returning for round two in which every score would count, again produced plenty of drama and tension. Lying eighth, Brazil led the way in round two, and their final tally of 26 faults still saw them move up two places to sixth place in the final analysis.

The Swiss, carrying eight faults, then solidified their position when both Steve Guerdat and Is-Minka and Martin Fuchs with Leone Jei posted double-clears while Pius Schwizer was foot-perfect this time out with Just Special VK.

Team Germany, winners at the series-opener in Abu Dhabi last month, added 12 for a total of 20 faults, and when Kevin Staut had a fall from Beau de Laubry Z who stopped at the third fence then that was elimination for the French. Meanwhile the Belgians, in fourth after round one on just four faults, dropped right down to seventh place when Niels Bruynseels’ Delux van T&L ducked out at the penultimate narrow vertical located close to the in-gate, incurring 21 faults.

The Dutch lost their grip when the very much on-form partnership of Willem Greve and the mighty stallion Highway TN NOP left three on the floor second time out. The pair who shone so brightly on home ground at ’s-Hertogenbosch just a few short weeks ago ran into trouble at the line from the open water at fence four to the following vertical and then the oxer at fence six, picking up 12 faults. This section of the track was hugely influential all day, and when the first element of the double at seven and the triple bar at fence nine were raised in round two they also influenced the final result.

On the sidelines

Shane Sweetnam and his 10-year-old Otis Blue had produced one of Ireland’s three first-round clears but team manager Michael Blake decided to leave this pair on the sidelines second time out and to bring in Cian O’Connor whose services hadn’t been required first time out because Sweetnam, Darragh Kenny (Amsterdam 27) and Daniel Coyle (Legacy) had all jumped clear.

But his side began to look vulnerable when second-round pathfinders Kenny and Amsterdam 27 clipped that first element of the double at seven before American star Laura Kraut brought Baloutinue home for a brilliant double-clear. However Coyle and Legacy put Ireland back on the map with their second clean sheet of the day, so when Kent Farrington’s Landon racked up eight faults then suddenly the Irish had a one-fence advantage. 

As last Irishman O’Connor rode into the ring he knew a fence down could lead to a jump-off with the US if last-line American McLain Ward followed with a clear from Callas. And nobody was betting against that.

O’Connor’s horse, Maurice, had not jumped the first round so hadn’t seen the arena which was now under lights, and the 12-year-old gelding looked a little unsure as the Irish pair set off. But he grew in confidence as his round progressed and the only thing showing on the scoreboard as he crossed the line was a single time penalty to bring the Irish tally to five. That would prove plenty good enough to win the day when Ward’s mare, Callas, hit the middle element of the triple combination in an otherwise foot-perfect run.

Second place would go to Switzerland on eight and third to the USA who finished on 12 faults along with The Netherlands, the Americans getting the edge when their combined times left them almost a second faster. 

Tactics 

Irish team manager, Michael Blake, talked about the tactics he employed on his way to victory today. 

“We always knew if things went according to plan we would go with the three (riders) we went with in the second round. And with Shane, Darragh and Daniel giving us the clear rounds (in the first round) we had a short discussion whether we would jump Cian or not, and the horse having jumped so well under lights in Wellington we decided to go with the fresh horse”, he explained. He was very grateful to Sweetnam for bringing the 10-year-old Otis Blue into the team at the last minute.  

“Shane was really good to step in when Bertram (Allen) took a fall last week, Shane was riding a horse that had never done a Nations Cup before, so we are really thankful to him and his owners for making the horse available to us”, he said.

Sweetnam described the grey as “a very talented horse, but he’s only really started doing anything near this level in the last couple of months and I said to Michael he has the ability to do it but I don’t know does he have the experience yet. But he showed he had today and we got the job done and got us into a good position for the second round”.

Kenny said today’s class was super-competitive. “This is a fantastic new idea with the Longines League of Nations, and everyone was trying to win. My horse  (Amsterdam 27) has been jumping great in Wellington, and the first round felt super. He’s an older horse and he’s done a lot in his career but I’m still getting to know him myself and it feels like every round is getting better and better”.

Extraordinary

Coyle and Legacy have been enjoying an extraordinary run of form of late. “This was always Legacy’s plan after the World Cups earlier in the year, I talked to Michael and he said he’d select her for here if everything goes well. It has taken years to get to the bottom of Legacy and maybe to the bottom of me and how we work best together. I’m happy with how it worked out today, delighted with the way she jumped”, said the 29-year-old who has been blazing a trail at the highest level of the sport with the 14-year-old mare.

O’Connor was delighted to have sealed the win today. “You can only deliver when last to go if the team have done their job, and my job was easy riding with these three guys, they had amazing clear rounds and they set the whole thing up for me!”, he said. 

Chef d’Equipe Blake told O’Connor he could afford a time fault, “but I didn’t really want to ride for a time fault at the beginning of the course because if you have a fence late then you miss out on a jump-off. But when he jumped out of the combination I just started to take a breath and I had an extra stride to the last and I gave the horse a moment and we picked up a fraction of time but I was happy, we had the job done!”, he said.

With 190 points now on the board after their runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi and today’s victory, Team Ireland now head the Longines League of Nations™ leaderboard ahead of Germany in second with 160 while Switzerland has moved into third with 150 points. 

Next stop in the series is the third leg at St Gallen (SUI) on 31 May, so don’t miss a hoofbeat…. 

Result 

Bonneau discovered his passion for horse riding at the age of 12 thanks to Gérald and Michel de Béjarry. At the age of 18, he then went to join his brothers who were already established as professional riders, before setting up his own business in 1984.

Member of the French team from 1987 to 1996, his first participation at a major international event was the FEI Jumping European Championship in St.Gallen (SUI) in 1995, where France took home the bronze medal.

Further career highlights include his role as French Chef d’Equipe from 2000 to 2006, where he led the French team to gold at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Jerez de La Frontera (ESP) in 2002 and to team silver at the FEI Jumping European Championship in Donaueschingen (GER) in 2003.

“I had the pleasure of getting to know Jean-Maurice at Events and through our work together within the FEI Jumping Committee”, said Chair of the FEI Jumping Committee, Stephan Ellenbruch. “He was passionate and invested in our sport with an open mind allowing for good discussions. His passing is a heavy loss for the Jumping Community”.

Todd Hinde, FEI Jumping Director added “Jean-Maurice was a well-known and much appreciated member of the equestrian community. He will be dearly missed, and fondly remembered.”

The FEI expresses its sincere condolences to Jean-Maurice Bonneau’s family and friends, the French Equestrian Federation (FFE) and the global equestrian and Jumping communities.

At the end of another busy season, the final standings are confirmed in all 12 FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2023/2024 Leagues around the globe. A total of 719 athletes from 64 countries competed across six continents, and 525 collected points on their respective League tables. 

Final competition

The final competition of the eight-leg North American League took place last Sunday at Ocala in Florida, USA with victory for Ireland’s Daniel Coyle which confirmed his place at the top of the League table after a spectacular run of form on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 29-year-old who rides for Canada’s Lothlorien Farm collected his first points in Toronto in November, but it was his decision to take in some of the Western European League events that sent him on his way to racking up a total of 75 which left him well clear of Israel’s Daniel Bluman in second spot on 43. 

Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam finished third ahead of Great Britain’s Jessica Mendoza in fourth while America’s Jill Humphrey slotted into fifth in the final League standings and was the highest-placed West USA athlete with good results in Las Vegas and Fort Worth in November and December. Yet another Irishman, Conor Swail, finished sixth.

Coyle’s pathway to success really opened up when he finished third with the great mare Legacy in London, Great Britain in December following a mighty battle with home athletes Ben Maher and Scott Brash. And he then got into top gear with wins at the following two Western European legs in Leipzig, Germany and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

On Sunday he partnered his new ride, the aptly-named 11-year-old grey gelding Incredible, to pin US star Kent Farrington into runner-up spot in Ocala to make it three successive Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ victories, and he will definitely be one to watch out for at the Longines 2024 Final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in four weeks’ time.  

Smallest

The South East Asian League was the smallest numerically, with a total of nine Indonesian competitors chasing points over three legs on home soil in Jakarta-Pulomas and Cinere-Depok in November and December. League winner was 35-year-old Ferry Wahyu Hadiyanto who topped the line-up twice with the 10-year-old mare Cascadella de Revel G. Runner-up was Marcho Alexandro and Erwin Yoga finished third.

It was an all-Kiwi affair in the five-leg New Zealand League which kicked off in Hastings in October and concluded at Woodhill Sands in Auckland in early January where Brooke Edgecombe was crowned champion. It was a first-ever title success for the 43-year-old rider who twice won the series final and twice finished second on the League table. Jake Lambert and Alaid de Chez Nous won the final leg this time around, but after a strong run of form Edgecombe’s third-place finish with LT Holst Andrea was enough to give her a one-point advantage over Sophie Scott in the final league standings while Julie Davey finished third ahead of Maurice Beatson in fourth place. A total of 17 athletes competed in this League.

On top

The Japan League ran from April to December last year attracting 22 participants and Shinichiro Sugiyama came out on top after competing in all seven legs. The action took place in Osaka, Kakegawa, Nasu, Fuji and Miki, and  the 44-year-old rider partnered the 13-year-old Hannoverian gelding Rising Sun throughout the series, picking up points at every outing and posting a double of wins at Osaka in October and Miki in December. 

Runner-up was Yugo Mori with the 16-year-old gelding Kay Em Bambalou while Kazuki Takizawa finished third and Daijiro Mashiyama fourth.

The South African League took place from May to October 2023, visiting venues at Midrand, Kromdraai, Shongweni and Brits. Bronwyn Meredith dos Santos won the six-leg League ahead of Ashlee Healy in second and Lisa Williams and Jeanne Korber in third and fourth places.

The League champion rode both the 14-year-old Polish-bred mare Bibisi and the 13-year-old grey stallion Capital Levubu, Bibisi giving Meredith dos Santos a great start with the win at Midrand last May where they pipped Korber and Callaho Lexington for pole position. Ashlee Healy and Eldo won round two in Kromdraai, Williams steered Campbell to victory in Shongweni in June and Ronnie Healy came out on top with Capital Magic Boy at Brits in July. Oliver Bishop and Gaucho claimed the main honours at the penultimate leg in Shongweni and George Coutlis and Callaho Lord Cris won the last round at Brits in October where Meredith dos Santos had to settle for ninth but with a total of 61 points was confirmed League champion. A total of 32 athletes competed in this League.

Clinched the title

The Central European League came to an exciting climax at the Final in Krakow, Poland last month where Latvia’s Kristaps Neretnieks clinched the title ahead of Czech Republic’s Sara Vingralkova while Angelos Toulopis from Greece finished third. 

Toulopis was one of just two contenders from the CEL Southern Sub-League, the remainder of the 15 starters all emerging from the CEL Northern Sub-League. And the form-book held true. 

Vingralkova had won the Northern League while Neretnieks finished second in the same Sub-League. Meanwhile Toulopis was always a major contender after topping the Southern Sub-league leaderboard.

Carrying their five best results from their respective Sub-Leagues, the 15 finalists faced three further competitions in Krakow to decide the CEL title, and Neretnieks finished best of the three who eventually landed on the podium when ninth in the opening Speed leg with Tender van de Kleiberg Z which added eight points to his tally. 

Victory with Quintes in the second class added 20 more, and with 34 in the final competition the 34-year-old rider completed on a total of 126 for a clear victory over 21-year-old Vingralkova who, however, finished just a single point ahead of Touloupis in third. A total of 126 athletes lined out in the Central European League.

Arab League

The Arab League consists of two Sub-Leagues, and Egyptian riders dominated the North-African Sub-League while riders from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia claimed first and second places in the Middle-East division.

Tokyo Olympian Mouda Zeyada headed Abdelrahman Shousha and Zain Shady Samir to make it an Egyptian one-two-three in the final rankings of the North-African Sub-League, while Morocco’s El Ghali Boukaa and Vincent Zacharias Bourguignon finished fourth and fifth here. 

Zeyada picked up points in the first two legs in Tetouan and Rabat in Morocco last October with If Looks Could Kill OH and then finished second in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in early December before posting a fifth-place finish at the same venue a week later which left the 28-year-old athlete carrying 50 points. His nearest rival and compatriot Shousha completed with 36 points and Samir took third spot with 28. 

Meanwhile in the Middle East Sub-League Saudi Arabia’s Khaled Almobty, team gold medallist at the Asian Games in 2018 who also competed at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2019, collected 16 points for third place in Riyadh in early December before posting a win with Davenport VDL in Al Ain in the UAE as 2023 was coming to a close. More points at Abu Dhabi in January and Kuwait in February were then reinforced by 20 points for fourth place with Spacecake in Sharjah (UAE) four weeks ago.

His fellow-countryman Ramzy Al Duhami claimed second place on the Middle East Sub-League table and Salim Ahmed Al Suwaidi landed third. A total of 68 athletes contested these two Sub-Leagues.

In action

Down under there were 45 athletes in action between March and December 2023, and Australian League winner, 30-year-old Thomas McDermott, lined out at every one of the eight events, producing spectacular results from the 11-year-old Irish-bred Cooley Gangster whose early career was spent in the sport of Eventing with Ireland’s Katie O’Sullivan in the saddle. 

The Australian duo finished seventh at Shepparton last March where Sarah-Louise McMillan and Tyrone came out on top, and then won the following leg in Werribee. They were third at Larapinta in April, eleventh at Caboolture in June and sixth in Sydney in August before posting their second win, this time in Tamworth, later that month. 

With just two legs left to go they finished third, behind McMillan again in pole position and Robert Palm and Jaybee Vibrant in to second, at Sale in November. And they wrapped it all up with a runner-up result behind Samuel Overton and Oaks Cassanova at the final leg in Sydney in December. With their five best results counting they racked up a total of 80 points to pin McMillan into second on the league standings while Madeline Sinderberry finished third.

Eurasian League

The Eurasian League attracted 47 athletes, with points on offer at six events between April and September last year. Riders from Uzbekistan dominated the final standings when filling the top five places led by Khurshidbek Alimdjanov.

The winner only lined out at the first three fixtures, finishing fifth with the nine-year-old Hannoverian stallion, Champions League, on home ground in Tashkent in round one last April before winning next time out at the same venue a few weeks later. A second victory, at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan in May, was enough to seal victory for the 43 year-old rider who competed at the Asian Indoor Games in Turkmenistan in 2017 and at last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. 

Second place on this league table went to Nurjan Tuyakbaev while Bekzod Kurbanov finished third, Saidamirkhon Turgunboev finished fourth and Azam Tolibbaev finished fifth. Iran’s Faramarz Babolhavaeji finished in sixth place. 

The South American South League consisted of five legs that took place between April and November 2023 and it was no surprise when Brazilian riders filled the lion’s share of the top places led by five-time Olympian Doda de Miranda.

The 51-year-old whose record in the Pan-American Games includes team gold in 1999 and team silver in 2011 campaigned at three of the five qualifiers in the series and sealed victory with wins partnering Dinozo un Prince at both the first leg in Curtiba and the third leg in São Paulo. 

Second place in the standings went to Guilherme Dutra Foroni while Stephan de Freitas Barcha finished third and Paulo Roberto Brasileiro Miranda finished fourth. Argentina’s Leandro Moschini broke the Brazilian stranglehold when finishing fifth but the next ten places also went to Brazilian competitors. A total of 67 competed in this League.

Western Europe

The Western European League had 14 legs this season, and a total of 172 athletes lined out between October 2023 and February 2024 with 97 obtaining points. 

The league began with a double of victories for Ireland’s Richard Howley in Oslo, Norway and Helsinki, Finland while Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet scooped the honours at leg three in Lyon, France. Olympic champion, Great Britain’s Ben Maher won the fourth leg in Verona, Italy and also in November Frenchman Kevin Staut and Germany’s Marcus Ehning won in Stuttgart, Germany and Madrid, Spain. 

In December there were two more British wins, Harry Charles taking top spot in A Coruña, Spain and then Ben Maher making it a season double with a big home victory in London. Germany’s Christian Ahlmann won the ninth leg in Mechelen, Belgium to bring 2023 to a close. 

Belgium’s Pieter Devos then won leg ten in Basel, Switzerland to get the new year off to a start before Irishman Daniel Coyle posted his two-in-a-row in Leipzig and Amsterdam. Reigning European champion, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, headed the line-up at the penultimate leg in Bordeaux, France and the final winner of the busy season was 24-year-old Dutchman Lars Kersten who took everyone by surprise in Gothenburg, Sweden last month.

League winner however was longtime leader and longtime world number one Henrik von Eckermann from Sweden who racked up a massive 86 points. Britain’s Harry Charles and von Eckermann’s compatriot Peder Fredricson finished level on 73 points but Charles got the nod for runner-up spot while Maher finished fourth, Staut finished fifth and Guerdat - three-time FEI Jumping World Cup™ champion - finished sixth in the final ranking.

The FEI Tribunal has issued a Decision confirming the terms of the Settlement Agreement reached by the parties in an equine doping case involving a Banned Substance.

In this case, the horse Kenlock Cadillac (FEI ID: 106JG79/AUS), ridden by Rebekah Italiano (FEI ID: 10065197/AUS), tested positive for the Banned Substance Warfarin following a doping control at the CCI4*-S-Ballarat VIC (AUS), 6-7 May 2023.

The FEI notified the athlete of the positive results for the Banned Substance on 4 September 2023 and, in accordance with the  Equine Anti-Doping Rules, provisionally suspended the athlete from the date of the notification. The FEI also provisionally suspended the Horse for two months from that date.

The FEI Tribunal was satisfied that the athlete had established, on a balance of probabilities, that the source of the Prohibited Substance arose from a contamination of the Horse feed by rats and consequentlythe athlete bears No Significant Fault or Negligence for the rule violation. The athlete was sanctioned with a two-month Ineligibility Period, starting from the date of the Final Decision (the Provisional Suspension already served by the athlete was credited against the imposed Ineligibility Period). The results of both, the athlete and horse, obtained at the Event were disqualified. Furthermore, the athlete was also fined with 3’000 CHF and asked to bear the costs of 1000 CHF for the B sample analysis.

The full Decision is available here. 

Notes to Editors:

FEI Equine Prohibited Substances

The FEI Prohibited Substances List is divided into two sections: Controlled Medication and *Banned Substances. Controlled Medication substances are medications that are regularly used to treat horses, but which must have been cleared from the horse’s system by the time of competition. Banned (doping) Substances should never be found in the body of the horse and are prohibited at all times.

In the case of an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for a Banned Substance, the Person Responsible (PR) is automatically provisionally suspended from the date of notification (with the exception of certain cases involving a Prohibited Substance which is also a **Specified Substance). The horse is provisionally suspended for two months.

**Specified Substances

The FEI introduced the concept of Specified Substances in 2016. Specified Substances should not in any way be considered less important or less dangerous than other Prohibited Substances (i.e. whether Banned or Controlled). Rather, they are simply substances that are more likely to have been ingested by horses for a purpose other than the enhancement of sport performance, for example, through a contaminated food substance. Positive cases involving Specified Substances can be handled with a greater degree of flexibility within the structure of the FEI Regulations.

Information on all substances is available on the searchable FEI Equine Prohibited Substances Database.

The FEI Tribunal has issued its Final Decision in a human doping case.  

This case involves an adverse analytical finding for the prohibited substances listed in Class S1.1 Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List 2022.

A sample taken from the Polish Dressage athlete Katarzyna Milczarek (FEI ID 10003275) on 7 August 2022, during the FEI World Championships held in Herning (DEN), returned positive for Testosterone and metabolites. The athlete was notified of the violation of the FEI’s Anti-Doping Rules for Human Athletes (ADRHA) and provisionally suspended on 27 September 2022.  

In its Final Decision, the FEI Tribunal decided to suspend the athlete for a period of 16-months, commencing from the date of the Operative Decision, for the violation of article 2.1 of the ADRHA – presence of a prohibited substance in the athlete’s sample. The Provisional Suspension already served, was credited against the imposed ineligibility period and accordingly the suspension was lifted on 26 January 2024. Additionally, all results obtained by the athlete at the FEI World Championships as well as all results obtained by the athlete as of the sample collection date until the imposition of provisional suspension were disqualified.

The parties can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of receipt of the decision.

The FEI Tribunal’s Final Decision is available here.

Notes to Editors:

FEI Clean Sport - human athletes

The FEI is part of the collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport led by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The aim of this movement is to protect fair competition as well as athlete health and welfare.

WADA’s Prohibited List identifies the substances and methods prohibited in- and out-of-competition, and in particular sports. The substances and methods on the List are classified by different categories (e.g., steroids, stimulants, gene doping).

As a WADA Code Signatory, the FEI runs a testing programme for human athletes based on WADA’s List of Prohibited List of Substances and Methods and on the Code-compliant FEI Anti-Doping Rules for Human Athletes (ADRHA).

For further information, please consult the Clean Sport section of the FEI website here.