The draw for the starting order for tomorrow’s opening competition at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2024 took place tonight at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Riyadh (KSA), and three-time champion, Germany’s Marcus Ehning, will be first to go of the 34 athletes.

The draw was conducted by five-time Olympian Ramzy Al Duhami from Saudi Arabia and Great Britain’s Jessica Mendoza, and the last two into the arena tomorrow evening will be defending champion, Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann, who will be followed by young American Skylar Wireman.  

As Ehning said yesterday this is his twenty-first Final, “so I have a bit of experience in it and I know anything can happen, but so far we are quite relaxed and my horse feels good!”, he pointed out. He will partner the 11-year-old gelding Coolio who he described as “quite a new horse for me, he won the qualifier in Madrid and we are still on the way to find each other but he is a really amazing horse and I’m very hopeful in him”. 

It would be a very special weekend should he become the first-ever four-time FEI Jumping World Cup™ winner because he turns 50 years old this Friday. However also chasing that goal will be Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat who is drawn 26th for tomorrow’s opening Speed and Handiness competition. 

Von Eckermann modestly assesses his own chances, but he and his brilliant gelding who have scooped multiple honours including last year’s Longines title are likely to present formidable opposition in their quest for a back-to-back double of victories.

The story of the 44th Final is about to play out, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Full starting order here….

Some Facts and Figures:

World number one, Henrik von Eckermann and his great horse King Edward, became the first-ever Swedish winners of the coveted Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ trophy in Omaha, USA 12 months ago and return to defend their title this week.

Riyadh, the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, presents the 44th Final, and this is the first time for the event to be staged in the Middle East.

The biggest-ever prize-fund of €2.6m is on offer at this year’s Final.

Austria’s Hugo Simon and Gladstone were the first winners of the coveted title when the inaugural Final was staged in Gothenburg (SWE) in 1979.

There have been five three-time champions - Hugo Simon (AUT), Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA), Marcus Ehning (GER), Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) and Steve Guerdat (SUI).

Both Ehning and Guerdat will be chasing a record-breaking fourth title. 

The star-studded cast of competitors also includes previous winners Christian Ahlmann from Germany and Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs along with world number two and reigning Olympic champion Ben Maher from Great Britain.

Course designer is Germany’s Frank Rothenberger.

The timetable for the three deciding competitions is:

Final 1 - Wednesday 17 April at 19.05 local time

Final 2 - Thursday 18 April at 18.50 local time

Final 3 - Saturday 20 April at 15.45 local time.

The International Horse Sports Confederation welcomes the South African Equine Health and Protocols’ (SAEHP) official release which recently announced the reinstatement of direct exports of registered equines from South Africa to the European Union (EU).

South Africa’s African Horse Sickness (‘AHS’) free zone is now an authorised zone within South Africa from which registered equines are authorised for direct entry into the EU following the required in-country pre-export quarantine period.

The reinstatement of direct exports of registered equines from South Africa to the EU is a very important development for both the South African thoroughbred racing industry as well as for other equine disciplines in the country, and is anticipated to give a significant boost to global equestrian sport over time.

President of the IHSC, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said:

“On behalf of the IHSC, I would like to congratulate the South African Government and SAEHP for achieving this significant development. 
he IHSC has long recognised the importance of facilitating international horse movements, and this breakthrough will prove to be a positive development for both the South African and global equine sport and breeding industry.”

Vice-President of the IHSC, Ingmar De Vos said:

“The IHSC is extremely pleased with this development and in the international equestrian community, we are excited by the restoration of a key industry player after 13 years of relative isolation.
The fact that South African sport horses of all breeds will now have direct entry to the EU and potentially to other major markets will no doubt further enhance the development of our equine disciplines in South Africa and the wider region.” 

About SAEHP
SAEHP operates in a public/private partnership with the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and the Western Cape Department of Veterinary Services, and further collaborates with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to negotiate the reimplementation of direct exports based on EU protocol principles to potential trade partner countries.

Additionally, SAEHP has been supported by private individuals, organisations and bodies in the South African racing industry. In 2021, SAEHP also entered into a funding agreement with The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) and the National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa (NHA), with the purpose of supporting the operation of SAEHP and providing technical support to carry out work related to the restoration of direct export of South African horses to international markets.

Following extensive consultation between the FEI and the respective Organising Committees, the CDIOs of Falsterbo (SWE) and Rotterdam (NED) will not host legs of the FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ in 2024. However, both Events will proceed as regular CDIO5* and CDIO4* competitions, respectively.

In February, CDIO Aachen had declared its decision not to stage an FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ Event in 2024, opting instead to hold a regular CDIO5* Event. 

The Organising Committees of Falsterbo and Rotterdam decision to withdraw from the FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ 2024 was based on their preference to invite participating teams and confirm their participation independently of the updated regulations specified in Article 3.4 of the FEI Dressage Nations Cup Rules 2024.

The updates to the Rules were introduced with the purpose of promoting inclusivity and transparency in the invitation process, and extending invitations to all National Federations (NFs) who wished to participate in the FEI Nations Cup™ Series. 

The rule revision was approved by the FEI Board at their meeting in August 2023 and all National Federations were notified of the change immediately after. 

The FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ 2024 season, which began with its first leg in Wellington (USA) in February will take place in Compiegne (FRA) from 2 to 4 May, followed by Pilisjászfalu (HUN) from 8 to 12 May.

Following this year's Series, all stakeholders will convene to explore future possibilities for the FEI Nations Cup Dressage Series, and we hold an optimistic outlook for its future success.

The FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024, which kicks off in Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a weeks’ time, looks set to be a right royal battle between some of the top names in the sport.  

The 2023 champion and longtime world number one athlete, Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, is not lining out this time around and that leaves it wide open for the rest of the field of 17 horse-and-rider combinations from 12 countries. The flags of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the USA will be flown when the action begins with the Grand Prix on Wednesday 17 April.

First champion

This will be the 37th Final in the history of FEI World Cup™ Dressage which saw its very first champion in Denmark’s Anne-Grethe Jensen who came out on top in ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands in 1986. 

Just six years later, in 1992, Germany’s Isabell Werth claimed her first title partnering Fabienne in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the lady often referred to as “The Queen” of international Dressage continues to be nothing short of phenomenal. She now has a total of five World Cup wins under her belt, and is the most decorated athlete in equestrian sport. She is heading to Riyadh with a sixth title clearly in her sights.

She had to wait 15 years before posting her second victory in Las Vegas, USA in 2007 partnering Warum Nicht FRH and then, 10 years later in Omaha, USA she racked up the first of her three-in-a-row wins with the great mare Weihegold who went on to repeat successes at the Finals in Paris, France in 2018 and Gothenburg, Sweden in 2019. 

Currently second in the world rankings, Werth brings DSP Quantaz to Riyadh after dominating the Western European League qualifying series. With Emilio she posted a win in Stuttgart, Germany in November and a second-place finish in Basel, Switzerland in January behind von Bredow-Werndl which still earned maximum points because her compatriot was not entitled to points as 2023 champion.

Riding DSP Quantaz she had to settle for second place behind Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry and Everdale in Amsterdam later in January but she reversed those placings at the last qualifier in ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands in March, leaving her with a three-point advantage over Fry at the top of the final Western European League leaderboard.

Leading

After leading the series standings for much of the early season, Sweden’s Patrik Kittel finished third. He got off to a flying start with victory at the sixth leg of the Central European League in Budapest, Hungary last June and then added maximum points again at the opening leg of the 2023/2024 Western European League at Herning in Denmark in October. He then lined out in four more legs of the Western European series over the winter months and finished just two points behind Fry at the end of the season, ahead of Germany’s Matthias Alexander Rath in fourth and Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald in fifth.

If the form-book is anything to go by then the real clash is likely to take place between Werth, Fry who is ranked third in the world, Kittel who is ranked sixth and Skodborg Merrald, the latter a member of the historic side that claimed team gold for Denmark for the very first time at the FEI Dressage World Championship 2022 on home ground in Herning, who is ranked fourth. The Dane rode three different horses during the season, finishing second in Herning, Lyon and Stuttgart with Blue Hors Zack, Blue Hors San Schufro and Blue Hors Don Olymbrio respectively, and fourth in Amsterdam with Don Olymbrio who she brings to Riyadh.

Fry of course is a formidable opponent. With the black stallion Everdale she was a member of the British bronze-medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 before taking team silver and both Grand Prix Special and Freestyle gold with her other stallion, Glamourdale, at the World Championship the following year. 

With Everdale she posted two Western European League wins this season at Mechelen, Belgium in December and Amsterdam, The Netherlands in January as well as finishing second in London, Great Britain before Christmas and at the last leg in ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands last month.   

Add in the established and rising talent from the rest of the Western European League and those from Central Europe and North America along with the sole Pacific League contender, Melissa Galloway who brings Windermere J’Obei W, and the stage is set for an intriguing contest.

Theme

Repeat wins are a theme of this Final, and nobody has ever come close to matching the nine posted by The Netherlands’ Anky van Grunsven with her two great horses, Bonfire and Salinero, between 1995 and 2008.

However, no matter the result next week, no-one can rival Werth when it comes to sheer consistency as Riyadh 2024 will be the 24th FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final of her extraordinary career. 

More history will be written in the coming days, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

More about the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2024 Final:

The Ground Jury:

Level 4 Judges  

President - Hans Christian Matthiesen DEN

Janet Lee Foy USA

Peter Storr GBR

Elke Ebert GER

Thomas Lang AUT

Susan Hoevenaars AUS

Maria Collander FIN

Level 3 Judge

Eva-Maria Vint-Warmington EST

The Judges Supervisory Panel

Mary Seefried AUS

Liselotte Fore USA

The Timetable:

Grand Prix - Wednesday 17 April at 13.15 local time

Grand Prix Freestyle - Friday 19 April at 17.15 local time.  

The Competition Format:

FEI Grand Prix - drawn order, draw will take place on Tuesday 16 April at 20.00.

FEI Grand Prix Freestyle - all athlete/horse combinations who completed the FEI Grand Prix with a score of at least 65% will continue to the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle.

Link

Belgium’s Ingmar De Vos, who has served as the FEI President since 2014, has been elected unanimously as the new President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The election took place today, 9 April 2024, at the 48^th ASOIF General Assembly held in Birmingham (GBR) during the SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit. Ingmar De Vos ran unopposed and was elected by secret ballot for a term of four years. He will take up his new position on 1 January 2025.

“I am humbled by today’s result and would like to express my deep gratitude to the Summer Olympic International Federations for their trust,” the newly elected ASOIF President Ingmar De Vos said. “In January 2025, I will be taking over from Francesco Ricci Bitti, a hugely respected figure in the Olympic Movement. I would like to take this opportunity already to pay tribute to his leadership and achievements and thank him for his unwavering support, wise counsel, and great friendship. I am fully aware of the fact that I have big shoes to fill and during my mandate I will make it my mission to continue strengthening the role of the Summer International Sports Federations in the Olympic Movement, focus on an open and constructive dialogue with the IOC, further intensify the communications with and between our IFs, and develop a strategy for the future so that together we can keep contributing to the popularity, appeal, and sustainability of the Olympic Games.”

Key Olympic officials congratulated Ingmar De Vos on his election.

“On behalf of the International Olympic Committee, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Ingmar De Vos on his election as ASOIF President,” IOC President Thomas Bach commented. “We are looking forward to the continuation of the excellent cooperation between the IOC and ASOIF. The International Federations are a fundamental pillar of our Olympic Movement. Since its establishment in 1983, ASOIF has played a vital role in promoting and strengthening the IFs by bringing together the shared interests of each sports federation. In doing so, ASOIF has safeguarded the autonomy of sport and preserved the unity of the Olympic Movement in times when it mattered the most. In his new role, Ingmar De Vos will benefit from his experience as FEI President and an IOC Member.”

“Having served as ASOIF President for almost 12 years, I know that Ingmar De Vos has the experience and stamina needed to lead our organisation,” incumbent ASOIF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said. “I have had the pleasure to work with him not only at ASOIF, but also in other positions. Ingmar is highly experienced, solution-oriented and, most importantly, he has high human qualities. It is also great to know that he enjoys the full support of our membership – something which is key for success. This is a good day for ASOIF and the Olympic Movement.”

"At the Belgian National Olympic Committee, we know Ingmar as a very reliable and hard-working official, who has great integrity and a heart for sport,” Jean-Michel Saive, President of the Belgian Olympic & Interfederal Committee (COIB), stated. “We are very fortunate to be able to build on his expertise for key strategic decisions. I would like to congratulate Ingmar for taking on the key task to lead such a vital organisation within the Olympic Movement as its first Belgian President. I am convinced that he will serve as an excellent President for ASOIF. I wish him all the best."

 

Ingmar De Vos’ biography

A Belgian native, Ingmar De Vos was born on 5 August 1963. He holds Masters degrees in political science, international relations, and international and European law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BEL).

He began his professional career as an advisor to the Belgian Senate. He joined the Fédération Royale Belge des Sports Equestres (Royal Belgian Equestrian Federation) as Director General in 1990 and from 1997 to 2011 served as the Federation’s Secretary General.

De Vos was the co-founder of the European Equestrian Federation (EEF), where he served as Secretary General from 2010 to 2011.

In 2011, Ingmar De Vos joined the FEI as Secretary General.

On 14 December 2014, at the FEI General Assembly held in Baku (AZE), after three years as FEI Secretary General, the Belgian native was elected FEI President in a contested election by an overwhelming majority in the first round of voting. Four years later, at the FEI General Assembly in Manama (BRN) on 20 November 2018, he stood unopposed and was unanimously re-elected for another four-year term. On 13 November 2022, De Vos was re-elected for a third and final term in office by the FEI General Assembly in Cape Town (RSA). He ran unopposed as had been the case four years earlier.

Ingmar De Vos was elected as a Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in September 2017 and is a member of the following IOC Commissions: Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad Los Angeles 2028 (2019 - ); Legal Affairs (2018 - ); and Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (2019 - ). He is a member of the Belgian Olympic Academy and since 2017 he sits on the Board of the Belgian National Olympic Committee (BOIC/COIB).

Since 2016, he has been a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) Governance Taskforce. In 2019 he joined the ASOIF Council.

He has been a member of the Executive Committee of SportAccord, the world sport and business summit, since 2021.

From 2018 to 2022, Ingmar De Vos served on the Foundation Board of the World Anti- Doping Agency (WADA). Since 2018, he is a member of the WADA Executive Committee.

In 2014, he was a delegate to the International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC). He was the organisation’s Vice President (2014-2019) and President from 2020 to 2022. He is currently IHSC Vice President.

Ingmar De Vos is a Gender Champion for the United Nations and is fluent in Dutch, English and French.

 

About ASOIF asoif.com

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) was created in 1983 to unite the International Federations governing the sports on the programme of the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. Since then, its membership has grown to 31 Full Member IFs and two Associate Member IFs.

ASOIF’s mission is to unite, promote and support the Summer Olympic International Federations; to preserve their autonomy, while advocating for their common interests and goals; to act as an added value provider to the member IFs and the Olympic Movement at large.

ASOIF’s role is to serve and represent the Summer Olympic IFs in the most competent, articulate and professional manner on issues of common interest in the Summer Olympic Games, Summer Youth Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement, and on any other matters deemed necessary by the IFs.

 

About FEI fei.org

The FEI is the world governing body for horse sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was founded in 1921. Equestrian sport has been part of the Olympic movement since the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

The FEI is the sole controlling authority for all international events in the Olympic sports of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing, as well as Driving, Endurance and Vaulting.

The FEI became one of the first international sports governing bodies to govern and regulate global para sport alongside its six able-bodied disciplines when Para Dressage joined its ranks in 2006. The FEI now governs all international competitions for Para Dressage and Para Driving.

Photo caption: On 9 April 2024 Ingmar De Vos of Belgium was elected as the President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

Dethroning the defending champions will be no easy task when the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2024 gets underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia next week. 

Henrik von Eckermann and his mighty chestnut gelding King Edward wrote a page of equestrian history when becoming the first-ever Swedish winners of the coveted title in Omaha, USA 12 months ago. And the pair whose resume also includes team gold and individual fourth place at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 and double-gold at the FEI Jumping World Championship in Herning, Denmark in 2022 before claiming the coveted World Cup title in 2023 continue to ride the crest of an incredible wave that has left the Swedish athlete top of the world rankings for 21 consecutive months.

44th Final

Riyadh, the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, presents the 44th Final, and this is the first time for the event to be staged in the Middle East. With the biggest prizefund ever of €2.6m up for grabs there’s a whole lot to play for when the action gets underway, including the prestige of joining the Roll of Honour that lists so many of the true stars of this sport down the years.

From 1979 when Austria’s Hugo Simon and Gladstone first held the trophy aloft at the inaugural Final in Gothenburg, Sweden through the heady years of back-to-back champions Ian Millar and Big Ben from Canada in 1988 and 1989 and John Whitaker and the much-adored Milton who had to settle for runner-up spot in 1989 but then came back to steal the limelight for Great Britain in 1990 and 1991 this has been the title-of-titles for Jumping athletes.

There have been five three-time champions, and the most remarkable of these was Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa who, along with the great stallion Baloubet du Rouet, won three times in succession between 1998 and 2000. Adding an extra edge to this year’s Final is the fact that two of the other three-time champions are coming back in a bid to become the first four-time winner.

Extraordinary record

One of these is Germany’s Marcus Ehning who has an extraordinary record in the series. 

Riyadh will be his twenty-first Final, his first dating back to 2001 in Gothenburg where he finished 31st with For Pleasure. Two years later, in Las Vegas, USA in 2003, he won his first title with Anka, pinning Pessoa and Baloubet du Rouet into second place. He came out on top again in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur in 2006 riding Sandro Boy, this time pipping Ireland’s Jessica Kürten and Castle Forbes Libertina. And in Geneva, Switzerland in 2010 he rode both Noltes Küchengirl and Plot Blue to victory ahead of German compatriot Ludger Beerbaum and Gotha FRH in second place. 

This time around the three-time European team gold medallist, who will celebrate his 50th birthday next week, brings the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding Coolio 42, with which he won the sixth leg of the Western European League qualifying series last November, and it would be foolish to under-estimate his chances of becoming that first four-time FEI Jumping World Cup™ champion.

Veteran

Also chasing that goal will be 2012 Olympic individual champion and reigning individual European champion, 41-year-old Steve Guerdat who is another veteran World Cup finalist. Currently third in the world rankings he missed out on Omaha last April for the first time in many years, but next week will be his fifteenth Final. 

He picked up his first title with Albfuehren’s Paille in Las Vegas, USA in 2015 and made it a double the following year in Gothenburg partnering Corbinian. It became a hat-trick when he steered Alamo to victory in Gothenburg in 2019 but, just as impressively, he also finished third once with Tresor in 2007, was twice second with the great Nino des Buissonnets in 2013 and 2014 and only twice finished outside the top ten during all that time. 

It’s an incredible record, and with the 11-year-old grey mare Is-Minka with which he won the 13th of the 14 legs of the Western European League qualifying series in Bordeaux, France in February, he too will present serious opposition to the remaining 34 athletes representing 19 countries across the globe.

Another two previous winners will line out at the 2024 Final. Germany’s Christian Ahlmann reigned supreme on home ground in Leipzig partnering Taloubet Z in 2011 and he will bring the 12-year-old gelding Mandato van de Neerheide with which he won leg nine of the Western European League this season. 

And Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs, currently ranked fourth in the world, who came out on top in the same city in 2022 partnering both The Sinner and Chaplin will bring the 11-year-old gelding Commissar Pezi who lined out five times in the Western European League this season, finishing second at round 11 in Leipzig in January. 

Fierce

But the opposition will be fierce with all of the top six in the current rankings competing next week alongside a plethora of aspiring and up-and-coming talent.

World number two and reigning Olympic champion, Great Britain’s Ben Maher, brings the 11-year-old mare Dallas Vegas Batilly with which he finished third at round three of the Western European League in Lyon, France at the beginning of November before winning a week later in Verona, Italy. The flying Frenchman Julien Epaillard who took individual bronze at last summer’s FEI European Championship in Milan, Italy is ranked fifth and brings the 11-year-old mare Dubai du Cedre who finished a very close second in the hotly-contested 14-horse jump-off in Lyon, while sixth-ranked rider, America’s Kent Farrington, will compete double-handed with the 10-year-old mares Greya and Toulayna. 

The host nation will be represented by 2012 Olympic team bronze medallist Ramzy Al Duhami partnering Untouchable 32, Khaled Almobty with both Jaguar King WD and Spacecake and Abdullah Alsharbatly who was also a member of that bronze medal team in London in 2012 and who will be partnering Guerdat’s 2019 winning ride Alamo along with Fiumicino van de Kalevallei.

Course designer for this week of superb sport will be German giant Frank Rothenberger whose reputation for big, bold tracks is second to none. So the stage is set for a mighty battle, and the action begins on Wednesday 17 April. Don’t miss a hoofbeat…..  

The Timetable: 

Final 1 - Wednesday 17 April at 19.05 local time

Final 2 - Thursday 18 April at 18.50 local time

Final 3 - Saturday 20 April at 15.45 local time

The Competition Format

Final 1 - Table C over a Table A course, 3 seconds added for a fence down, time limit 120 or 180 seconds depending on length of course, height 1.60m.

Final 2 - Table A, one round against the clock and one jump-off against the clock, height 1.60m.

Final 3 - Table A, two rounds not against the clock, no jump-off, height 1.60m.

In the event of a tie after the first three competitions there will be a jump-off to decide the final classification.

Link

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