The World Championship of JUMPING has always generated plenty of lively debate. The format for the final day of competition - when the four best riders jump their own horses and the horses of their rivals in order to decide the individual title - is seen by some as the ultimate test of horsemanship, and by others as an odd way of doing things. After all, riders are normally judged on the quality of their partnership with specific animals, so there is a school of thought that suggests the World Champion should be crowned for the effort he or she makes with his or her own horse. Whatever your opinion however, it is impossible to deny that the World Championships change-horse finale is one of the most exciting competitions you can expect to watch in the sport of show jumping. Imagine dressage genius Anky Van Grunsven handing Salinero to Isabel Werth and saying "OK, let's see if you can ride him better than me!" Unthinkable? Well nearly....but the world's best show jumpers must do just that with their precious partners, and it makes for an extraordinary spectacle....
They have a lot to do before making into that final group of four. They begin picking up points in the first speed leg and carry those points into the following day's two-round Nations Cup competition in which teams consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of four riders with the best three scores taken into account to decide the result, and the Top-25 go into the individual semi-final out of which the final four emerge. On the final afternoon they begin again with a zero score, and the winner is the rider who produces the best result from all four horses including his or her own.
The Show Jumping World Championships were first staged in Paris in 1953 but the team competition was only introduced in 1978 when the British side that included current Chef d'Equipe Derek Ricketts, Malcolm Pyrah, David Broome and the late Caroline Bradley claimed the honours. Women had their own World Championships on three occasions - in Hickstead in 1965 when Britain's Marion Coakes and the legendary little Stroller took the title, and in Copenhagen in 1970 and La Baule in 1974 where Janou Lefebvre from France came out on top riding Troubadour and Rocket respectively. From 1978 onwards however the girls battled it out with the boys, and in Aachen in 1986 Canada's Gail Greenough became the first and only lady to scoop the ultimate prize.
So, 20 years later and at the same venue, could it be time for a lady to do it again? The world's top female rider, Ireland's Jessica Kuerten, has decided not to compete at the 2006 WEG so with her out of the picture the spotlight quickly falls on someone else who feels very comfortable indeed in that hallowed German arena - Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum. And the German team seems perfectly poised to ensure that ALL the gold in show jumping goes their way.
Twice winners over the seven championships at which the team event has been staged, Germany has dominated the early stages of the 2006 Samsung Super League with FEI series, and the reigning European Champions have such quality in their side they must be feeling confident that they can secure the FEI World Equestrian Games team title too. Their new FEI World Cup Jumping Final winner Marcus Ehning has exceptional performers in Gitania and Sandro Boy, and the addition of the sensational Noltes Kuchengirl to his string leaves him the envy of the show jumping world.
Snapping at German heels however are the Americans who have planned their 2006 FEI WEG campaign with great attention to detail and, having announced their selection some time ago, have given themselves a generous preparation period. Returning to the scene of the only other US World Championship victory, Beezie Madden, McLain Ward, Margie Engle and Laura Kraut will be hoping to emulate the success of the great 1986 side which included Michael Matz, Conrad Holmfeld, Katie Monahan and Katharine Burdsall.
The Swiss have been growing gradually stronger throughout the 2006 season and Chef d'Equipe Rolf Grass has been particularly excited by some new prospects including Werner Muff's increasingly impressive Plot Blue, while Beat Mandli is another rider with an exceptionally strong string of horses. The Swiss will be bidding for their first team gold but the French have a formidable record with three wins to their credit - at Dublin in 1982, at the inaugural FEI World Equestrian Games in Stockholm in 1990 and in Jerez four years ago. For the first time in WEG history however they line out without Eric Navet whose unique record includes team and individual gold in 1990, and team silver in 1994 and 1998 and team gold in 2002. Team spirit has been the key to French success, and Chef d'Equipe Jean Maurice Bonneau has been an inspirational force in recent years. The only member of the Jerez team listed this time around is Eric Levallois with Diamant de Semilly Ecolit - one of the four French stallions that created a sensation in Spain four years ago.
It may be almost 30 years since the British took gold in 1978 but at the WEG in Stockholm and Rome they claimed bronze and with Nick Skelton and the Whitaker brothers John and Michael still competing at the top of their game they always pose a serious threat. However a total of 29 teams are scheduled to line out at Aachen including the Swedes who are recovering from a period in the doldrums, the Dutch who can never be discounted, the Irish who are below par but who have a habit of springing surprises when least expected and then of course there are the relatively untried but very intriguing squads like the one from Ukraine. Former Belgian riders Jean-Claude van Geenberghe and Gregory Wathelet and Germany's Bjorn Nagel have changed nationality to line out for the team that is sponsored by Ukrainian businessman Alexander Omischenko, and with Katherina Offel also onside they could be about to alter the face of international show jumping.
Winning an individual medal at the FEI World Equestrian Games show jumping championships is as much about toughness as it is about jumping technique, especially where horses are concerned. This year at Aachen, the Nations Cup will run over two days so horses making it into the final will have faced five days of competition - only the fittest and strongest will survive.
The horses have often been the show-stealers. Who can forget the magnificent duo of greys, Milton (John Whitaker) and Gem Twist (Greg Best), at Stockholm in 1990 or the German mares Ratina Z (Ludger Beerbaum) and Weihaiwej (Franke Sloothaak) at The Hague in 1994? Calvaro, the colossal grey ridden by Switzerland's Willie Melliger, was awesome in Rome in 1998 while Peter Wylde's Fein Cera was a class act in Jerez four years ago when the quiet Irishman, Dermott Lennon, came from nowhere to claim what is, arguably, the greatest prize in the sport of show jumping.
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Past Jumping World Champions (Individual)
1953, Paris – Francisco Goyoaga (ESP) / Quorum
1954, Madrid - Hans-Gunther Winkler (FRG) / Halla
1955, Aachen - Hans-Gunther Winkler (FRG) / Orient/Halla
1956 Aachen - Raimondo d'Inzeo (ITA) / Merano
1960, Venezia - Raimondo d'Inzeo (ITA) / Gowran Girl
1966, Buenos Aires – Pierre Jonqueres d'Oriola (Fra) / Pomone
1970, La Baule – David Broome (GBR) / Beethoven
1974, Hickstead - Hartwig Steenken (FRG) / Simona
1978, Aachen - Gerd Wiltfang (FRG) / Roman
1982, Dublin - Norbert Koof (FRG) / Fire
1986, Aachen - Gail Greenough (CAN) / Mr T
1990, Stockholm - Eric Navet (FRA) / Quito de Baussy
1994, The Hague - Franke Sloothaak (GER) / Weihaiwej
1998, Rome - Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) / Lianos
2002, Jerez - Dermott Lennon (IRL) / Liscalgot
Past Jumping World Champions (Individual Ladies)
1965, Hickstead - Marion Coakes (GBR) / Little Fellow
1970, Copenhagen - Janou Lefebvre (FRA) / Troubadour
1974, La Baule - Janou Tissot-Lefebvre (FRA) / Rocket-Alterline
Past Jumping World Champions (Team)
1978 Great Britain
1982 France
1986 USA
1990 (WEG) France
1994 (WEG) Germany
1998 (WEG) Germany
2002 (WEG) France
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