by Nancy Jaffer | Dec 13, 2023
It was exhilarating to see the talent on display Wednesday in the qualifier for Thursday’s FEI World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle at the London International Horse Show. How much better will the top horses perform when the music is playing and the chips are really down?
No surprise that multi-multi medalist Charlotte Dujardin distanced the field in the Grand Prix with Imhotep’s mark of 81.761 percent, but what impressed was the margin she enjoyed over World Champion Lottie Fry on Everdale with a 77.435.
Lottie Fry and Everdale. (Photo London International Horse Show/Peter Nixon)
That being said, Lottie was not on her World Championships horse, who is Glamourdale. She rode Everdale to Olympic bronze in Tokyo. Both are by Lord Leatherdale and known for their exceptional extended canter. And Imhotep is by Everdale, to complete the circle.
The order of finish was 1,2, 3 for Britain, as Becky Moody took third on Jagerbomb with 75.087 percent. (It was also 1,2,3 for KWPN (Dutchbreds), it should be noted. The only thing that marred the afternoon for the British was the elimination of Emilie Faurie, after the judges spotted blood in the mouth of his mount, Bellevue.
Charlotte had one big oops with her 10-year-old mount, nicknamed Pete, when he broke into canter before he made the transition from piaffe into extended walk in the first third of his test. Two of the five judges acknowledged that mistake with marks of 4, which was understandable. Charlotte’s total, however, was buoyed by several 10s, including her final halt. Pete’s power really showed off in his extended trot, and Charlotte’s expertise was demonstrated in her seamless transitions (except for the one referenced above).
It’s a well-deserved victory lap for Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep, better known as Pete. (Photo London International Horse Show/Peter Nixon)
Charlotte’s partner, Dean Golding, was on hand with their daughter, Isabella Rose, born in February. The two of them watched with Charlotte’s longtime mentor, Carl Hester, who was not competing.
Pete, who hasn’t been outside the top three placings in his starts this year, sparkled and enjoyed the crowd at ExCel during the class presented by Bret Willson Dressage International Ltd. and supported by Horse & Hound. The show, a London fixture at Christmas, used to be known as “Olympia” after its former home in the city.
“It’s Imhotep’s first indoor show, so for him to come here — to this incredible show with an amazing set-up and atmosphere — and perform so well with no experience is amazing,” said Charlotte.
Charlotte and Imhotep.
“I missed coming to the London International Horse Show so much last year and am so happy to be back, this time it being even more special with my daughter, Isabella, watching me.”
Charlotte, looking forward to the freestyle, added “I am so excited for tomorrow, I absolutely love the Freestyle to Music, it’s the party piece. Who knows how Imhotep will go?
“Fingers crossed, he will be okay. He’s such a fantastic horse and I love him to bits. If he needs me to hold his hand, I can hold his hand, I can feel him breathe and I can reassure him and it’s the most incredible feeling. To have the opportunity to go into that arena and do that performance is all very exciting.”
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by Nancy Jaffer | Dec 5, 2023
There were a lot of important questions asked during Town Hall sessions Monday and Tuesday at the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s annual meeting, but they all could be boiled down to this big picture concern: “Are we doing the best thing by our horses? Are we doing the best thing by our people and our sport?”
Since USHJA was founded as an affiliate of the U.S. Equestrian Federation 20 years ago, the horse world has changed dramatically. At the same time, the universality of online videos means little goes unnoticed — or unremarked.
One of the biggest challenges involves dealing with “social license,” public acceptance of the way an organization or industry operates.
In that context, USHJA President Mary Knowlton announced she will appoint a blue ribbon commission to examine “integrity and welfare in our sport,” with a report due at the association’s mid-year meeting.
She started Tuesday’s session in Concord, N.C., by “throwing a bomb into the room,” as she put it, recounting the awful story she heard about a horse who collapsed in the stable area of an indoor show. Onlookers said people were beating and kicking the horse, throwing water on him in an effort to get him up. Mary said he had suffered an “adverse reaction to some drug” that was given to make him quiet.
“People saw this and they didn’t report it,” she said about the incident.
“Does your silence make you part of this? What are we going to do about something like that?”
Mary quoted a comment made to her a while back by Katie Benson, a member of the USHJA’s Competition Standards Committee: “When our love of winning becomes higher and more important than our love of horses, we’re in a bad place.”
Mary agreed, suggesting, “Let’s be willing to look at ourselves.”
Everyone else is looking, and that’s a problem.
Marnye Langer, who has several horse-related businesses in California, said the Los Angeles city council is seeking to ban rodeo, and along with it, use of spurs and standing martingales.
She reminded her audience of the old saying, “How goes California, so goes the rest of the country. It’s a real possibility.”
Equine welfare was discussed on many fronts, with several people mentioning the need for more drug testing at shows.
Veteran trainer Otis Brown believes “probably 30 percent of the winners” are medicated with illegal substances.
“It’s up to us to turn the people in,” he said, or to inform the Drugs & Medication Committee about “what they’re using.”
Jennifer Matts, a Zone 4 committee member, commented, “People know the drug testers leave at 2 in the afternoon and we have a $100,000 Spectacular that starts at 6.”
“I applaud the (USHJA International Hunter) Derby we have in Kentucky because they have assigned testers and vet techs to them (the horses) for the 12 hours before the competition,” she mentioned.
Jennifer has checked the trash cans around the stabling area, noting “you would be as appalled and disgusted as I am when you go through these trash cans and see what they’re doing to these animals.”
She added “We need to have some sort of tools we can use to try and curb it.”
In Canada, she said, stewards can request a drug test on a horse they suspect has been given something illegal.” But Jennifer was told that can’t be done in the U.S. because it’s considered “targeting.”
Also on the welfare front, there were comments about trying something similar to eventing’s Minimum Eligibility Requirements for riders moving up to the next level in competition. It was pointed out that would make it easier for trainers to rein in students who are eager to advance beyond their capabilities, and thus curtail the danger that presents to their horses.
The unending show schedule for many horses is a concern and the idea of mandatory retirement on course after a certain number of faults was mentioned.
USEF judge Andrea Welles suggested a “see something, say something” campaign and more severe punishment for bad sportsmanship or mistreating horses, so it affects the livelihood of the offender.
“We have to put some teeth in whatever we develop as our sportsmanship rules,” agreed Otis.
The cost of showing is an issue that sparked a dialogue. As Mary pointed out, it’s expensive to put on a horse show, and expensive to compete in one. But the point was made that to make shows more inclusive, the cost needs to be lower, and if that’s the case, more rules make the shows more costly by requiring extra people to enforce them. As Mary noted, judges and stewards may be afraid to make judgment calls; it’s easier to have rules to lean on.
Shanette Barth Cohen, who runs the Hampton Classic, suggested USHJA might be able to help shows get sponsorship outside of the usual suspects in the industry with a collective effort, or perhaps train shows on how to get sponsorship. If sponsorship increases, it might follow that exhibitors’ fees could be decreased.
As Whitney Allen, the USHJA’s director of operations pointed out, “there’s a lot of levels of complexity there” between the national and regional segments of corporations. The concept offers an opportunity to “pull together some data we’ve been lacking as an organization and as an industry” we can turn around and have these bigger national conversations about sponsorship.
Amy Center, a Florida trainer and USEF official, said “we need to mainstream our sport and make it accessible, that it’s not just for the rich little white girl. We need to make horses important to everyone. We need to change it so we have better marketing, better story lines, mass appeal.”
Active membership has remained stuck in the 36,000 range since 2008, but with Outreach for the lower levels and Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association memberships, it goes to 51,948, Mary pointed out. There was talk about how to get more people involved.
Otis figured the average age of those in the meeting room was 45.
“We are in a very bad situation. We need to figure out innovative ways to bring the younger generation into this room if we want to continue doing what we’re doing,” he said.
That concern that was brought up by others in terms of who will carry on what needs to be done for the sport after current leadership has stepped away. Otis suggested giving zone awards at a banquet during the annual meeting to get kids and their parents to attend. He also thinks giving money away for Outreach classes would help as well.
Britt McCormick, who will take over as USHJA president in December 2024, said, “One of the issues I think we have in our sport and our industry is that we have a really hard time letting go of the`what is’ and a really hard time thinking what we want this to look like in the future.
“We keep tweaking and tweaking the same old tired model that we’ve been using since the ’50s. I think this is where we as an industry voice have to stop living in the past and in some cases, stop living in the present, and start figuring out what we want this sport and this industry to look like five, 10, 20 and 50 years from now.
“We’ve reached the limits of what we can do under this current (member-driven) business model, and it’s starting to fail.”
He added, “There are barriers to entry on the participation level and people are finding other places to spend those recreation dollars and at the end of the day, that’s what we’re competing for, is that recreational dollar all the way across the country. We just happen to use horses.”
He has suggested changing the business model to something “more expansive and global, so instead of trying to fill a stadium full of members, we need to fill that stadium full of fans and sponsors and supporters who want to watch our limited number of exhibitors.
“We have to figure out a way to take the media opportunities we have,” to use those through USHJA and the federation ”to help get more people to shows, not just to compete, but to watch. Until you have butts in seats, that advertiser isn’t going to give you any money to put on that event.”
Britt said USHJA has to work with its affiliates and pool resources for the greater good. The effort also will require assistance from USEF.
“If we can get this new thought process started…it will trickle down to the competition level and that is where we’re finally going to be able to break through to the next business model.”
That needs to be done by figuring out a new business model in cooperation with the affiliates, the federation and the membership. “Otherwise,” Britt contended, “we’re done.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 30, 2023
The Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association’s decision to stop offering classes for alumni had been coming for a while.
“They’d been thinking about this for years,” maintained Lena Andrews, a former member of the Lehigh University IHSA team who was active in the alumni competition formerly offered at IHSA shows.
Members of the executive team that makes the alumni organization run; Lena Andrews, chairman; Jessie Ann Green, treasurer; Andrea LaManque, secretary; Erica Green Wheeler, co-hunt seat chair; Jess Benner, co hunt-seat chair; Christa Bramberger, sponsorship chair;Katherine Bacolas, points chair; Meg Gennings, co-western chair; Tammy Cranouski, AEE national director; Jamie Windle, vice president. (Skylands Photography photo)
At those shows, riders draw their mounts by lot from English and Western school horses owned by the host colleges. During Lena’s conversations with IHSA officials, “It kept coming up that they want to focus on the undergrads, and that the alumni take horses away from the undergrads, in their opinion.”
Lena believes, “they didn’t really see the value of alumni,” noting there also was a geographic issue.
“Apparently, there are more alumni in the Northeast than in other parts of the country,” she explained.
The IHSA felt “alumni want to come show and go, so they didn’t believe alumni were giving back enough.”
Lena had other ideas about how the alumni could operate.
Finally, IHSA came to the organizers of the Alumni Tournament of Champions, a separate fixture that began in 2012, and informed them, “alumni is done” at the end of the 2022 season.
“We’re not going to have alumni at Nationals,” Lena and other alums were told.
As Lena noted, “You could have done something nice to end it. Instead, there was nothing, it ended in zones (competition). How horrible would it be if the first time you made it to Nationals, there was no Nationals?”
Lena and her fellow alums weren’t going to let that happen. They wound up putting on their own version of Nationals this year, with the idea that it needed “to look and feel as similar as possible” to IHSA Nationals, with prizes and the same kind of ribbons.
Tammy Cranouski, the IHSA’s national alumni director, joined in with the new effort, under the banner of Alumni Equestrian Events (find it on Facebook and Instagram), as it was applying to be a non-profit. She became one of five members on the reformulated board. Their first jobs included developing an alumni-specific rulebook with concepts geared to strengthen alumni riding going forward. Like IHSA, it is open to both men and women.
Jamie Windle and Lena Andrews with Tara Mathews.
The concept of regions was dropped by the AEE series; they are sticking with zones, for one less layer of administration. Although riders have to declare a home zone, unlike undergrads they can ride anywhere, with points counting for the home zone.
“You can make it a fun thing and travel and see the country if you want to,” observed Lena, noting participants may ride in 15 shows in a year, with the 10 best scores to count toward earning the 28 points needed to participate post-season.
Robert Cacchione, who founded IHSA with the late Jack Fritz, noted how the evolution of the IHSA affected the alumni classes.
“As the IHSA grew,” he explained, “we started to put alumni classes at the end of the show to save the horses for the undergrads,” who rode earlier in the day.
He mentioned riders were saying because of the length of the shows and the growth of the teams, the alumni classes didn’t work anymore.
“They’re trying to use the horses only so many times, as they should,” said Robert, who serves on the IHSA executive board and holds the title of Founder Emeritus.
Dropping the alumni competition was the result.
While he noted some of the regions, such as those in the Northeast — New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New England, for instance, had sufficient horses to continue alumni competition, there weren’t enough throughout the country for that to happen everywhere.
“So the alumni came to an agreement with IHSA to do their own thing and save the horseflesh, properly, for undergrads,” Robert said.
Even so, “There is still a dialogue with the board of IHSA and the alumni,” he continued, explaining Tammy remains on the IHSA board.
“She has a lot of input; we always know what’s going on with the alumni and where we may be able to help out throughout the country in different ways.”
The alumni competitions, he mentioned, give former team members a chance to continue riding after graduation, “when they may not have wherewithal to own a horse at this moment in time. It still gives them an opportunity to ride and compete.”
He speculated, “This may enhance the alumni to grow even more. When they were under IHSA, they had to go by IHSA rules. They could only show at our horse shows, and it was tough for them to take off seven or eight times from work during the school year. Here, they can organize four shows on a weekend in different places in the country and people could show at all four shows. That makes it more flexible for alumni. We’re hoping this will help grow the whole alumni organization–I support them.”
Jamie Windle, the AEE vice president, went to Delaware Valley University and used to ride against Lena in the IHSA shows. Asked what she missed about the alumni not being part of the IHSA shows, Jamie observed that in the past, “We were at all the IHSA shows, so you were getting to know the kids from the time they came in as freshmen, to seniors to become friends with them and continue with them and show them how much fun we had.”
Those students are, after all, candidates for alumni classes after they graduate. At Nationals, graduating seniors can ride in the “Future Alumni Cup” in an effort to “entice them to come to this horse show to become alumni,” as Jamie put it.
The Tournament of Champions and Nationals will be held June 1 and 2, 2024 at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts. The same colleges that belong to IHSA can host an alumni show, just not at the same time as IHSA. It has to be either before or after an IHSA show, or on another date for insurance reasons, Lena commented.
With the new rules, Lena pointed out, “We hope it creates more shows, more interest, more alumni and more competitiveness in the post-season and even better nationals going forward,” said Lena.
“It provides a way for people who potentially could never make it to a finals this size. Someone riding once a week or every other week doesn’t have money to haul a horse to a show, get stabling, pay for a trainer.”
With this group, “You’re just paying your entries or maybe a hotel one or two nights. It’s an accessibility outside of college.
“You may be lessoning, but how are you horse showing? We think it provides another avenue for people to ride that’s not the A circuit. If you look at what’s thriving in the horse industry right now, the middle is going away, it’s either local shows or AA horse shows. You do schooling shows with your lesson barn or you want to go to Wellington.”
Membership is $45 for the year, with an option to pay a $20 one-time fee for those who don’t want to commit for the year. They can upgrade it to a full-time membership within 30 days.
Barns will pay a portion the same way IHSA does it now. For instance, if a barn hosting a show wants to charge $50 an entry, the alumni group will get $5 of that. A U.S. Equestrian Federation licensed judge isn’t required, just someone with judging experience; it could even be an IHSA coach.
The alumni shows are doing well, though they are so new there are no metrics on them yet. While AEE is on both Facebook and Instagram, it is baked into the Alumni Tournament of Champions website (https://www.alumnitoc.com/). That tournament, which drew from more than 20 states and Canada, took place at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone, N.J., for three years.
Its origin was as “a once-a-year show for fun for anyone who ever showed as part of IHSA,” Lena said.
“You could be a current IHSA alum or not have shown since you left college and thought it would be fun to do a catch ride, show, get together, meet new friends, see old friends: Because we all rode on the team together 10 years ago, we’re going to come to New Jersey and do a show.”
Riders have to qualify for Nationals, but not the Alumni Tournament of Champions. It takes 40 to 45 hunt seat horses to run the show, with up to 24 riders/class. Some reunion classes go up to 40 riders. The weekend is split between western one day, hunt seat on the other day.
Organizers begin brainstorming in August for the Tournament.. A problem was how to get a sufficient number of western horses, “they have to come from far away. (The area around the USET Foundation is primarily devoted to English riding.)
Western is a big pa. rt of the alumni shows. Kimberly King Storey and Allison Erkman Rassinoux are happy winners. (Skylands Photography photo)
“We were absolutely scrambling,” Lena recalled.
She is into having riders win something by which to remember the competition.
“USHJA (U.S. Hunter Jumper Association) will happily clean out their closet for me,” she said.
“They sent us probably 40 silver mint julep cups left over from the Silver Stirrup Cup (a discontinued competition). I can repurpose them and make better prizes than some people have ever seen.”
Other backers in that regard have included Alliant Private Client, Perri’s Leather, Essex Classics and Success Equestrian. There were 61 supporters this year.
“When you win a class with us, you go home with something cool,” said Lena, noting that for western riders, that means the treasured belt buckles.
Unusually, when someone wins a perpetual trophy with the alumni group, they get to keep it for a year. (At most horse shows, the winner gets a photo taken with the trophy, then the show engraves it and hangs onto it until the next year.)
The alumni shows have taken off in a way that is encouraging for the concept.
“I can only hope it keeps growing,” said Jamie, “and that we are seeing even more new faces, not just retaining our old alumni faces.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 23, 2023
Hundreds of people turned out as the Essex Fox Hounds gathered for their Thanksgiving hunt, adding to a decades-old tradition that many consider the perfect appetizer for a turkey dinner.
Each year, attendance grows for the occasion at scenic Ellistan in Peapack, N.J., where the backdrop of autumn leaves showcased gleaming horses, manes braided for the occasion, and the huntsman’s scarlet coat as he organized the hounds for their work. It’s a nostalgic scene that could be interchangeable with one set in the English countryside of another era.
The Essex Fox Hounds extend a welcome at Ellistan. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
The meet offers an opportunity for everyone not only to tailgate and enjoy the fellowship of the occasion, but also to get close to the horses, often reaching out in delight to pat a soft nose when one is near.
A chance to pat a horse delights one of the spectators. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
“I cannot believe how many people have come to help us celebrate hounds, horses and the land,” said Essex Joint Master Jazz Johnson, as she thanked everyone for being part of the occasion.
“It’s an annual family tradition. We always look forward to this day and we’re excited to be here,” said Olivia Ford of Tewksbury, N.J., as everyone gathered around a nice display of cheeses.
I asked if attendance at Ellistan means it’s difficult to make Thanksgiving dinner, but no worries; the Ford family has it figured out.
“My husband, Matthew, prepares the turkey a few days before and I’d say it’s more of a potluck. A few family members each bring a dish,” said Olivia.
Matthew and Olivia Ford with Francisco Segarra.
Her father, Francisco Segarra, is a regular too.
“What I like about it most is the people. It’s really special to be around nice people who are friendly. It’s a tradition that makes it the best.”
Mark Pfunke of Chester, N.J., is a first-timer at the Essex Thanksgiving meet and a former horse owner who drove his award-winning 1929 Packard 640 (there are only about 100 of them left).
This one was found in a junkyard in Newark in 1950 by a man who restored it to perfection. The car is not just a pretty face.
“It runs beautifully,” Mark said proudly. He was convinced to come by P.J. Ehmann of Oldwick, N.J., the owner of a 1940 Packard.
Mark Pfunke and his Packard. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
What does P.J. enjoy about coming?
“Meeting all the people. See and be seen. And the hot toddy is good too,” he added.
Sarah Slack (she’s an Essex joint master) and her husband, Hank Slack, Ellistan’s owners, graciously treat the crowd to hot toddies if they are adults; for the kids, it’s hot chocolate. The riders call the drink a “stirrup cup,” but it’s tasty whether it’s consumed on horseback or on foot.
Michael Webb, the genial estate manager, said the toddy is a brew of brandy, rum and sherry, judiciously mixed with apple cider and honey, both produced at Ellistan.
“The original hunt club recipe was literally the alcohol, water and lemon juice,” Michael informed me.
“Twenty-five years ago, I changed it,” (for the better).
The Johnson family’s carriage is always a part of the festivities at the hunt meet. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
As the riders prepared to move off, I chatted with Kate Crauford, an Australian who was riding with the hunt for the first time. A competitive show jumper, she borrowed Castle, a dapple grey gelding, from another Essex joint master, Dennis Sargenti. Since she was new to the scene, I thought I’d tell her why so many people come out.
A festive spread for the tailgating was enjoyed by Nancy Spatz, Dana and Lexi Sendro and Bullet the puppy. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“Do you know who Jackie Kennedy was?” I asked, not sure if the fact that she was 23 years old and from the other side of the world might need an explanation about the former first lady.
But Kate knew of her (as someone said to me, who hasn’t heard of Jackie Kennedy?), so I thought she’d appreciate hearing about her role in the Thanksgiving tradition.
I explained Mrs. Kennedy was a member of Essex, and once the media got wind of that, they turned out with their cameras every year for the hunt, to which she was often accompanied by her son, John. Even after she no longer rode on Thanksgiving, and passed away, people kept coming since they had gotten in the habit. Now Kate understands the origin, and so do you.
Jacqueline Kennedy at Ellistan when she rode with Essex (that’s her son John in the left background). (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
“I had no idea that so many people came and watched,” Kate told me.
“It’s actually quite nice. It’s a lot more fun, inviting and inclusive.”
Gigi Moynihan, another jumper on a holiday from the show ring, was aboard her off-the-track thoroughbred, Ripley. She rides with the hunt on Thanksgiving every year.
“It’s so great that all the people come out,” said Gigi.
“There aren’t a lot of events like this for foxhunting. It’s really nice to see everyone, all your friends come and all the local people come with the whole family. It’s just great fun.”
The hunt itself ran for more than two hours, ranging around a section of the Somerset Hills dotted with estates and undulating fields.
The hunt takes a check in the middle of an exciting afternoon. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“We covered a lot of ground and the hounds have been great,” said Lynn Jones, another joint master.
She was delighted with the number of people who came out to watch.”
“I thought it was the biggest crowd ever,” she said.
(Read my two-part 2022 series on fox hunts in New Jersey via these links. Click here for part one and here for part two.)
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 21, 2023
We have an ancient dog-eared Advent calendar, made out of paper, that is decades old. How many I couldn’t tell you exactly, but it has the traditional numbered windows that count down until Christmas.
Each day, you open one of the windows and see a picture of a doll (most definitely not a Barbie!), a baseball, a wrapped gift or something similar that harks back to a less-complicated era.
Because this calendar has been with us for so long, I haven’t paid attention to the advances in Advent calendars that in many cases these days, seem not actually to be calendars, but rather, a set of gifts.
I saw one that offered exotic chocolates (it sold out long before Thanksgiving when I checked on it) and another that offered different types of whiskey. Then there was the Advent calendar for cats from Trader Joe’s (didn’t see a dog Advent calendar). This one featured salmon and dried seaweed treats. Yum.
The cat Advent calendar.
But what really got my attention was the Breyer model horse Advent calendar.
The Breyer horse Advent calendar. (Photo courtesy of Breyer)
You know Breyer models. What horse lover hasn’t collected them at some point; it’s not just children, plenty of adults have a Breyer collection or hobby.
Stephanie Macejko, vice president of marketing at Reeves International, Breyer’s parent company, noted the calendars containing little model horses “are popular, because the kids get to open up something every day leading up to Christmas.”
The items include tiny riders, a jump and a hay bale, among other accessories. They’re all sized to fit in with the horses, which are called Mini Whinnies, about an inch and a half high.
There’s also a unicorn Advent calendar, with not only the horned equines, but also fanciful accessories, sparkly water troughs and buckets in fantasy colors, to coordinate with their fairy tale image. The Breyer calendars are available at Amazon, tack stores and independent toy stores.
The unicorn calendar. (Photo courtesy of Breyer)
“What’s fun is that it offers kids, or adults, an opportunity to get a little surprise that they open every day,” Stephanie pointed out.
“Even once the holidays are over, the kids have a set they can play with all year round. It provides a lot of ongoing value and they have a set that would travel.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 19, 2023
After an eight-year absence, the FEI World Equestrian Games in effect will be back, coming to Aachen, Germany, in 2026, in all but name.
The FEI awarded world championships in jumping, dressage, para dressage, eventing, driving and vaulting to the renowned European facility Aug. 10-23 2026, with only endurance out of the mix. That will be held in Saudi Arabia that October.
The Aachen championships will be a qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Games in the Olympic sports and para. Buy your tickets starting Monday Nov. 20 at https://www.aachen2026.com/
Aachen was the only site bidding for all the sports but endurance. Both Burghley in England and Boekelo in the Netherlands lost bids to hold eventing separately.
Aachen hosted what is generally accepted as the best of the WEGs in 2006, attracting 576,000 spectators. Those Games also included endurance, and reining, which is no longer an FEI sport.
The WEG began as a compilation of FEI world championships in 1990, ostensibly a one-off, but that competition in Sweden was so successful the concept continued through 2018. Other WEGs were less wonderful than their debut or Aachen’s rendition, and organizers became reluctant to bid for the whole thing because of the expense and the complications of staging that number of disciplines. So in 2022, the world championships were hosted separately in several nations.
“Following the outstanding FEI World Championships 2022 organized in Denmark, Italy and the UAE (which ran the endurance),” FEI President Ingmar de Vos said after bids were received in August, “we are confident this flexible approach with single and multiple bids serves not only the sport, but also the fans and the development of equestrian around the world, allowing different nations and venues to bid to host a major FEI event.”
And then three months later, Aachen gets awarded practically the whole shebang.
Aachen knows how to do pageantry, as it demonstrated in the 2006 WEG. (Photo © 2006 by Nancy Jaffer)
“We thank the FEI for their trust,” CHIO Aachen General Manager Michael Mronz said.
“We feel honored and pleased to host, together with the German Equestrian Federation, the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026…We would like to invite the entire world of equestrian sport to Aachen so that we can celebrate an unforgettable event together in 2026.”
The awarding of the sports to Aachen and Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, “is a significant decision for the future of equestrian sport,” De Vos maintained.
“We examined every aspect of the bids we received and especially the sporting infrastructures, the conditions for the horses, accessibility and sustainability,” he said.
“The FEI is delighted to have secured such outstanding hosts for our most prestigious championships three years in advance, which allows plenty of time for preparation and planning.
“I would like to congratulate the winners, who submitted outstanding bids. We are all well aware of Aachen’s unique track record of organizing extremely successful large-scale events. We were impressed with Al Ula’s proposal, which not only contains all the components of a successful event but seeks to showcase the heritage and potential of an entire region.”
