The FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final – a highly exciting mix (PRESS RELEASE)


The excitement is palpable as the lineup for the 37th FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final has been confirmed. Seventeen Dressage athletes from twelve nations are set to compete in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from April 16 to 20 for the coveted FEI Dressage World Cup™ trophy in 2024. What makes this final particularly thrilling is the diverse mix of finalists...


Two nations are sending three rider-horse pairs into the competition: Germany's Isabell Werth, Matthias Rath, and Raphael Netz from the Western European League (WEL), alongside Benjamin Ebeling, Kevin Kohmann, and Anna Marek representing the USA. Additionally, Belgium's Flore de Winne secured a spot in the WEL, while Larissa Pauluis received an extra starting place from the FEI.

The 2024 final field promises intrigue, with almost half of the athletes – eight out of 17 – participating in a FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final for the first time highlighting the influx of new talent.

Moreover, among the finalists are two athletes who, in terms of age, could also compete in the U25 riders' camp this year: six-time U25 European Champion Raphael Netz from Germany, who celebrated his 25th birthday at the end of March, and 24-year-old Benjamin Ebeling, who turns 25 in November. The son of Olympic rider Jan Ebeling is the youngest rider in the 2024 Final. With the 16-year-old Danish mare Indeed, which he took over from his father in 2022, Ebeling has won three stages of the North American League (NAL) and with the highest possible score, 60 points, took the lead in the NAL.
Both 'youngsters', Netz and Ebeling, are among the FEI World Cup™ rookies, as are both of Ebeling's final colleagues from the USA: 34-year-old Marek and 35-year-old Kohmann, the latter competing for the USA only since 2021, having previously ridden for Germany.

Leading the WEL rankings, Isabell Werth will be heading to Riyadh, with three wins and one second place accumulating a remarkable 77 points. This marks Werth's 25th appearance in the Final, but the first for her 18-year-old partner Emilio. Riyadh will serve as Emilio's final major sporting appearance, bidding farewell to the sport and retiring to Werth's riding center in Rheinberg, like all of Isabell Werth's sporting partners. Werth, a seven-time Olympic champion and the most experienced and successful World Cup™ athlete at the 2024 Final, has already clinched the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final title five times: in 1992 with Fabienne, in 2007 with Warum Nicht FRH, and three times in a row from 2017 to 2019 with Weihegold OLD.

The other World Cup™ finalists from the Western European League include last year’s runner up in the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final, Nanna Skodborg Merrald (DEN), and World Champion Charlotte 'Lotti' Fry from England. The 28-year-old is bringing the half-brother of her World Champion Glamourdale, Everdale, with her. Patrik Kittel (SWE) has also secured his place for Sweden, boasting eight FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final appearances, second only to Isabell Werth. His partner in Riyadh will be Touchdown, with whom the 47-year-old has already competed at the World and European Championships.

For Melissa Galloway from New Zealand the 2024 FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final will be a première. With the 14-year-old Windermere J'Obei, who was bred in New Zealand, the 31-year-old won the League Final in Cambridge-Takapoto, New Zealand, and secured the only place in the Final of the Pacific League (PAL). In 2022, the pair were already among the World Championships 2022, and in 2023 they dominated the New Zealand Dressage Championships and set the latest New Zealand records in Grand Prix with 73,456 and Freestyle with 80,120 percent.

A sensational dual leadership took Alisa Glinka from Moldova and Justina Vanagaite from Lithuania in the Central European League (CEL). Both collected 80 World Cup™ points with four wins each – that's as good as it gets. For both riders, it will be their second participation in the Final, their horses Abercrombie and Nabab, on the other hand, will be making their FEI World Cup™ Final debuts. In total, twelve of the 17 horses in the Riyadh-Final will be competing for the first time in a FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final – another number that may come as a surprise.

The level of competition is expected to be intense, with seven pairs already achieving impressive scores above the 80 percent mark in their previous World Cup™ appearances. The best qualification result of all the finalists was achieved by Charlotte Fry and Everdale with 88.18 percent, closely followed by Isabell Werth and Emilio with 87.950 percent.

As the event draws closer, the excitement heightens, with a mix of new talents and seasoned riders preparing for what promises to be an electrifying FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final in Saudi’s capital Riyadh.
 
List of Athletes for the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024
Western European League
1 Isabell WERTH - Emilio 107 – GER
2 Charlotte FRY - Everdale – GBR
3 Patrik KITTEL - Touchdown – SWE
4 Matthias Alexander RATH - Destacado FRH – GER
5 Nanna SKODBORG MERRALD – Blue Hors Don Olymbrio – DEN
6 Morgan BARBANÇON - Sir Donnerhall II OLD – FRA
7 Raphael NETZ - Great Escape Camelot – GER
8 Borja CARRASCOVA - Sir Hubert NRW – ESP
9 Flore DE WINNE - Flynn FRH – BEL
 
Central European League (2 slots)
1 Alisa GLINKA - Abercrombie – MDA
2 Justina VANAGAITE - Nabab – LTU
 
Pacific League (1 slot)
1 Melissa GALLOWAY - Windermere J’Obei W – NZL
 
North American League (3 slots)
1 Benjamin EBELING - Indeed – USA
2 Kevin KOHMANN - Duenensee – USA
3 Anna MAREK - Fayvel – USA
 
FEI Extra Starting places (Non-League and Title Defender)
1 Thamar ZWEISTRA - Hexagon’s Ich Weiss – NED
2 Larissa PAULUIS - First-Step Valentin – BEL

The 2024 FEI World Cup™ Finals for dressage and jumping are scheduled to be held April 16–20, 2024
(MaBo/EquiWords)

Saudi Arabia, renowned for its equestrian heritage, proudly welcomes the FEI World Cup™ Finals in 2024. Riyadh, the vibrant capital, hosts this prestigious event, uniting riders, spectators, and exceptional horses worldwide. With state-of-the-art facilities and warm hospitality, Riyadh epitomizes Saudi Arabia's commitment to equestrian excellence and cultural heritage.  
 
The Finals of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ and the FEI Dressage World Cup™ will take place at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center between 16 – 20 April 2024 and will mark the conclusion of the 2023–24 Dressage and Jumping FEI World Cup™ Seasons. 
 
It will be the first time in history that the FEI World Cup™ Finals will be held on the Asian continent for Dressage and for the second time for Jumping after the finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2006. It will be the first time that the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ and the FEI Dressage World Cup™ are taking place in the Middle East region.
 
The hosting of the FEI World Cup™ Finals reflects Saudi Arabia's dedication to promoting the equestrian arts and celebrating competition. Join us in Riyadh to celebrate the enduring legacy of Saudi Arabia's equestrian heritage and experience the captivating future of this remarkable city. 

Top stallions with both Dutch and German pedigree at Van Olst Horses stallion show

Van Olst Horses with huge variation of predigree for their stallion collection

Yesterday afternoon Van Olst Horses were hosting their annual stallion show in Den Hout, The Netherlands. As usual the stands were packed around the arena, and the entire Van Olst team showed very interesting program with top stallions, offspring and a few new foals.

Gertjan van Olst welcomed the audience and was of course also the man in the arena for every single presentation with a lot of in-depth information on each horse.

With top stars like Glamourdale and Everdale we all get the opportinity to follow them at the international circut, like also the stallions Nespresso and Kjento (in small tour) are part of the international events. For this season both Glamourdale and Everdale will focus on the Olympics and therefore only available for the breeders with frozen semen.

For the riders, Lottie, Phoebe, Zandra, Melissa and Jesus it was a very busy afternoon. Even though it was a tight schedule all stallions were really nicely shown, with super qualities. The younger stallions like Nalegro, Nacho, O´Frederic, Lantanas and Secret Lover has really developed nicely and are definitely the next ones to keep an eye on for the sport.

The new selected stallions from KWPN licensing looks very promissing, and from H2R point of view the grey stallion Romero RDS by Glamourdale / Jazz still shows something extra. He is going to attended the 21-days KWPN performance test in April.

Each stallion brings different qualities which means that every breeder actually has the possibility to make their choice from a Van Olst Horses stallion, no matter of the dam line.

The entire stallion show is available at the archive at Clipmyhorse.



VIDEOS - Ask / Blue Hors stallion presentation at the new setup at Stutteri Ask on Funen

The new Ask / Blue Hors setup kicked off with full house and top stallions

About 1.000 spectators arrived for this first edition of the new Ask / Blue Hors setup at the outstanding facilities of Stutteri Ask at Martofte, Funen in Denmark.

The two top riders in charge Nanna Skodborg Merrald for the dressage horses and Søren Møller Rohde for the jumping horses welcomed the audience.

It was two hours of mixed presentations between dressage stallions and jumping stallions and also with honouring of breeders.

Nanna Merrald was in the saddle of Blue Hors Santiano, Blue Hors Monte Carlo and new addition Blue Hors Viva Vegas, while Blue Hors assistant rider 20 year old Sophia Ludvigsen was showing Blue Hors Baron, Blue Hors Purple Rain and Blue Hors Farrell.

Blue Hors St. Schufro and Blue Hors Don Olymbrio was not shown as they are part of Nanna´s Olympic horses together with of course Blue Hors Zepter.

At the ground was long time trainer for Nanna, Michael Søgaard. He has been part of Nanna´s team for a long time and of course also huge part of the sport successes during the years with Nanna and her horses, and recently Michael also took over the trainer role for Sophia Ludvigsen.

This fairly new partnership Sophia & Michael already proved their success internationally, and yesterday Sophia showed Blue Hors Baron, with guidance and comments from Michael on the ground. It was obvious that this partnership looks very interesting for the future.

For the final horse Nanna showed 4 yr old Premium stallion Viva Vegas as Blue Hors recently purchased from Helgstrand Dressage. Viva Vegas was shown by Helgstrand Dressage rider Mette Sejbjerg Jensen at the Danish Warmblood stallion show in Herning, and she has for sure done a great job.

As Nanna stated at the beginning she was normally not fancying riding a 4 yr old stallion, but this boy seems to bring not just the great basic gaits but also a top interior. When Nanna was showing Viva Vegas she was telling about her feeling in the saddle and the abilities she feels for this just 4 yr old stallion. From the grond breeding manager Martin Klavsen was also telling about the reason of the purchase, as Blue Hors stallions must be attractive for both sport and breeding. Lovely ping-pong between riders and respectively Michael and Martin on the ground.

It was a very nice afternoon with good presentations, relaxed atmosphere, stallions without tensions or just minor tension due to full house at the spectator seats. For the final with high music and applauding audience non of the riders made any kind of show-off with the stallions.

Here below you can catch up on videos from the stallion show. When you click on each photo a video clip will show up ⬇️ (Only Danish speak).

Jovian, Wendy and Fendi in top of CDI3 Grand Prix Special today in Aachen

Screenshot Clipmyhorse

Young talents shines

For both Kittel and Werth it is still very new to enter the centerline with Jovian and Wendy, both riders brings a huge amount of experience and they are both able to develop their partnership during each test and also improve - this is just dressage at the highest level.

Jovian looks a bit impressed at the begining again today by kind of taking off for the first extension and where Kittel has to say “hey, I´m also here and we have to do this together”. But from there Jovian look very confident, and it really bring a much better picture when Kittel is trying to make the passage smaller which also makes it possible to do the transition into piaffe with better flow. Piaffe still need more balance on the hind quaters, but poco a poco Kittel look like he has a plan.

Jovian & Patrik Kittel - Super halt, becomes high in the neck for extension, looking, super half pass left crossing uphill flow, good into passage, power expressive extension, good back to passage, power uphill half pass right, good into passage, power extension becomes bit high in the neck, good passage, relaxed extended walk, good collected walk, missing bit more clear beat for 1st piaffe, good out, nice passage, super nice into piaffe, better rhythm, good out, good passage, nice into canter, good half passes, swing 2 times, good 1 times, power extended canter, need bit more preparation into good 1st pirouette, ok 1times, good 2nd pirouette, good into trot, power super frame long side, good passage, good into piaffe, need more balance on hind quaters, good flow out, nice halt. 76,213%

Things really comes together in a nice way with clearly smaller passage.

Wendy de Fontaine & Isabell Werth - Bit open halt, good power diagonal, power half pass left, nice into passage at C, passage need more relaxation, small lack of balance extension, good passage, good start of half pass right but becomes bit stocked at the end, good into passage at C, good passage, good extension, good passage, relaxed active extended walk, tense collected walk, super into piaffe, super timing out, bit tense for passage, nice balance for piaffe at the spot, good transitions, missing transition to canter first at long side, good half passes, good 2 times lack bit more flow, ok 1 times tension and dragging bit forward down, good extended canter, good 1st pirouette, error end of 1 times, need more sit and balance on hind quaters for 2nd pirouette, good extension, super final centerline with lovely piaffe at the spot of the ground.

Wendy is finding her legs and balance in a much better way for the piaffe tours even though some minor tensions creeping in. The collected walk tour is unfortunately getting somewhat unbalanced!

Fendi & Sönke Rothenberger - Good halt, good diagonal, nice flow uphill balanced half pass left, super on the hind legs into passage at C, super passage, nice out for extension, WOW back to the hind legs, super passage, good flow and go for half pass right, smooth back to passage, power extension uphill and again back clear on hind legs, trending 78%, bit hurried extended walk could show bit more let go, good collected walk, super sit for piaffe missing bit more clear flow out, super 2nd piaffe including smooth transitions, bit tense into canter, good half passes, error begin due to toilet 2 times, more with parallel hind for 1 times, good extended canter, super change, super sit and balance for 1st pirouette, 1 times with parallel hind, big 2nd pirouette, late into trot, good extension, super passage, easy in and out, good piaffe, good halt.

Sönke and Fendi showed how to make transitions from extensions back to passage, exactly from the dressage book! The walk has clearly improved with more relaxation.

Tensions

Hermes was unfortunately not fully focused today and went into his spooky moments which of course became costly during the test. Denoix unfortunately never really settled in the Aachen arena. Also Matthias Rath and Thiago were struggling with a lot of tensions today.

Zen Elite´s Bohemian and Endel Ots winner of international Grand Prix debut today

Successful new partnership

The partnership between Bohemian and Endel is still fairly new and today they´ve made their international debut in CDI3 Grand Prix, Wellington with a clear victory. A very harmonious and obedient performance with only a total mixed up two times serie, rest was nicely performed, but overall you could wish for a more open frame and more clear search of the contact.

Placed both second and third was Adrienne Lyle with her two new Olympic hope, Helix and Lars van de Hoenderheide. It was also Adrienne Lyle´s comeback since January 2023 where she rode Salvino at his last international competition.

Top of the CDI3 Grand Prix:

Hermes and Dinja van Liere back after injury break with CDI3 Grand Prix victory in Aachen today

No horses for the prizegiving (look like a great choise the future) - photo: screenshot Clipmyhorse.

34 combinations for today´s Grand Prix at Festival4Dressage in Aachen

It was a very interesting field for today´s Grand Prix class in Aachen. The big Deutsche Bank stadium looked even more impressive and also kind of terrifying with all the empty spectator seats.

Many top riders was at start and it became a very intesting class to follow.

Dinja van Liere and Hermes were back. Last time they were at competition were at the World Cup final back in April 2023 where Hermes unfortunately got injured. Today they were back with their very strong piaffe & passage tours and overall very strong performance. Only thing was the trot half pass to the right where the balance and clear rhythm was failing.

Hermes & Dinja van Liere - Bit open halt, small unbalance before nice extension, uneven hind for half pass right, better balance left, good halt with rein back, good diagonal, super into passage, nice passage, super piaffe at the spot, easy out, bit tense hind before transition to walk, super nice extended walk, good collected walk, nice into passage, super piaffe tiny forward trend, good passage, good into canter, nice 2 times, good extended canter, bit unbalanced zigzag, super 1 times, nice 1st pirouette, same for 2nd missing tiny control, bit late into trot, good diagonal, super passage, direct into piaffe, bit tense final into halt. 75,522%

Wendy de Fontaine & Isabell Werth - Good halt, good diagonal bit hectic, good flow and go for half passes, good halt dragging rein back, good diagonal, nice into passage, good piaffe, good transitions, nice passage, super relaxation and over track for extended walk, good collected walk, super into passage, nice passage, easy into piaffe, super steps at the spot, bit tension, good transitions, nice into canter, good 2 times full diagonal, power extended canter, good zigzag, good 1 times, super 1st pirouette, 2nd missing bit more sit but nice centered, super into trot at M, good diagonal, super final centerline. 75,065%

Wendy really finding the balance for the piaffe tours today.

Jovian & Patrik Kittel - Super halt, power diagonal balanced, good flow and go for both half passes, super halt with good rein back, power diagonal, good passage, easy into piaffe, good steps and good out, good extended walk, very nice collected walk, good into passage, tiny tensions hind, good piaffe steps but missing more clear sit, bit tense into canter, ok 2 times could show bit more forward flow, good extended canter, bit unbalanced moments for zigzag, good 1 times, bit big 1st pirouette, 2nd better but tiny hind aides, good into trot, power diagonal well balanced, good final centerline, super halt. 74,500%

Sönke Rothenberger was back with his 10 year old Danish Warmblood gelding Fendi. Last time they showed was in Aachen last year. Today they were back in good form, gained more strength and security for the passage-piaffe-passage tours. Overall a very nice performance only kept them of the podium due to judge at M from France having them as no 17, where the other four judges placed them as 4-1-4-17-5!

Unfortunately there were some obvious judging issues during the class with biggest difference of 10% for two combinations!

If you want to catch up on running H2R comments during the class you can find them at H2R Facebook feed here.

Here you find the results for the entire class.

3 års vinder af den svenske "bruksprøve" - Scarabus VH e. Springbank II VH / Van Vivaldi

Scarabus VH - foto: @lovgretphoto

Velfortjent champion titel til den 3-årige hingst Scarabus VH som viste sig flot til alle præsentationerne.

Scarabus var flot klargjort til den danske forbesigtigelse, kåring og nu den svenske kåring af CS Equestrian v. Christian Springborg.

3 års champion

4 års champion

H2R favorit hingst med klart billede af en fremtidig Grand Prix hest var den 4 årige Morricello II VH, som begge testryttere hollandske Theo Hanzon og tyske Philipp Hess også gav et 9-tal.

Link til alle præmiehingste her.

Øvrige godkendte hingste

Total Dream avlet af Lotte Kulle, med super hingste look, men som desværre mistede pusten til den sidste præsentation under rytter i lørdags.

Link til alle godkendte hingste her.

Danish bred stallion Sarai L now also appointed Premium stallion at Dutch NRPS breeding society

Selected for three different breeding societies, and appointed Premium stallion in both Danish Warmblood and dutch NRPS

Another successful presentation of the 3 year old Danish bred Sarai L by Secret / For Romance, bred by L-Horses, Skanderborg, DEN and co-owned by Stal van de Sande. Sarai L was also appointed as a Premium stallion at the NRPS licensing and already selected for the KWPN performance test.

Huge success for Norel family

Dutch family Norel presented both the Champion stallion I am Rico Norel by Iron / Uphill and the reserve champion Express Norel by Expression / Oscar. 2nd reserve champion was Le Rio Grande by Las Vegas / Bordeaux.

Also appointed Premium stallions were Danny Boy by Dream Boy / Tolando and Mambo by Mac Madison / Glock´s Toto Jr.

Approved stallions:

Festival 4 Dressage in Aachen comes up from tomorrow

193 entries

Huge entry list for this edition of Festival 4 Dressage starting tomorrow at 9.00 with CDI1 Prix St. Georg and at 12.00 with CDI3 Grand Prix.

Grand Prix entries

For the Grand Prix (for GPS) entries a lot of prominent names are listed, such as:

Isabell Werth & Wendy de Fontaine, Katharina Hemmer & Denoix, Sönke Rothenberger & Fendi, Dinja van Liere & Hermes, Patrik Kittel & Jovian, Emma Hindle & Zippo M.I. and Danish 🇩🇰Anna Zibrandtsen & Quel Filou.

The entire event is available to follow LIVE at Clipmyhorse. Link for start and results here.


De svenske unghingste vist for sidste gang igår under rytter

Den svenske brugsprøve af hingstene startede allerede i mandags, og i går lørdag var sidste dag hvor de unge hingste skulle vises for 2. gang under egen rytter for de 3 års og med testrytter for de 4 års.

Hvis man har fulgt med fra førstedagen inklusiv første præsentation under sadel. så ændres det overordnede billede fra første dagen ikke til lørdagens præsentation. Nu afventer hingsteejerne og avlerne bare den endelige besked mandag om hvorvidt hingsten er godkendt eller ej.

To afkom efter sølvmedaljehoppen Duchesse Petit e. De Noir / Schwadroneur fra Lotte Sophia Liv Kulle

For den danske avler Lotte Sophia Liv Kulle har det været en ekstra spændende uge, idet hun har været med på sidelinien i Sverige for at se egen avl, nemlig hingsten Total Dream e. Total McLaren / De Noir, som er ejet af svenske Gunnarlunda. Derudover har hoppen Delizia (født 2013) e. Fürstenball / De Noir, været til start ved landsstævne for første gang. Delizia er nu under uddannelse af Anne Mette Strandby Hansen og parret blev nr. 2 i både Prix St. Georg og Intermediare I.

Blandt H2R favoritterne til den svenske brugsprøve:

3 års

  • Total Dream by Total McLaren / De Noir

  • Moricello III VH by Morricone / Floricello

  • Scarabus VH by Springbank II VH / Van Vivaldi

4 års

  • Devin Franco GJ by Vivino / Bon Coeur

  • Moricello II VH by Morricone / Floricello

  • Zniper by Gammelenggårds Zappa / Johnson

Secret sons Santos and Security stood out at stallion show today

Santos by Secret / Don Schufro - photo: screenshot / Clipmyhorse

Secret sons took the spot light at today´s stallion show with Beckmann, AT Schurf, Ingo Pape, LG Celle

Highlight from stallion stallion Pape was 6 year old Santos by Secret / Don Schufro / Rohdiamant was shown by Greta Heemsoth. Light footed, powerful, supple and expressive.

From stallion stalion M. Beckmann (owner Reesink) the 3 year old Security by Secret / Ampere / Jazz was shown under saddle by Bart Veeze. Top top young stallion and what a superb walk he also showed.


8 year old mare Maxima Bella with Polish Sandra Sysojeva with double victory at CDI3 Wroclaw

Maxima Bella - photo: screenshot Clipmyhorse

CDI3 Wroclaw Polen

The black power mare showed up at international Grand Prix level last month at CDI3 Kalen-Towarzystwo, Polen with victory in both Grand Prix and Grand Prix freestyle, and this weekend Sandra Sysojeva could repeat the success with both Grand Prix and Grand Prix freestyle victories.

The black mare is only 8 years old (turns 8 in May) and shows a lot of qualities without tensions, easy huge passage, super balance in and out of active piaffe at the spot. For the Grand Prix test an error was creeping into the two times and missing and more clear bending around inside leg for pirouette to the right was missing.

Overall top qualities in a light contact without any technical issues. For some moment the young mare is dropping the pole, which of course is a sign of still lacking a bit of overall strength. This is definitely a combination to keep an eye on.

Top placements in CDI3 GP:

Here you find all results.


Mød din hingst når musikken ikke spiller

Kender vi ikke alle sammen følelsen af at blive forblændet at hingste til shows med spotlights og høj musik? Men hvordan ser hverdagen egentlig ud?

Nu har du muligheden for at møde Atterupgaards Bernachi i hverdagen og stalden.

Vi vil gerne sætte de naturlige gangarter i fokus. Der er trods alt dem du arver.

Mød "Benny" og hele teamet bag ham på

Atterupgaard, Atterupvej 11, 4174 Jystrup

d. 21.4.24 kl. 11

til en kop kaffe og en hyggelig snak om avl og ridning

Road to Riyadh - the FEI Dressage World Cup™ season 2023/2024 is on the home straight ­ ­

The 37th season of the global Dressage series is approaching its finale. For the first time, the best dressage athletes in the world will meet for the World Cup Final™ in the capital of Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh from April 16 to 20, 2024.

Athletes can collect points for the final in four leagues: In the Western European League (WEL), the Central European League (CEL), the North American League (NAL) and the Pacific League (PAL). Out of all those four Leagues 18 riders receive their ticket for the Final in Riyadh.
 
The largest group of World Cup finalists comes from the Western European League (WEL), which has nine places up for grabs in the field of finalists.

Five-time World Cup winner Isabell Werth (GER) will be travelling to Riyadh as the leader of the WEL: It will be her 25th (!) World Cup Final™ appearance. Werth has won three legs and finished second once, meaning that she has collected a total of 77 points. She has earned these points with her horses DSP Quantaz and Emilio, both of whom are qualified for the final. If everything goes as planned, the 54-year-old will saddle up the 18-year-old Emilio in Riyadh and see him bid farewell to the sport. World Champion Charlotte Fry (GBR) follows in second place in the World Cup rankings with 74 points. She has scored with two wins and two second places, all of which she achieved with Everdale, meaning that the half-brother to World Champion Glamourdale is also her sole option for the Final. Fry was already a World Cup finalist in 2022 with Dark Legend, so Riyadh will be Final number two for the 28-year-old British athlete.

A very experienced athlete finished the season in third place in the ranking with 72 points: Patrik Kittel from Sweden. Kittel has ridden three different horses, Bonamour, Touchdown and Forever Young HRH, in this World Cup season - that is extraordinary. The well-mounted champion has already taken part in the World Cup Final™ eight times, but has never finished on the podium.

The top nine in the WEL also includes Matthias Alexander Rath (GER, 69 points), Nanna Skodborg Merrald (DEN, 64 points), Morgan Barbancon (FRA, 56 points), Raphael Netz (GER, 54 points), Emmelie Scholtens (NED, 54 points) and Borja Carrascosa (ESP, 53 points). Following consultation with her team, Scholtens has already declared that she will not be claiming her place in the Final.
 
The athlete in tenth place can therefore move up into the field of finalists. Belgium's Flore de Winne and Diana Porsche from Austria are positioned there with 41 points each. In such a case, the highest freestyle result achieved by the riders during the season is decisive. For de Winne this was 80.330 per cent with the ten-year-old Flynn FRH in Mechelen, for Porsche it was 75.820 per cent with Douglas in Basel. This means that de Winne will move up for Scholtens.

The defending champion also comes from the WEL and - as every year - is seeded for the final. Double Olympic Champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (GER) has won the final with her top mare TSF Dalera BB in the past two years.
 
The Central European League began its qualifiers back in May 2023 in the Czech Republic. Since then, twelve qualifiers have been held, with the last one scheduled at the beginning of March in Motesice, Slovakia. Two women have each taken the top spot in the CEL rankings with the full score of four wins, 80 World Cup points: Alisa Glinka for Moldova and Justina Vanagaite for Lithuania. Alisa has won the World Cup with her horses Abercrombie and Aachen, and she already competed with Aachen in the 2022 Final in Leipzig (GER). Justina relies entirely on her partner Nabab in the World Cup, with whom she has also competed at the FEI World and European Championships and at the 2023 World Cup Final™ .
 
In the North American League (NAL), the three best results per rider are counted. After nine out of ten qualifications, Benjamin Ebeling (USA) has already secured full points (60 points) with three victories and is firmly in control of the top of the NAL rankings. The 24-year-old Benjamin is the son of Olympic athlete Jan Ebeling and has never competed in a championship or World Cup Final™ before. He now looks set to fulfil this dream with the 16-year-old mare Indeed.

Kevin Kohmann and Anna Marek, also both competing for the USA, have also secured their places in the final, even though there is still one stage of the NAL to go. They are in second and third place in the current World Cup rankings with 57 and 55 points. By winning stage nine in Wellington (USA), the 35-year-old Kohmann, who has never taken part in a championship or World Cup Final™, secured full points for the second time this season. Anna Marek did so as well with Fayvel in qualifiers number seven and eight in Wellington. The NAL now has one more stop to go, the last one at the end of March in Del Mar (USA). Whoever wins this final stage will not be able to overtake Kohmann and Marek on points.
 
In the Pacific League, participation in the World Cup Final™ is decided in the League Final: The winner of the League Final receives the final ticket for Riyadh and this victory was secured in Cambridge-Takapoto, New Zealand, by Melissa Galloway with almost 80 percentage points in her World Cup Freestyle. The Melissa-Windermere J'Obei W pair remained unbeaten throughout the 2023 season and is now on its way to their first World Cup Final™ .­­­­

FEI World Cup™ Finals 2024 Riyadh - Photo: riyadh2024.fei.org

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Saudi Arabia, renowned for its equestrian heritage, proudly welcomes the FEI World Cup™ Finals in 2024. Riyadh, the vibrant capital, hosts this prestigious event, uniting riders, spectators, and exceptional horses worldwide. With state-of-the-art facilities and warm hospitality, Riyadh epitomizes Saudi Arabia's commitment to equestrian excellence and cultural heritage.  
 
The Finals of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ and the FEI Dressage World Cup™ will take place at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center between 16 – 20 April 2024 and will mark the conclusion of the 2023–24 Dressage and Jumping FEI World Cup™ Seasons. 
 
It will be the first time in history that the FEI World Cup™ Finals will be held on the Asian continent for Dressage and for the second time for Jumping after the finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2006. It will be the first time that the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ and the FEI Dressage World Cup™ are taking place in the Middle East region.
 
The hosting of the FEI World Cup™ Finals reflects Saudi Arabia's dedication to promoting the equestrian arts and celebrating competition. Join us in Riyadh to celebrate the enduring legacy of Saudi Arabia's equestrian heritage and experience the captivating future of this remarkable city. 

VIDEO - Hestevelfærd, kommunikation, ordentlighed og åbenhed - på vej mod et nyt DRF

Med gårsdagens livestream af præsentationsmøde med de 11 kandidater til DRF´s bestyrelse, blev dørene for første gang i DRF regi åbnet op, og alle var velkommen og kunne se med hjemmefra.

Udover de 11 kandidater bød DRF´s kommende formand Dan Boyter velkommen. Dan fortalte lidt om sin egen baggrund, og fortalte også hvilke udfordringer og opgaver der ligger foran den nye bestyrelse.

Hele seancen varede 3 timer og startede med at hver enkelt kandidat fik lov til at præsenterer sig selv, med hvad de gerne ville bidrage med til den nye bestyrelse. Efterfølgende var der spørgsmål hvor alle kandidater løbende kunne byde ind med deres bud på svar, og med rigtig god ping-pong mellem kandidaterne.

De 11 kandidater kommer stort set alle, på nær et par enkelte, med forskellige indgangsvinkler fra hestesporten. Og med de mange nye kandidater, er der mulighed for, at kunne taget et stort skridt ind i en ny og spændende fremtid for DRF.

11 kandidater til 5 pladser

Alene med baggrund i gårsdagens præsentationer og kendskab til DRF´s historik gennem flere årtier, kommer H2R gerne med et bud på de 5 kandidater som ligner de profiler / personer som kan være med til at skabe det nye DRF. De 5 ledige pladser i DRF´s bestyrelse består af 4 bestyrelsesmedlemmer samt en suppleant.

  • Tine Callesen (Sundeved Rideklub) pt. bestyrelsesmedlem som modtager genvalg

Nye:

  • Jakob Leth (Sportsrideklubben)

  • Bent Jensen (Hjallerup Rideklub)

  • Linnea Ericsson-Carey (Bækgaarden Rideklub)

  • Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (Stutsborg Rideklub)

ET OPRÅB TIL ALLE BESTYRELSER I RIDEKLUBBERNE!

Få spredt kendskabet til kandidaterne med videoen herunder ⬇️, så bliver i helt sikkert bedre klædt på til at vælge hvem der skal stå i spidsen for forbundet efter den 13. april. (Scroll frem til ca. 3.30 så begynder det med lyd!)