FEI WORLD CUP

JUMPING SERIES

Both locally and internationally, equestrian news has been abuzz with Jumping World Cup talk. We have recently witnessed Henrik von Eckermann claim back-to-back World Cup wins aboard King Edward, while here in South Africa, we have just completed the second World Cup Qualifier, where Leona van der Merwe claimed victory aboard her special mare 334 Hey I'm Wilma at Maple Ridge. Here, we dive into the history and how the system works and share some interesting facts about the FEI World Cup Series.

A BRIEF HISTORY

The World Cup Series was created in 1978 by the Swiss journalist, historian and equestrian enthusiast Max Ammann. According to eurodressage.com, the original plan was to focus on indoor shows and make a Formula 1 style series or a worldwide showjumping ‘tour’. This idea was abandoned in favour of the League system that still exists today due to the cost and stress of transporting horses worldwide. Max presented his concept along with the rules to the FEI Secretary General and then President, the late Prince Phillip, who approved the idea provided Max would run the series.

Max then required funding and, through his connections, approached and presented the idea to the President of Volvo and secured the sponsorship! Ultimately, Volvo sponsored the finals and qualifiers for the first 20 years of its existence. From 1999 to 2013, the series was sponsored by Rolex, and then Longines, the current sponsor, took over.

THE FORMAT

THE QUALIFIERS

World Cup Qualification is set up in regional Leagues, each with a maximum number of qualifiers that can be held in that region for each series (year), and event dates must be submitted to and approved by the FEI.

The Leagues within which riders can qualify for the final in the 2024-2025 series are:

• Arab League, Middle East SubLeague

• Arab League, North African SubLeague

• Australian League

• Central European League, Northern Sub-League

• Central European League, Southern Sub-League

• China League

• Eurasian League

• Japan League

• New Zealand League

• North American League

• South African League

• South American League

• South East Asian League

• Western European League (riders require an invitation to compete in the qualifiers according to FEI World Cup rules)

DID YOU KNOW?

Max Ammann was also integral in setting up the Dressage and Driving World Cups. The reason there is no FEI Eventing World Cup is that event horses compete on only some weekends, so the league would be too difficult to implement.

The qualifying competitions in Western and Central European Leagues are run according to Art. 238.2.2. This is a Table A competition against the clock, with one round and one jump-off against the clock. The remaining athletes who do not jump off are classified according to penalties and time in the first round. Other Leagues can choose to run the according to Art 238.2.2 or Art. 273.3.3.1, 273.3.3.2, 273.4.3, 273.2.2.

In South Africa, our competitions are generally run according to Art. 273.4.3, whereby all clears or the top 25% of competitors (where there are fewer clears) from the first round jump a shorter second round in reverse order of faults and time. Results are calculated according to penalties accumulated over both rounds, and a tie is broken by the time of the second round.

Riders are allocated points according to where they finish each qualifier.

In Leagues with over six qualifiers, only the best 50% of an individual’s possible results count towards qualification for the final. In Leagues such as the South African League, where there are usually five or six qualifiers per year, either three or four qualifiers count, meaning riders usually only have one or two ‘drop’ scores.

The top 18 riders from the Western European League qualify for the final, alongside 14 riders from North America (seven from the East, three from the West, two each from Canada and Mexico). One rider from the South African League will qualify for the final the following season (due to export/ travel restrictions). This means that Bronwyn Meredith dos Santos, who won the 2023/2024 series, has qualified for the 2024/2025 final.

According to regulations, she must ride a horse that she competed as her nominated horse in a competition in the 2023/2024 series. As Bronwyn competed both Bibisi and Capital Levubu as nominated rides in at least one WCQ, she can choose which to compete in the final! The number of riders from the other Leagues will be decided by the FEI jumping committee according to the overall standings of their own League.

Riders can qualify by competing in Leagues outside their nationality as an ‘extra’ athlete. However, they need to have gained at least as many points as the last qualified ‘local’ athlete from that League in order to qualify. This was the case with Marlene Sinclair, who finished tied first with Jonathan Clarke in 2018.

Additional qualifications for the Final include a possible Wild Card Host Country entry, and the Defending World Cup Champion (in this case, Hendrik von Eckermann) is allowed to enter as an additional athlete with two horses of their choice.

THE FINAL

Despite adaptations to the Finals format in 1981, the series has remained relatively unchanged over its history. The World Cup final is usually held each year in April at a different venue. It involves three final competitions held over at least five days where the combination with the least accumulated penalties over the three competitions claims victory. In the unlikely event of an equality of penalties and a tie for first place after the three competitions, there will be a jump-off against the clock over a reduced course of at least six obstacles.

DID YOU KNOW?

A tie was last observed in 2012 between Richard Fellers (USA) on Flexible and Steve Guerdat (SUI) on Nino Des Buissonnets. The jump-off saw Rich Fellers claim the World Cup title by just 0.64 seconds.

The FEI Jumping World Cup for the current (2024/2025) series will be held from the 1st-6th April 2025 in Basel Switzerland. The general format is as follows:

Day 1: Training session and/or a warm-up competition

Day 2: First Final Competition: One round according to Table C (One round against the clock where knocked obstacles incur time penalties and results are based on time). Any penalties incurred in this event do however carry over to the final individual rankings.

Day 3: This is run as a Table A, against the clock (one round and a jump-off against the clock. Set at 1.50-1.60m, and not eligible for combinations that were eliminated or retired from the First Final Competition.

Day 4: Rest day

Day 5: Third Final Competition: This is run as a Table A, not against the clock (two rounds over a Grand Prix course). Set at a height of 1.50m-1.60m, the two rounds are approximately equal in the number of obstacles and length of the course; the second round has an increased level of difficulty. There is no jump-off to decide the winner of the third round.

DID YOU KNOW?

FEI World Cup™️ Competitions may be held outdoors when appropriate to suit local climatic conditions (such as in South Africa), but the FEI World Cup™️ is in principle an indoor competition and the FEI World Cup™️ Final has to be held indoors in a permanently covered arena.

DID YOU KNOW?

In the 45 World Cup Finals hosted, riders from only ten countries have won: the USA and Canada were very dominant in the early years, then the UK, Austria, and Brazil. The Netherlands and France have each had one winner, while Germany and Switzerland were dominant for most of the past two decades until the Swede Hendrik von Eckermann’s reign.

DID YOU KNOW?

Rodrigo Pessoa and the legendary Baloubet du Rouet had three back-to-back World Cup wins from 1998 - 2000. The pair were also second in 2001, third in 2002 and second again in 2003! The only other combination to have come close to this feat were Meredith Michaels Beerbaum and the unforgettable Shutterfly, who won in 2005, 2008 and 2009 and were second in 2004.