In an exciting return to a favourite show jumping format, European champion Steve Guerdat, World champion Henrik von Eckermann, Olympic champion Christian Kukuk and Dutch champion Willem Greve will be jumping a course on each other’s horses at The Dutch Masters Indoor Brabant in s’Hertogenbosch.
The Thursday night of The Dutch Masters is reviving the ‘horse swap’ that used to exist in the World Championship “Final Four” format. Dutch Masters sports director Jeroen Dubbeldam explained, “I have always thought it was a very interesting test and also often ridden it myself. It is interesting for the audience to see how the different horses interact with the different riders and how the riders respond to this. Also outside our scene there were always a lot of positive reactions to this class, which is why I think this class should stay in our sport.”
Dubbeldam managed to ensure the participation of all four reigning champions for this new show class. “I started by sounding out Rolex Testimonee and European champion Steve Guerdat. He is someone with a vision and an opinion, and he was immediately very enthusiastic, as were the other champions.
“I think it’s going to be very interesting; you don’t often experience the champions all coming into the ring and jumping a course on each other’s horses. I will explain to the audience during the competition itself and ask the riders questions about their horses. We are still discussing which horses they will start with, but it will be a serious class at 1.45m/1.50m level. We really think this will catch on, so we can expand this class further in the future.”
The Dutch Masters will be held March 13-16, 2025 and features four days of top-level show jumping and dressage competitions, highlighted by the FEI World Cup Dressage Freestyle on Saturday and the Rolex Grand Prix on Sunday. The show is one of the four events which are part of the prestigious Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping along with CHI Geneva, CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ and CHIO Aachen.
The complete program can be found here.
Livestream here.
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