The sporting emotions, the high-level competition, the World Cups … this is above all the soul and the essence of the Jumping International de Bordeaux. A flagship event of the international equestrian circuit, but also the French international sports calendar. Every year, the oldest French stage of the FEI Longines World Cup attracts the best athletes of the showjumping world. Later were added to this the world’s leading drivers and then the international eventing champions. In this Olympic year, they will all be back in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, from February 6th to 9th, 2020, at the Parc des Expositions in Bordeaux. But the Jumping International de Bordeaux is also a fair that is growing year by year with spaces dedicated to breeding, a night of entertainment, an Equine Health Forum with conferences for professionals and amateurs and a set of events taking place on the grounds of the show.
Longines FEI World Cup
This year, the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final will be held in Las Vegas from April 15th to 19th and Bordeaux will be the thirteenth of the fourteen legs of the Western European League. A circuit that started in October in Oslo with the victory of brilliant Swiss up-and-coming Bryan Balsiger, a rider that the Helvetians announce as a new Steve Guerdat. But for now, it is the latter who is the title holder … and he should return to Bordeaux.
This World Cup circuit, created in 1978, clearly stands out in the international winter calendar and explicitly distinguishes itself from the various private circuits : it is the only official individual series organized by the Fédération Équestre Internationale and leading to a real world title coveted by the greatest riders on Earth. The Jumping International de Bordeaux is a historic leg of this famous circuit since it was one of the ten founding shows and the only, with Gothenburg, still on the calendar of this series today. This explains the prestige of a victory in Bordeaux and therefore the quality of the set of riders that the Jumping inevitably offers every year to its passionate public.
Two highlights of the showjumping program are the Longines FEI World Cup qualifier on Saturday night (February 8th), whose prize money is increased by € 100,000 for a total of € 280,000 making this World Cup Grand Prix enter the top 3 of the Western European circuit. Not to mention the Land Rover Grand Prix on Sunday (February 9th) with € 110,000 in prize money and which saw last year the first five-star victory of French rider Félicie Bertrand.
Driving: Bordeaux home of the world final
The Jumping International de Bordeaux likes driving and driving likes Bordeaux. Thus, the show will once again host the final of the FEI Driving World Cup and this will be the case until at least 2023. A popular entertainment, bright and loud, that always fills the crowds with enthusiasm and which, in 2019, had created a big surprise since the young Dutchman Bram Chardon had dethroned the Australian king Boyd Exell. The latter will be keen to take revenge this year on these grounds he particularly likes.
Another great sporting moment is the Devoucoux indoor derby, which brings together under one roof all the big eventing names, the French Olympic champions, of course, but also the undisputed “master”, the individual Olympic champion and true legend of equestrian sports, Germany’s Michael Jung, who this year entered the circuit of … the showjumping World Cup ! He has just finished ninth in Helsinki and should therefore wear two hats at the Jumping International de Bordeaux.
Horse exhibition (Salon du Cheval):
These competitions are in themselves real shows for everyone, even for the uninitiated. The Jumping International de Bordeaux aims to be an event not only for connoisseurs, but also for the general public.
Horse-ball, a true “product of the French South-West” and which has enjoyed glorious moments at the Jumping International de Bordeaux returns this year with the Game of Legends which will pit the former glories of the French team against the current national selection. The Salon du Cheval is getting even bigger this year spreading more and more into hall 1 and new exhibitors joining.
The activities that punctuate the days will allow the laymen to discover and appreciate different equestrian disciplines: a rich program of more than forty hours covering almost everything to do with horses, sport or leisure. The fair offers an incredible setting where quality is the watchword and where, on more than two hundred and fifty stands, one can find the best and latest trends of equestrian sports!
The show on Thursday evening has become a great highlight of the event, all the bigger this year as it will present the illustrious regiment of the French Republican Guard for the first time in Bordeaux with its famous carousel of twelve riders, the recovery of spears and tandems. A demonstration of competitive dressage will complete this great evening of dressage and entertainment.
The meeting of the professionals
The Salon des Étalons de Sport of Bordeaux is undoubtedly a reference “breeding meeting” in Europe. Every year, the biggest stud farms of France, and even Belgium, come to present to the French South-West breeders the very best of European sport horse stallions. Groupe France Elevage, the stud farms of Clarbec, Coudrettes, Brulemail, Beligneux le Haras and others will be at the meeting.
Initiated in 2019, the Equine Health Forum is also a highly anticipated moment for professionals in the horse industry and amateur riders. A mix of highly specialized topics for professionals, notably breeders, or for a wider rider target on themes like for example well-being and performance. There will be five lectures each day that can be sometimes illustrated by an additional activity on the Silvana arena. Seducing the greater horse family, in a broad sense, offering high level sport, products and activities and an exclusive equestrian show: this is the hallmark of the Jumping International de Bordeaux.
More info here.
More from Horse Sport:
