THE ULTIMATE TEST: REMEMBERING THE MAGIC OF THE FINAL FOUR AT THE WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES
With the World Equestrian Championships in Aachen just around the corner (11 – 23 August, 2023), we take a look back at the magic, the tension, and the history of one of showjumping’s most exciting era.
For decades, the definitive test of a rider was the Final Four. The format was simple but to many, brutal: the top four riders who made it through a whole week of five rounds (speed class, team championship, and top 30 individual semi-final) jumped a course on their own horse, then repeated it on each of their rivals' horses.
But ahead of the 2018 Games, the FEI cancelled it for good. Elite horses were getting too tired jumping four extra rounds in one night, television companies wanted faster action, and the sport needed to look more like the Olympics. It was the end of a grand tradition, but the memories live on.
Aachen 2006 was the absolute peak of that drama.
Jos Lansink had to deal with three brilliant women: Beezie Madden, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Edwina Alexander - in a breathless battle. Lansink put on a masterclass, jumping clear rounds on everyone else’s horses before winning a nail-biting five-round jump-off on his powerhouse stallion, Cumano, to take the Gold. See attached picture.
The magic returned in Kentucky in 2010 with the incredible stallion Hickstead.
He was famously hot and sensitive, a horse that only ever truly listened to Eric Lamaze. Yet when Abdullah Al-Sharbatly climbed into the saddle with just two minutes to figure him out, he handled the stallion’s fire beautifully, bringing him home with just a single time fault. See here
Then came Normandy 2014, the final horse-rotation ever held.
Jeroen Dubbeldam took the ultimate Gold with zero faults, but Beezie Madden’s Cortes C stole the show.
He was the only horse to jump clear under all four different riders, earning the title of Best Horse of the Games as a roaring French crowd waved goodbye to history. See here
As Aachen approaches, we remember those glory days where horse and rider faced the ultimate test.
--ENDS--
Photos by Jacques Toffi
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