Aachen Breaks Tradition and No Longer Hosts FEI Dressage Nations' Cup

Dressage

Germany

CDIO Aachen, the longest existing international dressage competition, is breaking with tradition and will no longer be hosting an FEI Dressage Nations' Cup in 2024.

Since 2013 the Aachen team competition is part of the official FEI Nations Cup series.

Control Over Invitations

The FEI issued brand new rules in 2024 for the invitation of nations to its FEI Nations' Cup series. These displeased the Aachen show management, as it would no longer give them total control over their invitation system.

As of this year the FEI wants to attract more countries to the Nations Cup and forces organizers to extend invitations to all nations. The new rule says: "Each CDIO-NC Organiser must invite all NFs and is not permitted to limit the number of NFs that can participate. The only possible limitation is the maximum number of combinations to start per day (forty (40) combinations)."

Aachen wants to be pickier and only invite countries that rank highly on the FEI World Ranking or riders/countries who are in good standing with the organizer.

The CHIO wrote out their own invitation system and National Federarations (NFs) can only suggest riders "after receiving an invitation from the Organising Committee."

So for their version of a team competition this year they have invited "the top 7 teams of the European Championships in Riesenbeck 2023 (GBR, GER, DEN, SWE, NED, FRA, AUT) plus USA (best non-European team of the World Championships Herning 2022)."

The Spanish Team in Aachen in 2005: Rambla,
Mena, Cruces, Joaquicoa

One of the biggest losers of Aachen's decision is Spain, which has sent teams to Aachen for years. The Spanish riders are also very much liked by the audience with their beautiful PRE horses and their team members bring atmosphere and ambiance to the crowd with clapping and cheering.

"We have withdrawn from the FEI Nations Cup Series 2024 due to the changed invitation mode," Aachen's press officer Tobias Königs confirmed to Eurodressage. "Aachen organisers will confirm invitations as soon as possible, which is contrary to the FEI Dressage Nations Cup Rules 2024."

Gone Rogue

Aachen first hosted a Nations’ Cup in show jumping in 1929 and thus the actual era of the CHIO (Concours Hippique International Officiel) began.

In 1977 it added a dressage nations cup to its programme. Since 2013 the Aachen Nations Cup is an official leg of the FEI Nations Cup Dressage series.

Germany has won the Aachen dressage Nations Cup every single year except four times. The Netherlands won it in 2005, 2009 and 2010 and Denmark in 2022.

The German team with Holger Schmezer in 2008

It is not the first time that Aachen has opposed the FEI's decision and gone rogue. In 2014 it dropped out of the FEI Show Jumping Nations Cup series, initially arguing financial reasons (it was then called Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup) but it turned out the show wanted to honour its contract with long-time sponsor Rolex, which has supported the CHIO since 1999. Aachen refuses to comply with the exclusivity rule for FEI's Nations Cup title sponsor Longines, a rivalling watch company.

The "CDIO" abbreviation (Concours Dressage International Official) recognizes competitions within the Nations Cup series. So far Aachen continues to use the CDIO handle despite no longer being part of the series. It will hold a “team competition” under its own rules.

"According to our program booklet the name CDIO has been around since 1983, the year of the European Dressage Championships in Aachen," Dr. Doris Beaujean, Head of the CHIO Aachen's Museum and Archive, told Eurodressage.