The FEI has announced its provisional international jumping calendar. And it is jam-packed. Next year, no less than 827 international show jumping competitions will be organized. In other words, about 16 competitions per week! For the first time since 1990, there will be no World Equestrian Games in 2022. Instead, there will be the replacement World Championships for the eight disciplines, each at a different location. For show jumping this will be in Herning, Denmark.
Immediately the question arises whether this full calendar is a good thing? On average, 900 combinations will start at each competition. For the FEI this is of course a good thing with over 14,400 starters per week, but is this also true for the different organizations?
"The difference between different organizations will only increase. The competition calendar is evolving more and more into a monotonous accumulation of identical competitions at always the same locations," is the concern of many riders.
On 4 January 2022 the international show jumping season starts with a CSI2* in Villeneuve-Loubet, France, followed by the CSI4*-w in Abu Dhabi. Traditionally the year closes with the international competition in Liverpool.