France's Julien Epaillard and his gelding Donatello d'Auge (Jarnac x Hello pierville) take the start in Texas as defending 2025 FEI Jumping Worldcup finals winners!

Schedule

The action kicks off on Tuesday, 7 April, with the first veterinary inspection. 

On Wednesday, 8 April, it is time for a training session where each horse-and-rider combination has 90 seconds to familiarize themselves with the arena. The draw for the starting order for the first Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final competition will take place on Wednesday evening. 

The first Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final competition – a 1.60m class judged as a Table C – takes place on Thursday evening and is open to all CSI-W Final athletes. 

The second Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final competition – a 1.60m class with a jump-off, judged as a Table A – takes place on Friday evening. All qualified riders for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™, except those eliminated or retired in the first competition on Thursday, are eligible to compete. 

Saturday is a rest day for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final competitors, with the second veterinary inspection taking place at 12.45 CET. 

On Sunday, the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2026 Champion will be crowned after a final that is jumped over two rounds set at 1.60m. 

⇒ Click here for the full timetable and for results

The competition format for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final

Riders are permitted to bring two different horses to the Finals. While this offers a strategic advantage, there is a catch: a rider can only compete on one horse per competition. They must choose their partner carefully for each phase of the Final.

In the first two competitions, the goal is to accumulate as many points as possible. The winner of each class receives points based on the total number of starters in the first competition, plus a one-point bonus. The points then scale down by one for each subsequent placing. Consistency is everything. Any rider who retires or is eliminated in the initial rounds of these first two days receives no points, effectively ending their title hopes.

After the second competition, the overall points are transformed into penalties for the final day: The leader (the rider with the most points) is given a score of 0 penalties. For the rest of the field, the gap between their points and the leader’s score is multiplied by a coefficient of 0.50. This determines their starting penalty score for the final Sunday.

As the weekend progresses, the field is whittled down to the very best: Only the top 30 combinations from the provisional standings qualify for the third and final competition. After the first round on Sunday, only the top 20 pairs move forward to the second and deciding round.

There is a unique twist for Sunday's final: any rider who jumps a clear round in the first phase, even if they aren't in the overall Top 20, is allowed to return for the second round. While they won't be eligible to win the overall World Cup title, they can still compete for the individual class ranking and the significant prize money offered for the day.

The math on Sunday afternoon is straightforward: the rider who finishes all three competitions with the lowest cumulative number of penalties is crowned the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Champion.