In one of the first episodes of the EQUTALK Business Podcast this season, we asked a simple but uncomfortable question: who is actually paying the bill for the multi-million dollar party in international showjumping? The answer was as simple as it was uncomfortable: the breeder.

Now, two months later, the same discussion is starting to emerge elsewhere. Rightly so. But let's be honest: we were already talking about it when the ink on McCourt's Premier Jumping League announcement was still wet. "A breeder pays for a ticket to watch their intellectual property earn 100,000 euros in an afternoon. That is not a model. That is a paradox."

The figures are now known. 86 CSI5* shows in 2025. A minimum of 50 million euros in prize money in the 5* classes alone. Prague: 6.5 million in one weekend. Aachen: 3.9 million. Calgary: 5 million Canadian dollars for one Grand Prix. And on top of that, there is McCourt's additional 100 million dollars per year, to be distributed over three years, starting in 2027.

At the same time - and this is the point we at EQUTALK have been making for months - breeders can hardly sell their foals with potential today. Over-supply. Stagnating prices in the mid-market segment. Rising costs. Breeders who are structurally losing money on their core activity, while that same core activity is the absolute prerequisite for everything above it.

Most riders are pro!

We called it a sustainability problem back then. Not an emotional issue, but a structural flaw in the value chain. If the architects of the multi-million dollar party do not share in the proceeds, the supply of building materials will eventually stop. That is not a theory; it is an economic law.

A positive signal? In our initial survey of various riders, it appears that the majority are positively open to such a premium. That the majority are also willing to contribute a portion of their winnings to it... however, they believe that this responsibility does not lie with them alone.

The first steps will be announced next week!

It is good that the discussion is now being held more broadly. But the question is no longer whether there should be breeders' premiums. The question is who has the guts to take the first step... we have good news on that! Next week we will launch our first PROPOSAL on the new EQUTALK Podcast!