2RRA4CM Riesenbeck, Germany. 07th Sep, 2023. Equestrian sport: European Championship, Dressage, Grand Prix, 2nd half of the starting field (team decision). The legs of a horse can be seen on the dressage quadrangle. Credit: Friso Gentsch/dpa/Alamy Live News
The European Dressage Championships format combines team and individual competitions across four days of sport at Jiva Hill Stables in Crozet, France (26–31 August).
If you first got into dressage during the Olympics, you’ll notice a few differences: the Europeans are split into three stages, with one set of team medals and two sets of individual medals up for grabs.
Every rider begins in the grand prix, which decides the team medals and also acts as the first stage of individual qualification. From there, the top riders progress to the grand prix special and the freestyle to music, where the individual medals are awarded.
Here’s everything you need to know about the European Dressage Championships format
How are the team medals decided?
The action kicks off with the grand prix, held over two days – Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 August.
This is the team competition and the only test that counts towards team medals.
Fourteen nations will field teams, including reigning champions Great Britain, who struck gold at Riesenbeck in 2023.
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Each country can enter up to four riders, with the best three scores counting (so one drop score). If a team fields only three riders, all three scores count.
The winning team is the one with the highest total from its three best scores, followed by the next highest, and so on.
If teams are tied, the result is decided by the score of each team’s lowest-placed counting rider.
The grand prix also serves as the first stage of individual qualification, and all riders – including those not part of a team – take part.
How are the individual medals decided?
The spotlight then shifts to the grand prix special on Friday 29 August. The top 30 riders from the grand prix (including ties for 30th) ride again for the first set of individual medals.
If riders tie for a medal position, the ranking is decided by the highest median score from the judges (the middle score when the five judges’ marks are placed in order).
After a rest day on Saturday 30 August, the Championships finish with the freestyle to music on Sunday 31 August. The top 18 riders from the special (including ties) qualify, but with a maximum of three per nation. If four riders from one country place in the top 18, the lowest-placed of those four is replaced by the next eligible rider.
The freestyle decides the second, and final, set of individual medals.
If riders tie for a medal here, the higher artistic marks break the tie. If those are the same, the higher mark for harmony and then choreography decides the winner. If still tied, the riders share the placing.
How is the starting order decided?
The start lists are carefully structured to keep things exciting.
Grand prix – teams are grouped based on their riders’ average FEI world ranking points. Lower-ranked nations ride earlier, higher-ranked later. Within each team, the chef d’equipe decides the order of go for their riders, and this is submitted before the draw. Teams of three riders leave the first slot in their group empty. Individual riders (those not on a team) are drawn separately.
Grand prix special and freestyle – here, the order is based on performance. Riders are drawn in groups of five, going in reverse order of their previous results – so the top-scoring combinations start last.
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).
