CHIO Rotterdam

The CHIO Rotterdam (Concours Hippique International Officiel) is an annual international horse show held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The show is held every year in June. Is the largest international equestrian outdoor event in The Netherlands, hosted at the 'Rotterdamse Manege' in Kralingen.^[1]

The event edit

Two equestrian disciplines, show-jumping and dressage, are part of the CHIO Rotterdam in which both competitions hosts the Nations Cup. Only one Nations Cup in each discipline can be staged in a country, according to the regulations of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, the FEI. For show-jumping the 5* CSI event is part of the program, while for dressage the 5* CDI event is part of the program. Hosting a 5* in both show-jumping and dressage, making it one of the most prestigious equestrian shows in the world.^[2]

History edit

Dressage at the 1957 CHIO Rotterdam

In 1937 the Rotterdam local riding school hosted its first national show at a substantial piece of land. Also in 1939 and 1940 the local riding school hosted the two-day event, but were forced to quit because of World War II. In 1947 the local show was back on the calendar and also welcomed riders from Belgium. The first official international edition of CHIO Rotterdam was in 1948, which makes it the oldest international sport event in the city of Rotterdam. Already during the first edition of the show, a nations cup in show-jumping was held, while dressage was not yet not part of the event. In 1961 a permanent tribune was built for the CHIO Rotterdam, which was sponsored by several local businesses in Rotterdam. The same year the freestyle to music in dressage was introduced. Winner of the first dressage freestyle was the late German Reiner Klimke. A year later, in 1962, the Nations Cup for dressage was also introduced. In 1967 the CHIO Rotterdam hosted the European Championships for show-jumping, celebrating its 20th anniversary. Ten years later in 1979, Rotterdam again hosted the European Championships for show-jumping.^[3]

Henk Nooren during the 1980 alternate Olympic Games

In 1980 the Olympic Games in Moscow were boycotted by a major number of countries because of the protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. CHIO Rotterdam was designated to organize the alternative Olympic Games for equestrian and was won by Austrian Hugo Simon.^[4] Nine years later, CHIO Rotterdam hosted again the European Championships for show-jumping.

The 90's was a difficult decade for the organization as the standards of the International Federation became stricter, the costs of organizing the event became significantly high because of the growth, and the municipality in Rotterdam could not agree on the progress and organization surrounding the event. The CHIO Rotterdam takes place in a forest and to further expand, 51 trees had to be cut to make the expansion possible. Ultimately, the plan fell through.^[3] Also a setback in the 1990s was the fire at the Rotterdamse Manege, which resulted in the destruction of the specially built tribune.^[5]

Modern dressage at CHIO Rotterdam (in 2017)

In the 2000s the event is able to grow again and a new era for the event begins, while the popularity of equestrian in The Netherlands was rising. The grass in the main arena was replaced by sand and dressage moved from the smaller second arena to the main arena, while the event became more popular by visitors because of the expansion of exhibitors and more entertainment besides the sport.^[3] In 2006 Dutch Olympic gold medalist Anky van Grunsven sets a new world record with her horse Salinero in the freestyle to music.^[6] In 2011 a complete new modern tribune was built which resulted in the allocation of the European Championships for dressage. In 2019, for the first time in history the CHIO Rotterdam hosted a multi discipline European Championship for show-jumping, dressage as well as Para-equestrian.^[7] In 2023, the FEI announced that Rotterdam will be part of a new format of the show-jumping Nations Cup, the League of Nations. Only five competitions are part of the League of Nations, of which two are on European soil.^[8]

Winners edit

The list of winners names the winner of the Grand Prix of Rotterdam in show-jumping and dressage. ^[9] The first Grand Prix was in 1937. From 1938 until 1947 the Grand Prix of Rotterdam was cancelled because of the World War II, excluding 1939.

Year	Show-Jumping	Dressage
1937	Jan de Bruine on Milord	No Dressage
1939	Christiaan Tonnet on Kantaka	No Dressage
1947	Jan de Bruine on Kantaka	No Dressage
1948	Ziya Azak on Rizgar	No Dressage
1949	Jane Starkey on Cascade	No Dressage
1950	Major G. Gibbon on Sarah	No Dressage
1951	Harry Llewellyn on Foxhunter	No Dressage
1952	Victor Carrillo on Resorte II	No Dressage
1953	Magnus von Buchwaldt on Jaspis	No Dressage
1954	Kevin Barry on Hollyford	No Dressage
1955	Paco Goyoaga on Toscanella	No Dressage
1956	Dawn Wofford on Earlsrath Rambler	Liselott Linsenhoff on Adular
1957	Hans Günter Winkler on Halla
1958	William Steinkraus on Ksar d’Esprit
1959	K. Pade on Domherr
1960	Anna Dehning on Nico
1961	V. Clark on Atalanta	Reiner Klimke on Arcadius
1962	Harvey Smith on O’Malley	Reiner Klimke on Arcadius
1963	Charles David Barker on Mister Softee
1964	Seamus Hayes on Goodbye
1965	William Barker on North Flight
1966	Nelson Pessoa on Caribe
1967	David Broome on Mister Softee
1968	Carol Hofmann on Out Late
1969	Harry Wouters van den Oudenweijer on Abadan
1970	Hauke Schmidt on Causa
1971	Alison Dawes on The Maverick
1972	Not held	Not held
1973	Alwin Schockemöhle on Rex the Robber
1974	Piero D'Inzeo on Easter Light Harvey Smith on Salvador III
1975	Hendrik Snoek on Gaylord
1976	Christophe Cuyer on Varin	Reiner Klimke on Andiana
1977	John Simpson on Texas
1978	Terry Leibel on Sympatico
1979	Johan Heins on Argonaut ‘Z Paul Schockemöhle on Deister Gerd Wiltfang on Roman
1980	Hugo Simon on Gladstone
1981	Gilles Bertrán de Balanda on Galoubet A. Malesan
1982	Paul Schockemöhle on Deister
1983	Walter Gabathuler on Beethoven	Annemarie Sanders on Amon
1984	Paul Schockemöhle on Deister
1985	Philip Heffer on Viewpoint
1986	Bruno Candrian on Lampire
1987	John Whitaker on Milton	Robert Dover on Federleicht
1988	Jos Lansink on Felix
1989	Pierre Durand on Jappeloup John Whitaker on Milton
1990	Elmar Gundel on Prints
1991	Franke Sloothaak on Walzerkönig
1992	Ludger Beerbaum on Almox Grand Plaisir
1993	Ludger Beerbaum on Almox Rush On
1994	Took not place because of the 1994 FEI World Equestrian Games
1995	Michael Whitaker on Everest Two Step	Gonnelien Rothenberger on Ideaal
1996	Franke Sloothaak on San Patrigano Joly	Anky van Grunsven on Bonfire
1997	Paul Estermann on Flying Shark CH	Anky van Grunsven on TCN Partout
1998	Rodrigo Pessoa on Gandini Lianos	No Dressage
1999	Beezie Madden on Innocence	Anky van Grunsven on Bonfire
2000	Hugo Simon on E.T.	No Dressage
2001	Franke Sloothaak on Joli Coeur	Hans Jorgen Norgaard on Pianostar
2002	Rodrigo Pessoa on Baloubet de Rouet	Anky van Grunsven on Salinero
2003	Lars Nieberg on Loreana	Edward Gal on Gestion Lingh
2004	Gert-Jan Bruggink on Joel	Anky van Grunsven on Salinero
2005	Lars Nieberg on Lucie	Kirsten Beckers on Broere Jazz
2006	Marcus Ehning on Gitania	Anky van Grunsven on Salinero
2007	Laura Kraut on Anthem	Anky van Grunsven on Salinero
2008	Albert Zoer on Sam	Hubert Perring on Diabolo St Maurice
2009	Steve Guerdat on Tresor V	Edward Gal on Totilas
2010	Rolf-Göran Bengtsson on Casall La Silla	Edward Gal on Totilas
2011	Beezie Madden on Coral Reef Via Volo	No Dressage because of the 2011 European Dressage Championships
2012	Marc Houtzager on Sterrehof's Tamino	Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén on Don Auriello
2013	Philipp Weishaupt on Monte Bellini	Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro
2014	Patrice Delaveau on Orient Express Hdc	Adelinde Cornelissen on Parzival
2015	Lucy Davis on Barron	Patrik Kittel on Watermill Scandic
2016	Luciana Diniz on Fit for Fun 13	Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén on Don Auriello
2017	Peder Fredricson on H&M All In	Laura Graves on Verdades
2018	Jos verlooy on Caracas	Edward Gal on Zonik N.O.P.
2019	Took not place because of the 2019 FEI European Championships
2020	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Sanne Thijssen on Con Quidam	Isabell Werth on Weihegold OLD
2022	Daniel Coyle on Oak Grove's Carlyle	Patrik Kittel on Zepter
2023	Willem Greve on Highway M TN	Morgan Barbançon on Habana Libre
2024