Looking Back On… November 2024!

We take a look at some of this month’s highlights on FEI.org…

November was delightful for Driving, ideal for Italy and nothing short of fantastic for our FEI Awards 2024 winners!

This month saw the equestrian world gather in Abu Dhabi (UAE) for the prestigious 2024 FEI Awards Gala presented by Longines. Paris 2024 Olympic Jumping champion Christian Kukuk was among those lifting one of the coveted prizes. Find out who else was celebrating here.

November began in Lyon (FRA) with a busy weekend of action across Dressage, Driving and Jumping. It was the first event of the 2024-25 FEI Driving World Cup™ season, and Belgium’s Dries Degrieck was the one who made it to the top of the podium (see the video below).

Degrieck said afterwards: “It’s the third time we have driven here in Lyon and the crowd is fantastic and really helps us. I still have a few young horses in my team and my father has been driving them during the summer. They are a bit smaller and more compact and go faster than the big ones.”

There were two more legs before the end of the month, with the legendary Australian Boyd Exell taking maximum points in both Maastricht (NED) and Stuttgart (GER). The Western European League also continued in Dressage and Jumping with the likes of Isabell Werth and Richard Vogel among the winners.

Italy’s qualification

Also celebrating in November were Italy’s Jumping stars after they were confirmed as qualifiers for the second season of the Longines League of Nations™ series. Italy reached the top 10 thanks to consistent performances over the last 12 months and can now look forward to rubbing shoulders with the best of the best in 2025.

The USA are another team that qualified again, and the focus was on their biggest names in Jumping at the end of the month as the first-ever Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ leg was held at California’s famous Santa Anita Park racetrack.

Santa Anita, in the city of Arcadia, is one of North America’s most famous thoroughbred tracks, having staged the Breeders’ Cup on numerous occasions. However, some of its most historic moments came 40 years ago when it staged the equestrian events for the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. We took a look at its history – from gold medals to silver screen idols -- here.

During November, we looked back at one of Ros Canter’s finest wins and focused on a superb year for Dutch athlete Kim Emmens and her No.1 Imagine.

We also spoke to young French Endurance athlete Carla Mosti, who said it felt like she was “flying” on Gino D’Armani as they soared across the finish line to take gold at the 120km FEI Endurance European Championship for Young Riders & Juniors in September.

“I was filled with emotions when I won, joy – crying, pride, happy; I jumped into the arms of my loved ones,” said the 19-year-old. Read more here.

The final month of 2024 will see the World Cup series continue, and FEI.org will also be looking back at all the best moments from throughout the year…