The 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games were held in Mill Spring, North Carolina, U.S. at the Tryon International Equestrian Center, from September 11 to September 23, 2018.^[1] It was the eighth edition of the games, which are held every four years and run by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). This was the second time that North America hosted the Games, the previous time being in 2010, also in the United States.

Bidding process

The initial bidding process for the 2018 edition of the World Equestrian Games started in 2011 with the initial application stage. Eight countries expressed their interest, and five of them became official candidates in 2012: Rabat, Bromont, Budapest, Vienna and Wellington. Australia, Russia and Sweden withdrew before the official candidature phase.^[2]

By 2013, four of the official candidates dropped out, leaving only Bromont in the running. However, instead of awarding the Games to Canada, FEI decided to re-open the bidding process on July 1, 2013, as the Bromont bid was lacking financial support.^[3] Bromont remained in the running and was joined by two USA candidates (Wellington and Lexington) as well as Great Britain.^[4]

Great Britain and Wellington dropped out, leaving only Bromont and Lexington in contention. Bromont was finally awarded the hosting rights on June 9, 2014.^[5]

Bromont withdrew from hosting in 2016, as the financial support was not secured.^[6] Following Bromont's withdrawal, Mill Spring, North Carolina and Šamorín, Slovakia expressed their interest in hosting the event. Mill Spring was awarded the Games on November 3, 2016.

With the 2018 games, United States became the first nation to host the World Equestrian Games twice.

Venues

• Tryon International Equestrian Center, Mill Spring, North Carolina
  • U.S. Trust Arena – Jumping, Dressage and Eventing (stadium jumping)
  • Tryon Stadium – Ceremonies, Eventing (Dressage) and Para-dressage
  • Covered Arena – Reining and Vaulting
  • Driving Stadium – Driving (Dressage, Obstacle Cones)
  • White Oak Course - Eventing (Cross-country) and Driving (Marathon)
  • TIEC and surrounding farmland - Endurance

Officials

Appointment of (Olympic disciplines) officials was as follows:^[7]

Dressage

• Anne Gribbons (Ground Jury President)
• Katrina Wüst (Ground Jury Member)
• Mariëtte Sanders-van Gansewinkel (Ground Jury Member)
• Andrew Gardner (Ground Jury Member)
• Hans-Christian Matthiesen (Ground Jury Member)
• Annette Fransen-Iacobaeus (Ground Jury Member)
• Susan Hoevenaars (Ground Jury Member)
• Cara Whitham (Technical Delegate)

Jumping

• Frances Hesketh-Jones (Ground Jury President)
• David M. Distler (Ground Jury Member)
• Joachim Geilfus (Ground Jury Member)
• John Taylor (Ground Jury Member)
• Neill O'Connor (Ground Jury Member)
• Leopoldo Palacios (Technical Delegate)

Eventing

• Anne-Mette Binder (Ground Jury President)
• Jane Hamlin (Ground Jury Member)
• Andrew Bennie (Ground Jury Member)
• Stephan Ellenbruch (Jumping judge)
• Martin Plewa (Technical Delegate)

Para-Dressage

• Hanneke Gerritsen (Ground Jury President)
• Anne Prain (Ground Jury Member)
• Marco Orsini (Ground Jury Member)
• Kristi Wysocki (Ground Jury Member)
• Suzanne Cunningham (Ground Jury Member)
• Sarah Leitch (Ground Jury Member)
• Marc Urban (Ground Jury Member)
• Jan Holger Holtschmidt (Technical Delegate)

Logistics

Horses competing in the championships were flown in and out of Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina. They were then transported by horse trailers up to Tryon.

Schedule

All times Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Participating nations

68 nations are scheduled to take part.^[8]

Medal summary

Dressage

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual special dressage	Isabell Werth on Bella Rose  Germany	Laura Graves on Verdades  United States	Charlotte Dujardin on Mount St John Freestyle  Great Britain
Individual freestyle dressage	Competition cancelled due to Hurricane Florence[9]
Team dressage	Germany Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on TSF Dalera BB Dorothee Schneider on Sammy Davis Jr. Sönke Rothenberger on Cosmo Isabell Werth on Bella Rose	United States Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper Adrienne Lyle on Salvino Kasey Perry-Glass on Goerklintgaards Dublet Laura Graves on Verdades	Great Britain Spencer Wilton on Super Nova II Emile Faurie on Dono di Maggio Carl Hester on Hawtins Delicato Charlotte Dujardin on Mount St John Freestyle

Driving

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual driving	Boyd Exell  Australia	Chester Weber  United States	Edouard Simonet  Belgium
Team driving	United States James Fairclough Misdee Wrigley-Miller Chester Weber	Netherlands Bram Chardon Koos de Ronde IJsbrand Chardon	Belgium Dries Degrieck Glenn Geerts Edouard Simonet

Eventing

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual eventing	Rosalind Canter on Allstar B  Great Britain	Padraig McCarthy on Mr Chunky  Ireland	Ingrid Klimke on SAP Hale Bob OLD  Germany
Team eventing	Great Britain Rosalind Canter on Allstar B Piggy French on Quarrycrest Echo Tom McEwen on Toledo de Kerser Gemma Tattersall on Arctic Soul	Ireland Padraig McCarthy on Mr Chunky Sarah Ennis on Horseware Stellor Rebound Sam Watson on Horseware Ardagh Highlight Cathal Daniels on Rioghan Rua	France Thibaut Vallette on Qing du Briot ENE HN Maxime Livio on Opium de Verrieres Sidney Dufresne on Tresor Mail Donatien Schauly on Pivoine des Touches

Jumping

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual jumping	Simone Blum on DSP Alice  Germany	Martin Fuchs on Clooney  Switzerland	Steve Guerdat on Bianca  Switzerland
Team jumping	United States Devin Ryan on Eddie Blue Adrienne Sternlicht on Cristalline Laura Kraut on Zeremonie McLain Ward on Clinta	Sweden Henrik von Eckermann on Toveks Mary Lou Malin Baryard-Johnsson on H&M Indiana Fredrik Jönsson on Cold Play Peder Fredricson on H&M Christian K	Germany Simone Blum on DSP Alice Laura Klaphake on Catch Me If You Can OLD Maurice Tebbel on Don Diarado Marcus Ehning on Pret A Tout

Reining

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual reining	Bernard Fonck on What a Wave  Belgium	Daniel Huss on Miss Dreamy  United States	Cade McCutcheon on Custom Made Gun  United States
Team reining	United States Casey Deary on Heavy Duty Chex Cade Mccutcheon on Custom Made Gun Daniel Huss on Miss Dreamy Jordan Larson on ARC Gunnabeabigstar	Belgium Dries Verschueren on Smart'n'Sparkin Ann Poels on Made In Walla Cira Baeck on Gunners Snappy Chic Bernard Fonck on What a Wave	Germany Grischa Ludwig on Ruf Lil Diamond Markus Süchting on Spotlight Charly Robin Schoeller on Wimpy Kaweah Julia Schumacher on Coeurs Little Tyke

Vaulting

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men's individual	Lambert Leclezio on Poivre Vert lunged by François Athimon  France	Jannik Heiland on Dark Beluga lunged by Barbara Rosiny  Germany	Thomas Brüsewitz on Danny Boy OLD lunged by Patric Looser  Germany
Women's individual	Kristina Boe on Don de la Mar lunged by Winnie Schlüter  Germany	Janika Derks on Carousso Hit lunged by Jessica Lichtenberg  Germany	Lisa Wild on Fairytale lunged by Maria Lehrmann  Austria
Squad	Germany Thomas Brüsewitz Torben Jacobs Jana Zelesny Chiara Congia Justin van Gerven Corinna Knauf on Danny Boy OLD lunged by Patric Looser	Switzerland Nadja Büttiker Ramona Näf Elisabeth Bieri Aline Koller Kyra Seiler Samira Koller on Rayo de la Luz lunged by Monika Winkler-Bischofberger	Austria Lisa Wild Katharina Luschin Magdalena Riegler Barbara Hruza Nikolaus Luschin Leonie Poljc on Alessio l'Amabile lunged by Maria Lehrmann
Pas-de-deux	Italy Lorenzo Lupacchini Silvia Stopazzini on Rosenstolz lunged by Laura Carnabuci	Austria Jasmin Lindner Lukas Wacha on Dr. Doolittle lunged by Klaus Haidacher	Germany Janika Derks Johannes Kay on Dark Beluga lunged by Barbara Rosiny
Team	Germany Kristina Boe (i) on Don de la Mar lunged by Winnie Schlüter Jannik Heiland (i) on Dark Beluga lunged by Barbara Rosiny Thomas Brüsewitz (s) Torben Jacobs (s) Jana Zelesny (s) Chiara Congia (s) Justin van Gerven (s) Corinna Knauf (s) on Danny Boy OLD lunged by Patric Looser	Switzerland Nadja Büttiker (i) on Acardi van de Kapel lunged by Monika Winkler-Bischofberger Lukas Heppler (i) on Acardi van de Kapel lunged by Monika Winkler-Bischofberger Nadja Büttiker (s) Ramona Näf (s) Elisabeth Bieri (s) Aline Koller (s) Kyra Seiler (s) Samira Koller (s) on Rayo de la Luz lunged by Monika Winkler-Bischofberger	Austria Katharina Luschin (i) on Fairytale lunged by Maria Lehrmann Lisa Wild (i) on Fairytale lunged by Maria Lehrmann Lisa Wild (s) Katharina Luschin (s) Magdalena Riegler (s) Barbara Hruza (s) Nikolaus Luschin (s) Leonie Poljc (s) on Alessio l'Amabile lunged by Maria Lehrmann

(i) - individual, (s) - squad

Para-dressage

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual championship grade I	Sara Morganti on Royal Delight  Italy	Laurentia Tan on Fuerst Sherlock  Singapore	Elke Philipp on Fuerst Sinclair  Germany
Individual championship grade II	Stinna Kaastrup on Horsebo Smarties  Denmark	Pepo Puch on Sailor's Blue  Austria	Nicole den Dulk on Wallace N.O.P.  Netherlands
Individual championship grade III	Rixt van der Horst on Findsley  Netherlands	Natasha Baker on Mount St John Diva Dannebrog  Great Britain	Rebecca Hart on El Corona Texel  United States
Individual championship grade IV	Sanne Voets on Dematur N.O.P.  Netherlands	Rodolpho Riskalla on Don Henrico  Brazil	Susanne Sunesen on CSK's Que Faire  Denmark
Individual championship grade V	Sophie Wells on C Fatal Attraction  Great Britain	Frank Hosmar on Alphaville N.O.P.  Netherlands	Regine Mispelkamp on Look At Me Now  Germany
Individual freestyle grade I	Sara Morganti on Royal Delight  Italy	Rihards Snikus on King of the Dance  Latvia	Roxanne Trunnell on Dolton  United States
Individual freestyle grade II	Stinna Kaastrup on Horsebo Smarties  Denmark	Pepo Puch on Sailor's Blue  Austria	Nicole den Dulk on Wallace N.O.P.  Netherlands
Individual freestyle grade III	Rixt van der Horst on Findsley  Netherlands	Rebecca Hart on El Corona Texel  United States	Dr. Angelika Trabert on Diamond's Shine  Germany
Individual freestyle grade IV	Sanne Voets on Dematur N.O.P.  Netherlands	Rodolpho Riskalla on Don Henrico  Brazil	Kate Shoemaker on Solitaer  United States
Individual freestyle grade V	Sophie Wells on C Fatal Attraction  Great Britain	Frank Hosmar on Alphaville N.O.P.  Netherlands	Tomoko Nakamura on Djazz F  Japan
Team para-dressage	Netherlands Frank Hosmar on Alphaville N.O.P. Nicole den Dulk on Wallace N.O.P. Sanne Voets on Demantur N.O.P. Rixt van der Horst on Findsley	Great Britain Sophie Wells on C Fatal Attraction Lee Pearson on Styletta Natasha Baker on Mount St John Diva Dannebrog Erin Orford on Dior	Germany Regine Mispelkamp on Look At Me Now Dr. Angelika Trabert on Diamond's Shine Steffen Zeibig on Feel Good Elke Philipp on Fuerst Sinclair

Medal table

  Host nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany (GER)	6	2	9	17
2	Netherlands (NED)	5	3	2	10
3	Great Britain (GBR)	4	2	2	8
4	United States (USA)*	3	5	4	12
5	Italy (ITA)	3	0	0	3
6	Denmark (DEN)	2	0	1	3
7	Belgium (BEL)	1	1	2	4
8	France (FRA)	1	0	1	2
9	Australia (AUS)	1	0	0	1
10	Austria (AUT)	0	3	3	6
11	Switzerland (SUI)	0	3	1	4
12	Brazil (BRA)	0	2	0	2
	Ireland (IRL)	0	2	0	2
14	Latvia (LAT)	0	1	0	1
	Singapore (SGP)	0	1	0	1
	Sweden (SWE)	0	1	0	1
17	Japan (JPN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (17 entries)		26	26	26	78

Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence as seen from the International Space Station on September 10

Hurricane Florence hit the Tryon International Equestrian Center and the surrounding area during the first week of the World Equestrian Games.^[11] Reported impacts included heavy rainfall and increased gusts of wind. A special contingency plan has been addressed for the situation.^[12][13]

The contingency plan included accommodating all horses on-venue in permanent barns, moving grooms accommodated on-site to permanent buildings at the venue, advising shelter locations for all personnel, continuing discussions with airports and Emirates airline on any necessary steps regarding horse arrivals/departures, ensuring smaller tents in the vendor area are tie-strapped together for security, carrying out additional drainage/water channeling to prevent flooding, purchasing additional fuel tanks and filling all fuel tanks to run the generators, preparing to remove fence scrim already installed and taking down flags.

WEQx Games

Alongside the World Equestrian Games, Tryon International Equestrian Center was supposed to host the inaugural WEQx Games. WEQx Games were scheduled to feature nine spectator-friendly equine competitions that should "highlight the accessibility, diversity, athleticism, and passion for horses and horse sport for athletes of all ages".^[14]

WEQx Events:

• U-25 U.S. Open Championship (Jumping)
• U.S. Open Speed Horse (Jumping)
• DerbyX (Hunter Derby)
• Battle of the Sexes (Jumping)
• Match Race (Jumping)
• Puissance (Jumping)
• Six Bar (Jumping)
• Pony Jumpers (Jumping)
• Gladiator Polo (3x3 Polo)

The program got cancelled amidst Hurricane Florence and various organizational setbacks (delayed construction of venues, budget cuts, low ticket sales).

References

External links

• FEI website
• World Equestrian Games: Singer/Songwriter Katrina "Kat" Williams to headline Day of the African Equestrian gala during FEI World Equestrian Games