The problem with the long four star (CCI4*-L) format
These days CCI4*-L [ex. CCI3*] ranks for the second highest level of the sport. But thanks to the upgrade of the levels back in 2019 the long four star format is not really what it should be.
What it should be, is an obvious statement of being the second highest level of the amazing sport that spells eventing.
The level you ride [and also succeed in] before finally heading into the grand tamale of the five star events.
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Boekelo, the Dutch mud fiesta
Military Boekelo, the Netherlands is a long four star [CCI4*-L] competition.
Boekelo is the kind of event where riders basically stand in line, beg, borrow and steal to be sure they even make it on to the list of entries.
This makes Boekelo a very much similar event to Badminton Horse Trials. The almost ultimate event classic, that normally also come with a significant waiting list of prospect starters.
It would be fair to claim that if the tracks of Boekelo were longer, and the fences both bigger and bolder. This particular Dutch mud fiesta would be a very much worthy five star contender on the yearly eventing calendar.
Last year close to a 100 combinations headed out in cross country on Saturday. That's a huge amount of horses and riders.
Never mind most of them didn’t make it round. Which in itself is a complete other story to be told on another day.
Point is, when Military Boekelo run their CCI4*-L, it’s the ONLY competition on the agenda, and last year they were very close to hit an even 100!
That is a total opposite to i.e. Eventing Marbach, Germany. In May of 2024 they ran a CCI4*-L [a long four star] with just the nine starters!
Meanwhile in Kronenberg..
A little less than 150km away from Boekelo, but still in the Netherlands, you'll find the show grounds of the Equestrian Centre of Peelbergen in Kronenberg.
The Equestrian Centre of Peelbergen is not only a top notch facility, but is also situated at a top notch location with easy access from almost anywhere in Europe.
To translate it into showjumping the worlds number one [for a long long time] live some 15km down the road. Valkenswaard is 50km away, and if you jump into your car and drive about 1h south you'll end up in Aachen.
So in all the geographical location of this venue is excellent.
In March 2024 the organisation of Outdoor Horst, ran a CCI4*-L. At this time last year, the UK was suffering from torrential rain. Which lead to a lot of events being cancelled, and or abandoned.
Which also meant most of the riders who entered this particular CCI4*-L were based in either the UK or Ireland. So far so good..
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Still there were only 19 combinations on the starting list. Fair enough, that is way more than Marbach managed to produce. But it was also a fraction of the amount of combinations entered to Military Boekelo later on in the year.
With the long format four star competition being the second highest level of the sport it must have been a total spectator smash hit á la Boekelo no?
No, not really.
Not when the first rider - now with only 18 combinations left - headed out for his cross country test at 8am in the morning, and the final one was scheduled to be done in cross country at 9.07am!
This is the kind of thing where no one, and I really mean absolutely no one will be around to follow the event on location!
In all this just makes the CCI4*-L a side show for all the other levels. Especially when the organiser choose to host all other levels at the very same weekend.
Which means they also host the short format 4 star, the long and short 3 and 2 stars formats. Plus the infamous 1 star intro, along with a short 2 star for ponies.
Placing the main class as a side show for all other classes would never ever happen in I.E. showjumping!
It would be like placing the Grand Prix of Aachen in front of an empty grand stand on a Wednesday morning!
In June, this Dutch organisation held another event with yet another CCI4*-L on the schedule. This time around this second highest level of the sport generated an impressive [not so much] starting field of a total of 6 starters!
The very same weekend as the June event in Kronenberg, the classic eventing, and Eurovision Song Contest, show grounds of Millstreet, Ireland scrambled together a 19 head strong field of combinations for their CCI4*-L.
Just as in the Netherlands in March, Millstreet also decided to host anything and everything from pony to the CCI4*-L. In Millstreet they even decided to throw in a couple of Young Horse editions, plus even additional classes for ponies and juniors.
In all honesty some of these will run side by side by the already hosted classes. Still [if I did my math correctly] there would be at least 7 different cross country courses to build and maintain.
Another thing Millstreet have in common with the Dutch event in Kronenberg in March, is the fact the CCI4*-L, even though they tried to stretch it out time wise by doing a four minute starting interval, was a done deal in the early morning hours.
The weekend after Kronenberg’s and Millstreet’s June editions, just over 40 combinations started CCI4*-L at Bramham International.
Nine of these combinations competed in the U25-class. U25 meaning the riders are under the age of 25.
The winner of this class walked away with almost three times the amount of money compared to some of the winners of these other CCI4*-L events.
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We need a new set of rules..
So would it be fair to say there is something off with the rules and regulations when this supposedly second highest level of the sport
can be hosted by any organiser with no set minimum standard level of prize money nor spectator count
ends up being a secondary part of lower level events, and quite frankly only seem to be on the schedule to enable organisations to host a CCI4*-L, and or for the riders to get their qualifications for future championships
I believe it is!
Would it also be fair to say we risk the [eventual] future of eventing when the second highest level of the sport that is the CCI4*-L
can be hosted by any organiser with no set minimum standard level of prize money nor spectator count
ends up being a secondary part of lower level events, and quite frankly only seem to be on the schedule to enable organisations to host a CCI4*-L, and or for the riders to get their qualifications for future championships
Sure it is!
On top of this, some event organisers have the audacity to complain they struggle to find sponsors and volunteers to help finance, and run their events!
Hell would freeze over before I'd ever sign up as a volunteer for any event that stretches out cross country day over multiple days and or 10h straight. Which is the result when you run marathon events as described above.
So I can totally see why others think the same way, which in turn makes it hard for organisers to find any volunteers.
Second of all, sponsors? What the heck do they get for their money on an event like the ones mentioned above?
Media exposure?
I seriously doubt it.
Except for a handful deep frozen UK-based photographers heading to Kronenberg in March, most likely thinking it would be like Boekelo there’s rarely [read never] any actual mainstream media covering these kind of events.
You can hardly find equestrian media to cover most eventing competitions on the mainland of Europe.
With the few combinations on the starting list, and the complex rules of eventing, they would probably not even understand the CCI4*-L is supposed to mirror the second highest level of the sport anyway.
Client opportunities?
As in bringing out your clients for a day of cross country fun?
How is this ever gonna happen when the most thrilling part is done and over with in the early morning hours of a Saturday morning.
How this have affected Outdoor Horst became official on December 30 2024 when they sent out the following.
I am sorry to say, but almost anybody could have figured this one out!
Should we blame the organisation for this?
No, definitely not!
For sure they are part of it, but in the end of the day it is actually the FEI that is signing of and approving the event schedules! The FEI, no one else.
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Adapt the metric system!
What eventing needs to do is to first of all adapt the metric system of jumping. Not only would that make it easy breezy to translate all results in the FEI database into one streamlined standard [a topic for another day]. But it would also be easier to grade the events using the current number system as in CCI4*.
Imagine the CCI4-L instead being a 120-Long, which in turn can be hosted on certain levels, maybe 3, 4, 5.
Here the 3, 4, 5 star status would be defined according to prize money. Based on some of the events and prize money mentioned above it would make Marbach a 3, Bramham a 4* and Boekelo a 5*.
Doing this, and also removing the possibility for riders based in Zone 1 and 2 to gain any kind of qualifications for future championships on total nonsense CCI4-L events in their own zones would actually lift the sport!
This way we could also stop riders from entering i.e. Boekelo but instead force them to begin riding the long 120 level on a smaller 3* graded event, out of the spot light of the media.
Maybe just remove the lowest level of 120 as a qualifying event to the Olympic Games nor World Championships full stop!
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