One of the major international championships for equestrianism is the FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG). It is organized by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI).

This equestrian championship is held every four years, halfway among sets of successive Summer Olympic Games since 1990. Prior to then, all ten of the FEI's individual disciplines held split championships, usually in different countries.

The WEG runs for around two weeks and locations rotate to different parts of the world. From 2022 the FEI dropped the "World Equestrian Games" branding in favour of the FEI World Championships, and the requirement for all disciplines to share one venue was relaxed – although the 2026 edition in Aachen returned to a single-venue, multi-discipline format for six of the disciplines.

WEG competitors go through a painstaking selection process, and each country involved sends teams that distinguish themselves as the country's best in each particular discipline. Since 2026 the championships also serve as the first qualifier for the following Olympic Games.

The WEG disciplines expanded throughout the years to eight – Combined Driving, Vaulting, Dressage, Show Jumping, Endurance Riding, Reining, Eventing and Para Dressage. Reining was removed as an FEI discipline at the end of 2021, when the FEI ended its agreement with the National Reining Horse Association, leaving seven FEI disciplines. Horse Ball and Tent Pegging remain regional FEI disciplines.

equestrian dressage

equestrian dressage

2014 WEG

The 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games were held in Normandy, France. D'Ornano Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, Jumping, Dressage, Jumping Test and Eventing competition. Para-Dressage and driving were at the Prairie racecourse.

2022 World Championships

The ninth edition, in 2022, was the first not staged as a single combined Games. Instead of one WEG, the FEI split the disciplines across three host venues:

  • Herning, Denmark (6–14 August 2022) – the ECCO FEI World Championships covered Dressage, Jumping, Para Dressage and Vaulting at the MCH Arena complex. Denmark led the medal table with five golds; Charlotte Fry (GBR) won both individual dressage titles and Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) took individual jumping gold.
  • Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy – Eventing (15–18 September 2022) and Driving (22–25 September 2022), on the historic 1960 Olympic cross-country site south-east of Rome.
  • Butheeb, UAE (February 2023) – the Endurance World Championship, rescheduled to the Butheeb International Endurance Village after the original Verona (Italy) hosting was cancelled.

2026 WEG – Aachen

The 2026 FEI World Championships, the 10th edition, were held at the Soers showgrounds in Aachen, Germany, from 11 to 23 August 2026, with 66 nations taking part. Six disciplines were contested – Dressage, Jumping, Eventing, Para Dressage, Driving (four-in-hand) and Vaulting – across the Main Stadium, Stadium 2, Stadium 3 and the cross-country course, alongside a programme of side events. The championships also acted as the first qualifying event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games in the team disciplines.

Host nation Germany finished on top of the medal table with 20 medals (7 gold, 5 silver, 8 bronze), ahead of the United States (6 gold) and Great Britain (4 gold, 13 medals in total). Individual highlights included:

  • Dressage: Charlotte Fry (GBR) won both the individual Special and the individual Freestyle; Germany took team gold.
  • Jumping: Steve Guerdat (SUI) took the individual title, with Germany winning team gold.
  • Eventing: Michael Jung (GER) won individual gold; Great Britain won the team title.
  • Driving: Boyd Exell (AUS) won the individual four-in-hand, with the Netherlands taking team gold.
  • Vaulting: Quentin Jabet (FRA) and Alice Layher (GER) won the men's and women's titles; Germany won the squad and team golds.
  • Para Dressage: the United States won team gold, with individual grade titles shared between the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Sweden.

Next WEG

  • The next edition of the championships is due in 2030. The host has not yet been named: the FEI opened non-binding expressions of interest from National Federations in late 2026, with formal bids in 2027 and the FEI Board scheduled to allocate the 2030 championships in June or November 2027. Bids may cover one discipline, several, or a full WEG-style event with all disciplines (Dressage and Para Dressage remain paired).
  • The FEI Endurance World Championship at the Butheeb International Endurance Village near Abu Dhabi, UAE, on 14–20 December 2026. Endurance was not part of the Aachen programme, and the title moved to Butheeb after AlUla (Saudi Arabia) withdrew from hosting the originally planned November event.

WEG Trivia

  • In 2010, it was the first time the Games were held in the USA, or even outside of Europe. It was also the first time the eight disciplines of the FEI were held at only one location (Kentucky Horse Park).
  • 2022 was the first time since the Games began in 1990 that the world titles were spread across different countries rather than one host site.
  • Charlotte Fry (GBR) won both individual dressage titles at two championships in a row – Herning 2022 and Aachen 2026.
  • Aachen 2026 was the first world championship edition to double as an Olympic qualifier, deciding team places for Los Angeles 2028.