The new Longines League of Nations™ series kicks off at The President Cup show in Abu Dhabi (UAE) this weekend, with the first qualifier of the 2024-season taking place on February 11th.

The top ten ranked nations in the world – Ireland, USA, France, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Brazil – as well as the host nation United Arab Emirates will be battling it out in the first of the four legs in the series. 

With €700,000 in prize money at each qualifier and €1,600,000 on offer at the final in Barcelona along with a range of extra bonuses, the series takes place across three continents, moving from Abu Dhabi to Ocala (USA) in March, St Gallen (SUI) and Rotterdam (NED) in June before concluding with the LLN Final in Barcelona (ESP) in October, where only the best eight teams will compete for the inaugural title. 

The ten nations eligible to compete in the Longines League of Nations series is based on points accumulated by each nation's top six riders – including one U25 rider – and for 2024, the Longines Ranking published after the conclusion of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in 2023, has been the decisive one, with Ireland ranked as the number one nation in the world. 

The Longines League of Nations format is different from the traditional Nations Cups. The Longines League of Nations is jumped over two rounds with identical courses, with the first round running as usual; each of the four team members jump and the three best results will count.

The top eight ranked nations after round one continue to round two, where only three members from each team jump – and without a dropscope, so each result counts. The winning team is the team with the lowest combined score after two rounds. 

In case of a tie of penalties for the first place after round two, a jump-off with only one member of each team will take place. In case of a tie for any other placing after round two, the combined time of the three members of each team from the second round will be decisive. 

Sweden send out Henrik von Eckermann, Antonia Pettersson Häggström, Peder Fredricson and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, while team Brazil has opted for Luciana Diniz, Marlon Zanotelli, Yuri Mansur and Luiz Felipe de Azevedo Filho. 

Belgium will be represented by Gregory Wathelet, Koen Vereecke, Abdel Saïd and Wilm Vermeir while France sends out Olympic and European champions Kevin Staut and Roger Yves Bost, Olivier Robert and Olivier Perreau. Flying the flag for Great Britain will be Skye Higgin, Joseph Stockdale and Donald and Jack Whitaker while Germany – winners of the 2023 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ title – sends out Christian Ahlmann, Jörne Sprehe, David Will and Christian Kukuk.

The Irish count on Michael Pender, Richard Howley, Mark McAuley and Denis Lynch, the Dutch on Kim Emmen, Loewie Joppen and Leopold van Asten and Jur Vrieling, while Janika Sprunger and Barbara Schnieper will join 2021 European team gold medallist Elian Baumann and double-Olympian Pius Schwizer for Switzerland.

Alise Oken, Callie Schott, Hannah Selleck and Aaron Vale jump for the USA, while the hosts will be hoping for a good result from their selection that consists of Abdullah Mohd Al Marri, Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi, Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi and Ali Hamad Al Kirbi.