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As 2022 comes towards an end, let's take a look back at some of the highlights of the past year – from A to Z. 

Earlier this year, Sweden’s Angelica Augustsson Zanotelli told WoSJ about her experiences as she had returned to the top sport after three maternity leaves. “I think it is important that you challenge yourself a little bit: If I did not get the request to ride the four-star, I would not have done it and if I didn’t get the phone call to ride the five-star Nations Cup in Rome, I would not have asked for it. Sometimes, to move up a level, you need to go out of your comfort zone, even if it might make you nervous,” Augustsson Zanotelli said. The Swedish rider went on to have a great season, one of the highlights being back-to-back wins in the CSI5*-W Grand Prix and Longines FEI Jumping World Cup in Helsinki with Kalinka van de Nachtengaele (Epleaser van’T Heike x Cicero Z). 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Augustsson Zanotelli here.

At the beginning of the year, reigning Olympic Champion Ben Maher looked back at his incredible 2021 and said: “Obviously, I was, and still am, proud and happy, but when you push and push every day for two years for one goal and then that goal is achieved, all of a sudden you have to start to think about something else – which we hadn’t done for two years. At the moment I’m enjoying developing a couple of new and younger horses. I have a great, but very small team of horses and I would wish to have a bit more support for Explosion. However, I’m really enjoying the process.” 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Maher here.

The French team had two horses rocket to fame during the 2022-season: Simon Delestre’s Cayman Jolly Jumper (Hickstead x Quaprice Bois Margot) and Julien Epaillard’s Caracole de La Roque (Zandor Z x Kannan). “She would go through fire for you,” Epaillard told WoSJ about Caracole de La Roque, while Grégoire Oberson said he believes Cayman is the best French chance for the 2024 Paris Olympics – “He can become the next King Edward,” the gelding’s former co-owner said. 

Get to know Cayman Jolly Jumper and Caracole de La Roque’s journey to the top sport here and here.

When WoSJ sat down with Germany’s Daniel Deusser in 2021, he said “the best was yet to come”. And he was absolutely right. In 2022, Deusser went on to win some of the biggest Grand Prix classes on the circuit, taking home the Rolex Grand Prix at the Dutch Masters with Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve x Mr.Blue), the CP International presented by Rolex at Spruce Meadows with Killer Queen VDM (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x For Pleasure), the Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix in Prague with Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z after also winning the LGCT Grand Prix of New York with Tobago Z, and the LGCT Grand Prix of Cannes with Bingo Ste Hermelle (Number One d’Iso Un Prince x Diamant de Semilly). 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Deusser here.

During 2022, the flying Frenchman Julien Epaillard recorded 76 international wins* and jumped up from 12th (January) to 3rd (December) on the world ranking. Back in 2017, Epaillard told WoSJ: “To be honest, living every day is my biggest motivation – the quality of the life I have: I am very lucky. I can make a living with my passion and I get to do what I enjoy the most every day. That alone is enough for me.” 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Epaillard here.

After 29 years of service, Frank Kemperman retired from his roles as the Chairman of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein and Show Director of the CHIO Aachen.

Read on here.

Back in July, Germany’s Gerrit Nieberg and Ben 431 (Sylvain x Quincy Jones) took a surprise win in the prestigious CSIO5* 1.60m €1,500,000 Grand Prix of Aachen. “He is a real fighter, really motivated and always wants to give his best,” Gerrit told WoSJ about Ben. 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Nieberg here, and all about his historical Aachen win here.

“You work and work, and of course you want to achieve something. Success is a reward for the work done, and once you have reached a goal, the feeling of satisfaction is huge – but then you go for the next one,” von Eckermann told WoSJ in September, after being crowned double World Champion in Herning. 

The Swede also took over the top spot on the Longines World Ranking for the first time in his career in August and won the prestigious Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final in December – the icing on the cake after a tremendous year. 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Von Eckermann here.

During the 2022-season, the 9-year-old mare Iliana (Cardento x Gentleman) made her debut on five-star Grand Prix level – and left a lasting impression. With Sweden’s Olympic team gold medallist, double World Champion and current world number one Henrik von Eckermann in the saddle, Iliana placed fourth in her first 1.60 class – the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Rome – and in her indoor debut at the same level, she took another fourth place in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup of Stuttgart. WoSJ spoke with her breeders and former owners Jenny and Paul Bocken, as well as von Eckermann, about the mare’s journey to the top of the sport – read the article here. 

Back in August, Belgium’s Jerome Guery took the individual silver at the ECCO FEI Jumping World Championship with his faithful partner, the incredibly consistent Quel Homme de Hus (Quidam de Revel x Candillo). In December, the fans of the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee voted Guery as ’Male Athlete of Year’. 

Relive Guery’s silver medal in this WoSJ photo special.

The horse of the year? After writing his name in the history books at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, King Edward (Edward 28 x Feo) was crowned double world champion in Herning and won the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final in Geneva. 

You can learn more about King Edward’s journey to stardom here.  

“Grooms are a dying breed,” Lee McKeever – who has worked with Mclain Ward for over thirty years – told WoSJ. “We need to give grooms better working conditions, so that people want to do this job – and stay in it.” 

Read our the article here.

This spring and summer, Matthew Sampson was on a winning streak at Spruce Meadows and sealed his year off with an emotional home win in the Turkish Airlines Grand Prix of London. When WoSJ spoke to Matt earlier this year, the 32-year-old British rider said: “Confidence is definitely something that can put you on a bit of a roll; when things are flying high, it keeps you going – I think it happens to many riders.”

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Sampson here.

The future of the Nations Cup-series is a subject that came up many times during the year. “The reality is that we are living in a very competitive world: 30 years ago, there was not a lot of competition in the calendar but now we see that there is a huge competition in the calendar. We are working very hard to see how we can make the series sustainable for the future, but we need to make some changes, I believe. We need to keep the format attractive, but we also need to have some control over it,” FEI President Ingmar de Vos said in April 2022.

Read more about the discussions around the future of the Nations Cup-series here.

After deciding to end his showjumping career, Grégoire Oberson has focused on buying and selling top horses – Martin Fuchs’ Clooney and Simon Delestre’s Cayman Jolly Jumper being just two examples of his exceptional eye for talent. The 58-year-old shared his thoughts on a change in the sport that forced him to stop riding and focus on the business-side instead, his love for horses and how his emotions on the side-lines have surprised him, saying: “The connection between a horse and a rider is something nearly spiritual, something you cannot explain.” 

Read the WoSJ Exclusive with Oberson here. 

The 23-year-old Irish phenomenon Mikey Pender had a great season, winning the LGCT Grand Prix of Valkenswaard as well as the LGCT Grand Prix of Riaydh. Back in 2020, WoSJ spoke with Pender who said: “You have to have talent, be positive, clever with the horses and keep them as long as you can in the sport. I believe in being a horseman, that is the number one priority for me.” 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Pender here.

What’s not to love about Quel Homme de Hus? The 16-year-old stallion has been in incredible form during the 2022-season, helping the Belgian team to victory in the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona and taking the Vice World Champion title in Herning. 

And this story about the stallion never gets old. 

“The Golden Coach” Rik Deraedt led the Belgian youth riders to six medals at the FEI Jumping European Championship for Young Riders, Juniors and Children 2022 in Oliva Nova, Spain. “Everyone knows how difficult this sport can be, so the joyful moments are everything,” Deraedt told WoSJ.

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Deraedt here.

Ireland’s Conor Swail has rocketed up the world ranking this year and is currently the 5th best jumping rider globally. This year, Swail helped the Irish team win the Aga Khan Trophy on home soil at Dublin Horse Show and won big classes in Aachen, Geneva and Spruce Meadows – as well as the World Cups in Sacramento and Washington – just to mention some of his 32 international victories in 2022. “I’ve been around a long time, so I don’t think anyone is surprised,” Swail said about his success in an interview with WoSJ earlier this year. 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Swail here.

“If you look at my life, I should not be where I am,” Tiffany Foster told WoSJ in one of the most loved exclusive interviews of the year. 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Foster here.

After having represented Canada at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the 1994 World Equestrian Games in Den Hague and the 1998 World Equestrian Games in Rome, Beth Underhill put herself back on the map for Canadian championship selection earlier this year after jumping double clear in the CSIO5* Nations Cup of La Baule – helping Canada finish third – and taking home the win in the prestigious Rolex Grand Prix at the same event with Dieu Merci van T&L (Toulon x Corrado I). “I have been able to do the sport in a way that has made me happy, and I think that is important too,” Underhill told WoSJ about her career path. 

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Underhill here.

Koen Vereecke had the season of his life, going from strength to strength with the 12-year-old stallion Kasanova de La Pomme (Bamako de Muze x Malito de Reve). “At the moment, I have good horses,” Vereecke said humbly about his sensational 2022-season. “And it always depends on the horses.”

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Vereecke here.

“This is our life, this is what we live, this is the dream,” Mclain Ward said after taking one of the biggest wins of his career at CHI Geneva, when he and the wonderful 16-year-old mare HH Azur (Thunder van de Zuuthoeve x Sir Lui) snatched the victory in the CHF 1.200.000 Rolex Grand Prix after a jump-off that will go down to history books. 

Read all about Ward’s victory here.

Egypt’s Nayel Nassar brought the X and Y into showjumping when launching the Jumpr App this summer. “I felt like showjumping was lagging behind in terms of the way we use analytics, data and statistics to tell us more about our horses and riders,” Nassar said to WoSJ. “As a sport, we are really behind in terms of using these sorts of tools to improve our understanding.”

Read our WoSJ Exclusive with Nassar here.

Brazil’s Marlon Zanotelli, currently ranked 9th in the world, ended his tremendous year by participating in his first ever Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final and winning the CSI5* 1.60m Trophée de Genève with VDL Edgar M (Arezzo VDL x Marlon).

*Statistics from the Jumpr App. 

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