Text © World of Showjumping

“This process started for us four years ago, when we placed the bid for the FEI World Cup™ Finals,” Derek Braun – President of the Split Rock Jumping Tour – tells World of Showjumping from the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth (USA), where the 46th edition of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final takes place this week.

As per tradition, the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final flag was handed over to Derek in Basel last year. “That was a really special experience for my team and I, going to Basel and seeing how the back end of the entire World Cup Finals experience worked,” Derek recalls. “It was obviously a very special experience, passing the torch and receiving that FEI flag and turning it over to us as organizers. Obviously, the organizers in Basel did such a great job, so we have a lot to live up to.”

While the flag was handed over in Basel last year, Derek and his team had been busy with their World Cup™ Finals-project for a long time prior. “Since that handoff, it's probably been thousands and thousands of work hours for our team at Split Rock, just making sure everything is absolutely perfect,” Derek explains. “We cleared our entire show schedule for the past six months in order to prepare for this. We worked with the city of Fort Worth for about two years, focusing on our partnership and the venue and understanding how everything worked. During the past two years, we really honed in on the organization of every detail. It's been such a major focus of ours at Split Rock, to make sure literally every detail was covered for everybody participating, whether it be spectators, riders, grooms or the FEI staff. We really tried to think of everything and make sure everybody’s experience will be the best.”

Derek and his team were able to enter the venue at Dickies Arena on the morning of Friday, April the 3rd at 10 AM. “We've been able to have the venue overall for a total of 11 days,” he tells. “The build out has taken three to four days to get it to a finished product – and this venue is a monstrous sporting venue. They had NCAA March Madness basketball tournament last week, that are broadcasted worldwide, and they had a sold-out concert on Thursday evening, the night before we moved in. It's sort of business as usual for them.”

“The build-out has been quite intense,” Derek continues. “Due to the nature of the Final, we have many more details that go into the preparation and testing, like making sure the signage and the footing are perfect. It started with the stabling, though. We started about a week earlier than April 3rd, building out the stabling compound, making sure it was safe and laid out appropriately for all the horses and grooms, especially for the veterinarians and the USDA. Just perfecting that took an entire week.”

Though intense, the buildup has been running smoothly. “There are always challenges in pressured moments for sure,” Derek points out. “However, this venue is so state-of-the-art and equipped to handle any type of agricultural, sporting and equine scenarios that the team here at Dickies Arena knows how to pivot and accommodate us. I think they've done a really good job. There have been no challenges with the footing surface, which I'm very grateful for; the team has done an incredible job with that. There have been some little changes that we've had to make. However, I think preparation is key, and we've prepared so long for this. We've done 20 site visits here to Fort Worth, so we knew how things were going to flow and operate. I feel like it came together a little better than we expected with space and room for everybody to roam and the amenities for horses – we're really happy.”

Now that the venue has filled with horses and riders and the first horse inspection and training session have taken place, Derek’s focus will shift to the sporting side. “I feel a little bit more settled now,” he tells. “I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and can get stressed in the build out moments, while making sure that everything gets done right and on time. Now that the venue is operational, my focus will transition to more of the sports side; making sure the horses and the riders stay safe. That will take my attention and my stress level when the competition starts. Right now, we feel settled and ready. We're mainly working on the production aspect of everything, making sure the broadcast and the timings and the run-up shows go off without a hitch; our rehearsals are taking full focus right now.”

“I'm extremely competitive by nature,” Derek says when asked what he hopes the Fort Worth 2026 Finals will be remembered for. “I really do want this event to be used as an example worldwide of making sure every detail was done to everybody's expectations. I want this Final to be remembered among the best. If the horses and the riders are safe at the end of competition, we will have done our job.”

“The experience here at Dickies Arena is second to none,” Derek concludes. “We hope all the spectators enjoy their experience – there's not a single bad seat in the house. I'm really excited for everybody to experience the entertainment, the music and the shows that we have planned, which match the culture of Fort Worth. We're just looking forward to having everybody here throughout the weekend and enjoying themselves. Tickets are still available. The entire city will roll out the red carpet for everybody; it's really going to be an incredible experience. I encourage anybody that's still on the fence of joining us to take that leap and come – because they will not regret it.”