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EQUESTRIAN · 6 DISCIPLINES

Equestrian prize money by discipline

The jumping and the dressage World Cup Finals run in the same arena in the same week and pay £1,083,333 and £229,167.

One discipline has the money and the others have the horses. That is the whole of equestrian sport's economics, and it is easiest to see where the comparison is exact: same venue, same days, same governing body, two prize funds a factor of 4.7 apart.

JUMPING FINAL £1.1m
DRESSAGE FINAL £229k
THE GAP 4.7x
JUMPING CLASSES HELD 1,613
DRESSAGE CLASSES HELD 54
DRESSAGE SHARE 0.5%

The richest week in each discipline

Converted to sterling so the funds can be ranked against each other

6 disciplines

Jumping £1.1m
Eventing £380k
Dressage £229k
Driving £75k
Vaulting £33k
Endurance £0
# Discipline Its richest week Prize fund In sterling
01 JumpingThree competitions over four days, and the deepest prize fund on the indoor calendar. World Cup Final €1,300,000 £1,083,333£1.1m
02 EventingEventing has no World Cup Final of its own. Its richest week is a three-day at a country house, and the winner takes a tenth of what Aachen pays. Badminton Horse Trials £380,000 £380,000
03 DressageThe same week, the same arena, the same federation, and a fifth of the money. World Cup Final €275,000 £229,167
04 DrivingFour horses, a carriage and a groom, for a fund smaller than the fourth-place cheque at Aachen. World Cup Final €90,000 £75,000
05 VaultingSplit across two individual titles and a pas de deux. World Cup Final €40,000 £33,333
06 EnduranceNo prize fund at all at championship level. The money in endurance is in the horses, not the results. FEI championship level - -

Endurance pay nothing at championship level, which is not an oversight: the money in those disciplines is in the horses and the sponsorship rather than in the results. Everywhere else the ordering is the same one the calendar has had for decades, and the distance between first and second is larger than the distance between second and last.

The same shows, the two disciplines

Result sheets from the 19 shows in this section

1,671 classes

What it is Jumping Dressage
Classes on record 1,613 54
Paid placings 22,045 54
Prize money paid £22,263,210 £106,238
Median class fund £1,667 £375
Median cheque £83 £375

These are not two different circuits being compared at arm's length. They are the same weeks at the same venues, and the jumping took 210 times the money.

The biggest dressage classes on record

By the size of the fund

54 classes

# Class Show Places Class fund
01 Freestyle to Music presented by Jiva Hill Stables CHI Geneva2018 1 £18,333
02 FEI Dressage World Cup™ The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £11,458
03 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by WeLoad Energy Systems The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £11,458
04 FEI Dressage World Cup™ The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £11,458
05 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by Equestic The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2026 1 £11,458
06 Grand Prix presented by Jiva Hill Stables CHI Geneva2018 1 £4,583
07 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by RS2 Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £3,375
08 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by RS2 Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £3,375
09 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by RS2 Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £3,375
10 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by RS2 Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2026 1 £3,375
11 Grand Prix Special presented by Victory NET Foundation CHI Geneva2018 1 £3,267
12 Equilibrium Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £2,000
13 Equilibrium Prix The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £2,000
14 Equilibrium Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £2,000
15 Hoefslag Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £1,250
16 Hengstenstation Van Uytert Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £1,250
17 International Dressage CDI1* The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £1,250
18 International Dressage CDI1* The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2026 1 £1,250
19 Equilibrium Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £875
20 Equilibrium Prix The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £875
21 Equilibrium Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £875
22 International Dressage CDIY The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2026 1 £750
23 International Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £625
24 Hengstenstation Van Uytert Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £625
25 International Dressage CDI1* The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £625

Who the dressage money went to

Riders paid in the dressage classes on these result sheets

31 riders

Charlotte Fry £33k Jessica von Bredow-Werndl £23k Isabell Werth £15k Justin Verboomen £15k Dinja van Liere £7,875 Victoria Max-Theurer £3,267 Hans Peter Minderhoud £2,875
Marten Luiten £1,646
Yasmin Westerink £1,125
Annemarieke Nobel £750
Marieke van der Putten £625
Thamar Zweistra £625
Rixt Van Der Horst £375
Clara Kohoutek £213
Madlin Tillmann £147
# Rider Paid rounds Wins Prize money
01 Charlotte Fry 6 6 £32,542
02 Jessica von Bredow-Werndl 2 2 £22,917
03 Isabell Werth 2 2 £14,833
04 Justin Verboomen 2 2 £14,833
05 Dinja van Liere 7 7 £7,875
06 Victoria Max-Theurer 1 1 £3,267
07 Hans Peter Minderhoud 2 2 £2,875
08 Marten Luiten 4 4 £1,646
09 Yasmin Westerink 2 2 £1,125
10 Annemarieke Nobel 2 2 £750
11 Marieke van der Putten 1 1 £625
12 Thamar Zweistra 1 1 £625
13 Rixt Van Der Horst 1 1 £375
14 Clara Kohoutek 2 2 £213
15 Madlin Tillmann 3 3 £147
16 Britney De Jong 1 1 £146
17 Amber Hage 1 1 £146
18 Esmee Donkers 1 1 £146
19 Nele Klaus 1 1 £138
20 Febe van Zwambagt 1 1 £125
21 Kim Alting 1 1 £125
22 Thalia Rockx 1 1 £125
23 Suzanne Both 1 1 £104
24 Gianni Gevers 1 1 £104
25 Jill Bogers 1 1 £104
26 Julie Sofie Schmitz-Heinen 1 1 £88
27 Fabiënne Raijmakers 1 1 £83
28 Esmae Niessen 1 1 £50
29 Melissa Janssen 1 1 £42
30 Lilli von Helldorff 1 1 £33
31 Marielle Engelmeyer 1 1 £33

What these shows pay out each season

Every class of every year added together

8 seasons

Frequently asked questions

Which equestrian discipline has the most prize money?

Jumping, and it is not close. The jumping World Cup Final holds €1,300,000 against €275,000 for the dressage final in the same week at the same venue.

How much prize money does dressage pay?

Its richest week holds €275,000, £229,167. In our own result sheets 54 dressage classes have paid £106,238 between them, which is 0.5% of what the same shows paid out in jumping.

Does eventing pay prize money?

Its richest week is a three-day at a country house rather than a World Cup final, and the winner takes a tenth of what the biggest Grand Prix pays. There is no World Cup circuit in eventing to compare with.

Which equestrian disciplines pay nothing?

Endurance at championship level. The money in those disciplines is in the horses rather than in the results.

Do equestrian athletes get a salary?

No discipline pays one. There is no federation contract, no retainer and no appearance money at most shows, so the figures on this page are the whole of what the sport hands over, and under the rules the cheque is written to the owner of the horse.

Where to next

The discipline with the money, in full

The shows

The fifty richest riders

Levels, seasons and nations

The rest of the section