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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 £1,111,111 and £235,043.

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 £235k
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 £235k
Driving £77k
Vaulting £34k
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 £1,111,111£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 £235,043
04 DrivingFour horses, a carriage and a groom, for a fund smaller than the fourth-place cheque at Aachen. World Cup Final €90,000 £76,923
05 VaultingSplit across two individual titles and a pas de deux. World Cup Final €40,000 £34,188
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 £22,711,411 £108,962
Median class fund £1,709 £385
Median cheque £85 £385

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 208 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 £18,803
02 FEI Dressage World Cup™ The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £11,752
03 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by WeLoad Energy Systems The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £11,752
04 FEI Dressage World Cup™ The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £11,752
05 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by Equestic The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2026 1 £11,752
06 Grand Prix presented by Jiva Hill Stables CHI Geneva2018 1 £4,701
07 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by RS2 Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £3,462
08 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by RS2 Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £3,462
09 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by RS2 Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £3,462
10 FEI Dressage World Cup™ presented by RS2 Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2026 1 £3,462
11 Grand Prix Special presented by Victory NET Foundation CHI Geneva2018 1 £3,350
12 Equilibrium Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £2,051
13 Equilibrium Prix The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £2,051
14 Equilibrium Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £2,051
15 Hoefslag Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £1,282
16 Hengstenstation Van Uytert Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £1,282
17 International Dressage CDI1* The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £1,282
18 International Dressage CDI1* The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2026 1 £1,282
19 Equilibrium Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £897
20 Equilibrium Prix The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £897
21 Equilibrium Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £897
22 International Dressage CDIY The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2026 1 £769
23 International Dressage The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2023 1 £641
24 Hengstenstation Van Uytert Prize The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2024 1 £641
25 International Dressage CDI1* The Dutch Masters, 's-Hertogenbosch2025 1 £641

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 £24k Isabell Werth £15k Justin Verboomen £15k Dinja van Liere £8,077 Victoria Max-Theurer £3,350 Hans Peter Minderhoud £2,949
Marten Luiten £1,688
Yasmin Westerink £1,154
Annemarieke Nobel £769
Marieke van der Putten £641
Thamar Zweistra £641
Rixt Van Der Horst £385
Clara Kohoutek £218
Madlin Tillmann £150
# Rider Paid rounds Wins Prize money
01 Charlotte Fry 6 6 £33,376
02 Jessica von Bredow-Werndl 2 2 £23,504
03 Isabell Werth 2 2 £15,214
04 Justin Verboomen 2 2 £15,214
05 Dinja van Liere 7 7 £8,077
06 Victoria Max-Theurer 1 1 £3,350
07 Hans Peter Minderhoud 2 2 £2,949
08 Marten Luiten 4 4 £1,688
09 Yasmin Westerink 2 2 £1,154
10 Annemarieke Nobel 2 2 £769
11 Marieke van der Putten 1 1 £641
12 Thamar Zweistra 1 1 £641
13 Rixt Van Der Horst 1 1 £385
14 Clara Kohoutek 2 2 £218
15 Madlin Tillmann 3 3 £150
16 Britney De Jong 1 1 £150
17 Amber Hage 1 1 £150
18 Esmee Donkers 1 1 £150
19 Nele Klaus 1 1 £141
20 Febe van Zwambagt 1 1 £128
21 Kim Alting 1 1 £128
22 Thalia Rockx 1 1 £128
23 Suzanne Both 1 1 £107
24 Gianni Gevers 1 1 £107
25 Jill Bogers 1 1 £107
26 Julie Sofie Schmitz-Heinen 1 1 £90
27 Fabiënne Raijmakers 1 1 £85
28 Esmae Niessen 1 1 £51
29 Melissa Janssen 1 1 £43
30 Lilli von Helldorff 1 1 £34
31 Marielle Engelmeyer 1 1 £34

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, £235,043. In our own result sheets 54 dressage classes have paid £108,962 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