WEG replaced by a world championship in each sport

ABOVE: Ingrid Klimke of Germany competes at the last World Equestrian Games at Tryon. Picture: FEI

THE World Equestrian Games has a new name and a new format.

Now known as the FEI World Championships, events are being held across three different venues instead of one, which means they are now referred to as “world championships”.

They are only referred to as “games” when all disciplines take place at the one venue.

The huge cost of holding the multi discipline Games at one venue has proved crippling. The World Equestrian Games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive Summer Olympic Games, since 1990 when Stockholm hosted 13 separate events.

The last world games at Tryon in North Carolina had 29.

Before 1990, all 10 of the FEI's individual disciplines held separate championships, usually in separate countries.

The modern WEG ran over two weeks and, like the Olympics, the location rotated to different parts of the world.

The WEG gradually expanded to include eight of the FEI's 10 disciplines: combined driving, dressage, endurance riding, eventing, para equestrian, reining, show jumping and vaulting.

At the 2010 Games, 57 countries were represented by 800 people and their horses.

The FEI struggled in the last decade or more to find venues capable of hosting all equestrian disciplines at once, with the cost and logistical challenges proving too formidable for some potential hosts.

There are more than 4000 FEI events organised world-wide annually across the seven disciplines of jumping, dressage and para-dressage, eventing, endurance, driving and para-driving, vaulting and reining.

World championships in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines are held every four years and every second year for non-Olympic disciplines.

The FEI dressage, jumping, vaulting and para-equestrian championships will be held in Herning, Denmark, from August 6-14, 2022.

The FEI eventing and driving championships will be held in Pratoni, Italy, from September 15-25, 2022.

The FEI Endurance World Championships for seniors will be held on October 22 in Verona, Italy.