The Longines Grand Prix is the grand finale of a show jumping competition. It is the key class. A technical, Olympic-level course, with around twelve obstacles and fifteen demanding jumps,  – up to 1.60m in height at the most – with tough sequences and double and triple combinations, requiring horses that are perfectly trained and focused and experienced riders who must not make even the slightest error of judgement. To determine the winner, riders who jump clear (or have the same number of penalties), take part in a jump off, a shorter version of the initial course where time is of the essence.

 

The Paris event has a long history, continuing from the Grands Prix du Salon du Cheval which began in 1974. It is a mythical event and all the big riders have taken part at one time or another: the German World Champion, Hartwig Steenken, Kevin Bacon (the famous “flying Australian”), Nelson Pessoa, Willy Melliger, Patrice Delaveau (who had previously won the Grand Prix in 1987), John Whitaker (and the legendary Milton), Markus Fuchs, Eric Navet, etc. The saga continued in 2009, when the first edition of the Paris Masters Grand Prix went to the reigning World Champion, Belgium’s Jos Lansink and Valentina van't Heike. The Paris Grand Prix boasts prize money of US$ 350,000.