History
In 1937 the Rotterdam local riding school hosted its first national show at a substantial piece of land. Also in 1939 and 1940 the local riding school hosted the two-day event, but were forced to quit because of World War II. In 1947 the local show was back on the calendar and also welcomed riders from Belgium. The first official international edition of CHIO Rotterdam was in 1948, which makes it the oldest international sport event in the city of Rotterdam. Already during the first edition of the show, a nations cup in show-jumping was held, while dressage was not yet not part of the event. In 1961 a permanent tribune was built for the CHIO Rotterdam, which was sponsored by several local businesses in Rotterdam. The same year the freestyle to music in dressage was introduced. Winner of the first dressage freestyle was the late German Reiner Klimke. A year later, in 1962, the Nations Cup for dressage was also introduced. In 1967 the CHIO Rotterdam hosted the European Championships for show-jumping, celebrating its 20th anniversary. Ten years later in 1979, Rotterdam again hosted the European Championships for show-jumping. [3]
In 1980 the Olympic Games in Moscow were boycotted by a major number of countries because of the protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. CHIO Rotterdam was designated to organize the alternative Olympic Games for equestrian and was won by Austrian Hugo Simon. [4] Nine years later, CHIO Rotterdam hosted again the European Championships for show-jumping.
The 90's was a difficult decade for the organization as the standards of the International Federation became stricter, the costs of organizing the event became significantly high because of the growth, and the municipality in Rotterdam could not agree on the progress and organization surrounding the event. The CHIO Rotterdam takes place in a forest and to further expand, 51 trees had to be cut to make the expansion possible. Ultimately, the plan fell through. [3] Also a setback in the 1990s was the fire at the Rotterdamse Manege, which resulted in the destruction of the specially built tribune. [5]
In the 2000s the event is able to grow again and a new era for the event begins, while the popularity of equestrian in The Netherlands was rising. The grass in the main arena was replaced by sand and dressage moved from the smaller second arena to the main arena, while the event became more popular by visitors because of the expansion of exhibitors and more entertainment besides the sport. [3] In 2006 Dutch Olympic gold medalist Anky van Grunsven sets a new world record with her horse Salinero in the freestyle to music. [6] In 2011 a complete new modern tribune was built which resulted in the allocation of the European Championships for dressage. In 2019, for the first time in history the CHIO Rotterdam hosted a multi discipline European Championship for show-jumping, dressage as well as Para-equestrian. [7] In 2023, the FEI announced that Rotterdam will be part of a new format of the show-jumping Nations Cup, the League of Nations. Only five competitions are part of the League of Nations, of which two are on European soil. [8]
