Competition Officials Announced for FEI World Cup™ Finals Omaha 2023

The competition officials for Jumping, Dressage, and Vaulting at the FEI World Cup™ Finals Omaha 2023, taking place April 4-8, 2023, at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, NE, have been announced.

The course designer for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in 2023 is Bernardo Costa Cabral of Portugal. Cabral is an FEI Level 4 course designer and acted as an assistant course designer at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. A frequent official at some of the biggest Jumping competitions in the world, including Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ North American League events, Cabral was honored to have been chosen as this year’s course designer.

“For me it’s a dream come true,” said Cabral. “I feel very privileged to be in the company of great course designers that designed these championships that I have admired and respected all my life. 

“We will have the best horses and riders in the world, and we are hoping for great and thrilling sport,” continued Cabral. “We will test the riders as much as we can and give the horses a great experience, while always keeping the welfare of the horse as the top priority. I will have a very hard job following Alan Wade’s fantastic tracks and results at the FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2017!”

Alan Wade (IRL) will return to Omaha in 2023, this time serving as the Foreign Technical Delegate. The Ground Jury President for Jumping is Harry Braspenning (NED), and he is joined by Ground Jury members David Distler (USA), Frances Hesketh-Jones Triulzi (ITA), Neil O’Connor (USA), and Norma Angelica Rodriguez (MEX). The Chief Steward for Jumping is Dan Reed (USA), while Cesar Hirsch (VEN) is the Overall Chief Steward for the FEI World Cup™ Finals Omaha 2023.

The Ground Jury President for the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final in 2023 is Janet Foy (USA). Fellow Ground Jury members include Stephen Clarke (GBR), Magnus Ringmark (SWE), Jean-Michel Roudier (FRA), Leif Törnblad (DEN), Maarten van der Heijden (NED), and Katrina Wuest (GER). The Chief Steward for Dressage is Lisa Gorretta (USA), while the Foreign Technical Delegate is Gotthilf Riexinger (GER).

The judges for the 2023 Burlington Capital FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Final include Craig Coburn (USA), Rob DeBruin (NED), and Dietmar Otto (GER), while the Foreign Judge and Technical Delegate is Anita Flamand-Prochaska (SUI) and the Chief Steward is Robert Weber (USA).

The Veterinarian Commission President is Emily Sandler-Burtness, DVM (USA), who is joined by Dr. Juan Carlos de Brigard (COL) and Yves Rossier, DVM (CAN), and the treating veterinarians are Mike Black, DVM, and Michael Thomassen, DVM, of Nebraska Equine Veterinary Clinic.

Produced by the Omaha Equestrian Foundation and located in the heart of downtown Omaha, the FEI World Cup™ Finals Omaha 2023 will feature everything under one roof – stabling, warm-up, competition arena, dining venues, and shopping expo – with hotels, restaurants, and entertainment within easy walking distance. The 2017 Finals, also hosted in Omaha, drew visitors and volunteers from all 50 states and 38 countries.

The FEI World Cup™ Finals Omaha 2023 will pay homage to the Great Plains horses’ cultural impact by infusing tributes to Native American heritage through the theme “1723.” The Omaha Equestrian Foundation partnered with Bluebird Cultural Initiative to develop the theme that will be part of the event’s educational and entertainment programs that are free to the public.

For more information about the FEI World Cup™ Finals Omaha 2023, visit Omaha2023.fei.org. All-session and single-session tickets and tables are on sale now via Ticketmaster.com.

About the Omaha Equestrian Foundation
The Omaha Equestrian Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that strives to bring equestrian sport into the mainstream by changing the way it is presented and to develop Omaha into a hub of the sport horse industry, attracting and developing championship competitions as both educational and economic development opportunities for the community.