HENRIK von Eckermann’s achievements with the diminutive chesnut gelding King Edward in the past two years have been nothing short of extraordinary. The dressage-bred gelding won team gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games, double gold at the 2022 World Equestrian Games and now, last Saturday night in Omaha, helped von Eckermann become the first Swede in history to win the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup title.

As happens at championships, it was an up and down week for many competitors and the title was not secured until the very end in a gripping two-round decider when the dominant pair pinned The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders and Monaco NOP into runner-up spot while the USA’s Hunter Holloway and Pepita Con Spita pipped Brazil’s Yuri Mansur and Vitiki for third place by the narrowest of margins.