In the scope of a wide-scale project, together with the German Equestrian Federation (FN), the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026 are supporting riding schools in Germany. The project officially kicks off on December 2nd. From this date onwards clubs can apply for ten measures in total online via the FN’s website. The “100 school horses plus” initiative will run for three years and bundles large amounts of sponsoring funds. The centrepiece of the project: The subsidisation of purchasing 100 school horses, an initiative that Isabell Werth, the most successful dressage rider in the world, is also asserting herself for.

“Supporting this initiative as a partner and thus building a bridge between basic and top competition sport is a matter close to our hearts. Our aim is to achieve a positive effect for the entire equestrian sport throughout Germany with the World Championships,” Stefanie Peters, President of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein, emphasised. In this way, the organisers of the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026 will be sponsoring the purchase of several school horses over the entire term of the project. Because the situation in the German riding schools is very tense: “If nothing happens, around 20 to 30 percent of the establishments that have school horses and offer riding lessons will have to close within the next few years,” is how Thomas Ungruhe, Director of the FN Department, Equestrian Sport Development, assesses the situation. “Whereby the riding schools are essential for providing an introduction to the equestrian sport,” explained Stefanie Peters. “The top stars also started from scratch, in most cases on a school horse they will never forget as long as they live. That is why we are delighted to be able to help riding schools all over Germany in the course of the “100 school horses plus” initiative. Because without this basis there can be no top competition sport.” 

The new FN initiative “100 school horses plus” is a true milestone project. The name of the initiative describes the core of the project: Over the next three years, the purchase of 100 school horses is to be subsidised with the sum of 5,000 Euros per horse. The “plus“ stands for the nine further measures that aim to support the riding schools. These additional services include among others buying feed, bedding, the fees for registering school horses for competitions and subsidising trainer courses. All of these measures are being made possible with the aid of sponsors. “Thanks to the support of our partners we have already received binding commitments for all of the planned measures – to be more precise we have already been promised funding to the value of around 1.2 million Euros,” reported Georg Ettwig, Director of the Marketing and Communications at the FN. In addition to the organisation and implementation of the project, the FN is also actually taking part in the measures itself. It is granting 100 free registrations for school horses as competition horses and its subsidiary the FNverlag is providing packages of textbooks.

How to apply

As of December 2nd, clubs with riding schools and clubs with riding school cooperations that are a member of the District Equestrian Sport Association, can apply online via the FN’s website at www.pferd‑aktuell.de/100Schulpferdeplus. There are ten measures to choose from. The clubs can apply for all ten measures directly and will then subsequently be in the draw for the entire duration of the project. To ensure fair conditions for all parties involved, a draw will decide which riding schools profit from the support measures. The initiative kicks off with a special draw for the purchase of ten school horses. In the scope of this draw, the organisers of the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026 and the most successful dressage rider of all time, Isabell Werth, will sponsor one school horse apiece. The winners of this first draw will be announced at the end of January. Subsequently, further measures will be raffled off every three months.