Newsletter N°2: An edition that promises much
The CHI Geneva likes to take good care of its guests, be they riders, horses, sponsors or spectators, something that is not about to change at this very special edition. As it turns 100, the event is intent on showing that just like fine wine, it gets better with age.
In terms of sport, the programme offers a delicious blend of nostalgia and elite competition and introduces some legendary events to a new audience while also serving up the CHIG’s usual main attractions. On Wednesday, for example, the Palexpo arena welcomes back the Six-Barres after a nine-year absence and also hosts the Prix des Communes Genevoises, a qualifying event for Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix. Among the highlights on the following day’s card is the Trophée de Genève – a qualifier for the Grand Prix – and the Centenary Parade led by the Compagnie 1602, the city’s beloved historical society.
Providing the excitement on Friday is the ever-popular indoor cross event, presented by La Tribune de Genève, and the legendary Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final, now in its 25th year. Equestrianism’s great dynasties then take centre stage in the Prix des Familles, sponsored by Protectas, a special competition in which teams of three riders from two generations of the same family go head to head.
On Saturday, a series of prestigious events provides the build-up to an evening devoted to the CHIG centenary, which kicks off with the Bareback Challenge, in which international stars ride bareback against young riders on ponies with saddles, all with the Prix Cheval Liberté up for grabs. It is followed by the Challenge of the Century, presented by UBS, with ten riders who are Olympic, world or continental champions and among the most decorated on the planet pitting their wits against another ten selected from the first three days of CHIG 2026. Following a first round in which competitors take on classic 20th-century-style fences, the best of them go forward to a second round featuring modern obstacles. It is sure to make for a great sporting occasion.
Sunday begins with one last party before the serious business of the Swiss leg of the FEI Driving World Cup and the eagerly awaited Rolex Grand Prix. In celebrating its centenary, the CHI Geneva will pull out all the stops to welcome its guests at the Breakfast of the Century. From 8.00am to 10.00am, spectators in possession of a specific ticket to go with their standard ticket will be able to have breakfast in the world’s biggest indoor arena and enjoy a unique and exclusive experience, with a host of attractions and surprises laid on for them, all in an elite sports setting.
Make no mistake, 2026 promises to be a vintage year.
1947: The CHI goes back to the Palais
1947 marked both a turning point in the organisation of the CHI Geneva and a return. Having been held outdoors for four years on the Plaine de Plainpalais – for three of them as a national competition – the biggest event on the international calendar went back to the indoor arena at the Palais des Expositions.
It was then that it switched from the summertime to the end of the year, with riders and horses assembling at the legendary venue from 8 to 16 December. “The Palais had a soul,” wrote CHI Geneva Sports Director Alban Poudret in his official history of the event. “There was also a sense of grandeur about the place, a feeling enhanced by its very high ceiling and gallery perched up above the arena. Known as the ‘promenoir’, it provided a vantage point for watching the events for a fee of one or two francs.” A total of 93 pairings took part that year, representing Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and, of course, Switzerland. Also competing was a lone US rider, Lieutenant-Colonel James Kaiser, who made quite an impression by winning the Grand Prix on board the mare Dagmar.
From the Palais to the world
Some passions you just pick up without any explanation. Pierre Genecand can vouch for that. As a youngster, he ran around backstage at the Palais des Expositions in Plainpalais and had the job of raising the national flags at official ceremonies. One day, he got the Dutch and French tricolours mixed up, a faux pas that did not go unnoticed by that proudest of Frenchmen, Jean d’Orgeix, with Genecand receiving a clip round the ear for his troubles.
The former president of the CHI Geneva organising committee is smiling as he tells that story, from his home on the right bank of Lake Geneva. Its basement is a regular private gold mine of CHIG memorabilia, featuring ribbons from the 1920s, commemorative plaques and faded magazines – a hundred years of Genevan equestrian history by the water’s edge.
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