February 10, 2025 
Two of the world’s top international riders have pulled their names from team consideration for the 2025 Longines League of Nations.
Swiss Olympic champion Steve Guerdat, currently ranked at No. 2 in the world, and his teammate Martin Fuchs (World No. 5) have chosen to boycott the second installment of the Longines League of Nations series.
Guerdat isn’t known for pulling punches when it comes to his opinions on the health of the sport, and he didn’t mince words again last week when describing the reasons why he says he will not consider competing at the four events comprising this year’s Longines League of Nations schedule.
“Nations Cups are very important to me, and it is always a great honor for me to represent Switzerland at a Nations Cup,” Guerdat said via press release for Swiss Equestrian, noting that he was fully behind his national governing body.
“The atmosphere at the Swiss Nations Cup in St. Gallen, for example, or at other traditional tournaments in equestrian countries is incomparable.
“There are fantastic tournaments with a great atmosphere all over the world. It is precisely this atmosphere that I miss at tournaments that are organized less for the horse-loving public and more for a select audience—I cannot understand the FEI’s strategy regarding the Longines League of Nations.”
Introduced in 2024, the Longines League of Nations was created as a replacement for the previous Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ series. It also shook up the traditional format in the competition’s second round, in which only three riders now compete with no drop score.
But perhaps the biggest change initiated by the series—the same one that Guerdat and Fuchs take issue with—are the locations where competitions take place.
While previous Nations Cup series were held at time-honored equestrian venues including Aachen (GER), Rome (ITA), and La Baule (FRA), by the early 2020s, these shows had opted to hold their own 5* Nations Cups using independent sponsors.
Other venues such as Hickstead (GBR), Dublin (IRL), and Falsterbo (SWE) followed suit, with only two traditional sites—Rotterdam (NED) and St. Gallen (SUI)—being incorporated into the inaugural Longines League of Nations schedule last year.
This season, it was announced that St. Gallen would be replaced by a new event in Gassin/St. Tropez (FRA), a likely catalyst for the boycott by Switzerland’s top riders.
“For us, it’s really competitions like here in Bordeaux, and then in Falsterbo, in Dublin, in Dinard, at La Baule, which have this tradition [in that they are open to the] public, [and] really have a different atmosphere than many other competitions,” Fuchs said in the press conference following his recent victory at the Bordeaux leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup.
“I think it’s really good that we always have more and more competitions. But we think that the traditional competitions—the best competitions in the world—these are the ones that must be supported, and not the new competitions prioritized against the others.
“I think that new competitions must prove themselves, and if they are better than the others, we can discuss changing the [destinations],” Fuchs continued. “But as it was done, I think we don’t really agree. We are very disappointed for our sport and for our Nations Cup, which we love to participate in.”
In addition to the loss of preferred venues expressed by Guerdat and Fuchs, other experts have weighed-in expressing their concerns that the series is prioritizing the wrong values.
Former French show jumping chef d’equipe Henk Nooren told World of Show Jumping that he suspected the Longines League of Nations was less concerned with in-person audiences and the atmosphere at shows than it was with the number of viewers streaming online.
What’s more, Nooren said, the FEI was acting against its interests, holding Longines League of Nations events during the crucial qualification window for its own FEI World Cup series. In addition, Nooren added, the last qualifier in Gassin, France is also just two weeks before the Longines League of Nations Final in Barcelona—a difficult scheduling window for American riders to accommodate.
This is not the first cause for complaint Guerdat has had against the Longines League of Nations. Last fall, the Swiss rider called the Finals in Barcelona “the worst show I have done this year,” citing issues with the schooling rings, the schedule, and biosecurity, among others.
This year, by all accounts, the Swiss federation is standing behind its own.
“We have had extensive discussions with Martin Fuchs and Steve Guerdat. We respect this wish,” said Swiss Equestrian’s Sports Manager, Evelyne Niklaus. “Both will be part of the team at other Nations Cups and will give their all for Switzerland.”
How the Swiss will fare in Longines League of Nations competition without two of their top riders remains to be seen. But they’ve already selected their squad for the first leg of the 2025 series, which kicks off in Abu Dhabi on February 15, naming Bryan Balsiger, Romain Duguet, Edouard Schmitz, and Janika Sprunger to the squad.
Perhaps a better question might be, how will the Longines League of Nations fare without Guerdat and Fuchs?
