October 30, 2026 
The opening leg of the FEI Jumping World Cup season for the Western European league kicked off in Oslo, Norway, earlier this month, with Austria’s Max Kühner taking the first win aboard EIC Up Too Jacco Blue.
With a dozen stops still to come in the series’ largest and most competitive league, the season is still very young, with event No. 2 coming up this weekend in Lyon, France (October 27-November 1). On top of that, only a fool would make a wild prediction about sport horses—those beloved, fickle, fragile things—so early on in the game.
But the fall chill in the air is making me either want to crawl back in bed under the covers or do something a little reckless (and apparently, I’m not alone!). So here goes nothing.
I think Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward could make it to FEI World Cup Finals. More than that, I think they could set records: tying Rodrigo Pessoa and Baloubet du Rouet and becoming the first combination to win three, non-consecutive Finals in history.
I know, I know—hear me out.
I’ll be the first to admit I love a comeback story and, having followed their journey as a reporter in the sport from the beginning, few horse-and-rider combinations are more fun to root for than the King and von Eckermann.
During the peak of their reign two years ago, King Edward was the best horse in a quarter century, winning more than $4.3 million, earning double-gold World Championship medals in 2022, and taking back-to-back FEI Jumping World Cup Finals in 2023 and 2024.
Thanks to six Grand Prix wins together, the Belgian gelding helped von Eckermann ascend to the World No. 1 position in August of 2022, holding onto the armband for a full 33 months at the top of the sport.
In fact, King Edward still sits at No. 2 for career prize money, with more than €4.3 million in total earnings, just behind Martin Fuchs’ (SUI) ride Leone Jei on nearly €4.46 (Jumpr).
Then came their tough turn in the 2024 Paris Olympic games, when a miscommunication during the Individual Finals crushed their gold-medal hopes. Since then, the pair have, in many ways, stepped back from the spotlight they dominated for so long—though you can be sure a hush still falls over the arena every time they trot in for a class.
Despite notable 1.60m performances since—including a podium finish at the 5* Grand Prix in Wellington this March and a 5th place in the 5* Grand Prix at Longines League of Nations Ocala last winter—they haven’t earned a major victory in more than two years. Part of that may be intentional.
After competing last winter in the States, von Eckermann seemed to feel his partner needed a well-deserved reset. After returning to Europe, the King could be seen skipping around the 1.10m and 1.15m divisions while sporting a bad-a*s trace clip and—according to von Eckermann’s post—demonstrating that same ol’ “feeling [and] motivation in the ring [that] never changes.”
The post earned more than 52,500 likes—a clear indicator that the world hasn’t forgotten one of show jumping’s all-time, fan-favorite partnerships. In the months since, the pair have slowly and surely climbed their way back up to the 1.60m level, demonstrating some of that hallmark patience that von Eckermann has long stood by as a tenant of his program.
“When I feel like he’s jumping well—likes he’s [always done]—you just have to stay quiet and just believe. You know, he was out for a long time, [you] just have to give them time,” von Eckermann told the Longines Global Champions Tour this summer after he and King Edward jumped a clear first round in the LGCT Grand Prix of London in August.
“If you stay in it, normally, it comes. You just have to have patience and just believe in what you’re doing, and [just] because a clear round isn’t there [at first], start to change a lot of things.”
With five qualifier months left to jump before the 2026/2027 FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden—yes, that would mean a hometown bid at the Finals for the pair—there’s plenty of time left for von Eckermann and King Edward to get back to fighting form.
To be sure, at 16, King Edward jumps fewer rounds than he has in years past, with greater pressure on making each one count. But if show jumping icons such as Vitiki, Con Quidam RB, and fellow 16-year-olds Baloutinue and Fasther teach us anything, it’s that competing and winning at the top of the sport—and even at the championship level—is no longer just a young-horse game.
Plus, King Edward’s numbers are trending in the right direction.
According to Jumpr, the King averages just 2.25 faults this year in nine rounds of 5* 1.60m competition, putting him just below Sophie Hinners and Iron Dames Singclair on 2.22, and just ahead of Darragh Kenney’s Eddy Blue on 2.27. And while his 33% clear rate is, at present, significantly below his 61% career average, for my money, that’s a number to watch in the months to come.
What’s more, von Eckermann and the King are already on the board, finishing 5th in the FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier in Oslo, which means, early as it is, they currently sit in the top 5 in the Western European League standings.
Is it wild speculation? Purely magical thinking? Maybe. But I’m holding fast.
In my part of the world, at least, the winter is long, daylight is short, and we could all use a small, chestnut King to root for in the months to come.
