Event Horse March Madness: The Bracket Begins! Round of 32, Part 1

Round of 32, Part 1: North America and Europe. Who should advance to the round of 16? You decide! Photos by EN.

Gather round the water cooler — it’s time for March Madness, EN-style! This year 32 of the world’s top ranked event horses are squaring off in a NCAA Tournament inspired bracket to determine the fiercest eventer in the land.

How it’s seeded: To avoid petty squabbling amidst our chinchilla selection committee, we have objectively seeded the bracket according to the final 2018 WBFSH Rankings. Included in the bracket are the highest ranked eight horses from each of four regions: North America, UK/Ireland, Europe and Australia/New Zealand. The higher the points earned in 2018 (and 2018 alone), the higher the seed. The six winners of CCI4* events in 2018 as well as the 2018 World Champion received automatic top seed buy-in.

Determination of winner: Popular vote!
Round of 32, Part 1: Monday, March 18
Round of 32, Part 2: Wednesday, March 20
Sweet 16: Monday, March 25
Elite 8: Monday, April 1
Final 4: Friday, April 5
Championship: Monday, April 8

Today’s match-ups: We’ve divided the Round of 32 into two parts: Part 1 is North America and Europe; Part 2 is UK and AUS/NZL. For today, we’re looking at some well-matched rivalries — I feel bad pitting some of these North American horses against each other — as well as some big potential upsets … 2018 Pau CCI4* winner Siniani de Lathus may be the #1 seeded Europe horse, but can he really hold his own against #8 seeded fischerRocana FST? We’ll find out soon enough! Check out the bracket and then cast your vote in the polls below.

Go Eventing.