Stuttgart German Masters 2026: Schedule and How to Watch

Stuttgart German Masters 2026: dates, times and the short answer

The Stuttgart German Masters 2026 runs Wednesday to Sunday, Nov 11–15, in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany. Its three World Cup classes are the four-in-hand driving on Saturday at 12:45 p.m., the dressage freestyle on Saturday at 5 p.m. and the jumping Grand Prix of Stuttgart on Sunday at about 3 p.m., all local time.

This is the 40th edition of a show first held in 1985 (it skipped 2020 and 2021). Organisers list 24 classes over nine sessions, with more than 160 riders from 22 nations and almost 300 horses.

As of Thursday, Nov 12, the World Cup classes are still to come. The one headline result so far is from opening night: Ireland's Cathal Daniels won the Indoor Derby on the mare Shannondale Mari, ahead of home favourite Michael Jung on Safran, according to the organiser's report.

Stuttgart German Masters schedule: the classes that matter

Stuttgart is on Central European Time, six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time. The organiser warns that start times can change, so treat these as the published plan, not a promise.

One note on Sunday: the organiser's timetable and livestream notice give 3 p.m. for the Grand Prix, as does the city's event listing, while broadcaster SWR lists 3:10 p.m. Be in your seat (or on the stream) by 3.

The FEI Jumping Ponies Trophy classes run Friday at 2:45 p.m. and Saturday at 2:30 p.m. local time. Thursday evening ends with the final of the BW-Bank Indoor Championship, a jumping series for riders from the home state of Baden-Württemberg, at 8:15 p.m.

Why this Schleyer-Halle horse show is unusual

Most big indoor shows are built around one discipline. Stuttgart hosts World Cup legs in three: driving since 2002, jumping since 2005 and dressage since 2012.

Add the eventing-style Indoor Derby, international pony classes and regional championships, and you get all three Olympic horse sports plus driving in a single building in five days. Equita Lyon is the only other stop this autumn that we have covered with the same three-World-Cup mix.

The ring matters too. The organiser lists the arena at 4,000 square metres, roomy by indoor standards, which gives course designers space for longer galloping lines.

There is also a home-crowd factor. Stuttgart sits in one of Germany's strongest horse regions, and tickets sell early: about 40,000 had gone by Oct 27, and SWR reported Friday evening sold out before the show began.

How each World Cup class works

Jumping: Grand Prix of Stuttgart (Sunday)

This is a Western European League qualifier in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup. Every pair jumps one round. Those tied for first on the fewest penalties (usually the clear rounds) return for a jump-off against the clock, where the fewest penalties wins and time separates the rest. If only one pair leads after the first round, it wins without a jump-off.

Riders collect league points by placing, with 20 for the winner. The best of the league go to the Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, on March 24–28, 2027. Our Jumping World Cup guide has the standings and the full calendar.

Names to know from the official entry list as of Thursday, Nov 12: new world champion Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, Germany's Richard Vogel (a two-time Stuttgart Grand Prix winner who won the Verona leg last week), Marcus Ehning, Sophie Hinners, Belgium's Thibeau Spits and Britain's Scott Brash. Willem Greve of the Netherlands won last year.

Dressage: Grand Prix, then the Freestyle (Friday and Saturday)

The World Cup dressage leg has two parts. Friday morning's Grand Prix is a set test that every pair rides the same way, and it is the qualifier for the next class: only the best-placed pairs go through.

Saturday's Freestyle (Kür in German) is the one that pays World Cup points. Riders design their own routine to music, and judges score both the technical movements and the artistic side. See how dressage is scored if the percentages are new to you.

The official entry list as of Thursday, Nov 12, has Isabell Werth on Viva Gold OLD for the World Cup tour, alongside Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, who won this freestyle last year. Stuttgart also runs a second, separate tour, where Werth is entered with DSP Quantaz. It ends in Sunday morning's Grand Prix Special, a class Werth has won 17 times by the organiser's count. Our Dressage World Cup guide tracks the standings.

Driving: four horses, one carriage, two rounds (Saturday)

Indoor World Cup driving is the loudest class of the week. Each driver steers a team of four horses through a tight course of cones and marathon-style obstacles against the clock, with two crew members leaning out the back to keep the carriage balanced.

Knocking a ball off a cone adds penalty time. The class runs over two rounds, and time decides it. Every driver goes in the first round; in the format Stuttgart's FEI-approved schedule set out last year, only the best three come back for the drive-off, and the rest are placed on their first-round result.

Australia's Boyd Exell, the reigning world champion, has won in Stuttgart 11 times, the organiser says. He faces the Dutch world champion team of Koos de Ronde, Ijsbrand Chardon and Bram Chardon.

Stuttgart German Masters: how to watch

• Livestream: ClipMyHorse.TV is the show's streaming partner and carries the FEI's World Cup coverage. The organiser says the whole programme is streamed live, and marks the dressage freestyle and the jumping Grand Prix as needing a paid Premium membership. ClipMyHorse.TV says classes are also available on demand.
• German TV: SWR shows the Grand Prix on Sunday from 3:30 p.m. local time on television and at swr.de/sport. Streams from national broadcasters are often limited to viewers in that country.
• Live scores: the organiser's site posts start lists and results, including live dressage scoring.

Going in person

• Single-session tickets cost €9 to €71, and whole-day tickets €37 to €93, through Easy Ticket Service.
• Children up to age six need no ticket if they sit on a parent's lap; a child with a seat of their own needs a ticket.
• Every ticket covers second-class travel on the local VVS public transport network to the hall from three hours before the session starts, and back until the last service that day. The transport ticket is not transferable.
• Doors open about 30 minutes before each session.

What to watch next

1. Friday night: the Stuttgart German Master, the show's own jumping title, at 10 p.m. local time. It is not a World Cup class, but riders qualify for it through classes on Thursday and Friday.
2. Saturday: driving at lunchtime and the freestyle at 5 p.m. make this the best single day if you can only watch one.
3. Sunday: the Grand Prix decides the fourth Western European League leg of the jumping season. Toronto's Royal Horse Show hosts a North American League qualifier on Saturday night, so World Cup fans get two legs in one weekend.

We will update this page with official results as the organiser publishes them. New to all this? Our disciplines guide explains how jumping, dressage and driving differ.