The Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final and Longines FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final officially get underway today! And we have three reporters on the ground in Las Vegas to bring you all the news. See something you want to know more about? Email us!

Here’s what you need to know to follow along:

Where You Can Watch: The two World Cup Finals are going to be live-streamed on FEI TV, which is a service you have to pay for. There are a few options—24 hours of access for $26.99, one month for $44.99 (subsequent months are $14.99) or one year for $79.99.

There will also be a wrap-up of both Finals broadcast on the CBS Sports Network on April 25 from 8:00-10:00 pm EDT. The Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final will be shown from 8:00-9:00 pm, followed by the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final from 9:00-10:00 pm.

What’s When: The dressage Grand Prix goes at 12:00 p.m. PDT on Thursday, April 16, with 18 scheduled rides (see the start order). Then they return for the Grand Prix freestyle on Saturday, April 18 at 12:00 p.m. PDT.

In the show jumping, 41 riders are set to start for the speed leg, set at 1.50 meters, at 7:00 p.m. PDT on Thursday, April 16. Then, they’ll all come back for the second leg, a grand prix format class with a first round and jump-off set between 1.50 and 1.60 meters, at 7:00 p.m. PDT on Friday, April 17.

The 25 horses who qualify for the final day of the World Cup Final will take Saturday, April 18, off from competing. But those who didn’t make that cut and some other invited riders will jump in the Canadian Pacific Grand Prix of Las Vegas at 7:00 p.m. PDT on Saturday. Then, the top 25 after the first two legs comes back to jump two rounds at 1.50 to 1.60 meters on Sunday, April 19 to decide the winner overall.

How They Win: In the dressage, the title winner is decided with just one class, the Grand Prix freestyle. Those results determine the World Cup title. The results of the Grand Prix class on Thursday don’t count toward the final result, but do help determine the start order for the freestyle.

In the show jumping, it’s a bit more complicated! All the riders jump in the first two legs on Thursday and Friday, which are a speed round and a grand prix format. They get awarded placings in those classes which, at the conclusion of the second leg on Friday, get converted into points. I.e., the winner of each leg gets 1 point more than the number of starters in the competition and the second place gets 2 points less than that, with the rest of the placings getting 1 less point as they go down the ranking.

When they start Day 3, they’re ranked according to their total points from legs 1 and 2 converted into faults. The top-ranked rider gets to start on 0 faults, with the riders down the rankings getting faults calculated by halving the difference between their points and the leaders’ points.

Then, as they jump the two rounds on Sunday, any faults are added to those totals. The rider with the least amount of faults at the end wins! It’s a complicated formula, but it rewards consistency over the three days and builds a lot of suspense for the last day.

Important Links:

All of the Chronicle’s coverage of the Reem Acra FEI Dressage World Cup Final and the Longines FEI Show Jumping World Cup Final.

World Cup start lists, course maps and results.  

FEI TV  for live streaming.