Calgary this weekend: Palacios, 12 fences, then nine
Leopoldo Palacios (VEN) is the 5 course designer at the Spruce Meadows 'Masters', 8 to 13 September. Anderson Lima (MEX) has the 2 ring. Anthony D'Ambrosio and Will Dean Stobie are listed as assistants. The International Ring is 178 × 107 m of grass.
British Showjumping named Team Audevard on 2 September: Ben Maher (Catelly or Enjeu De Grisien), Tim Gredley (Medoc De Toxandria), Jessica Mendoza (Summerhouse or In The Air), and Jack Whitaker (Jack JL). Di Lampard is Chef d'équipe. The BMO Nations Cup is Saturday 12 September. The CPKC International Grand Prix is Sunday 13 September.
The same week, four GB youth squads are at Peelbergen for the Youth Nations Cup Finals. That is a 1.30 m job on one Dutch ground. Calgary is a CSIO5* on a grass rectangle bigger than most UK county shows.
Saturday: 12 numbered fences, same track twice
The prize list puts the BMO Nations Cup at 1.60 m, $600,000, one horse per rider. World Sport Timing lists it under Table A, Article 226.1, 11:00 local on Saturday, with round two later the same afternoon.
Article 226.1.7 of the 2026 Jumping Rules (28th edition) says two rounds over the same course on the same day. Article 226.1.8 puts both rounds Table A against the clock. For a 5* Nations Cup, Article 226.3.1 wants 12 obstacles, at least two verticals at 1.60 m, at least six other fences at 1.50 m, a course between 450 and 650 m, and 400 m/min outdoors. Article 226.3.3 requires a water jump outdoors unless the FEI gives express permission to drop it.
If you build a club team class this autumn, copy the structure, not the heights. Two identical rounds. Three scores to count. A water tray only if you have one you trust. Write the clock on the plan, as last week's Avenches EEF Final also made you do.
Sunday: 15, then nine
The Grand Prix is 1.60 m over two rounds, top 40, one horse per rider. Timing lists it as Article 221.4.1.
The designer number that changed this year sits in Article 219.2.3. Where a Grand Prix has two rounds, every combination that completes the first round without penalties goes through. First round: no more than 15 obstacles. Second round: no more than nine.
Nine numbered fences is a second course, not a jump-off. They still have to ride after a first round on that grass. If you are counting at home, count numbers, not jumping efforts. A treble is one number with three letters. See FEI Jumping Rules 2026 for the rest of the restructure.
Friday night's ATCO Electric Six Bar is Article 230.3: six verticals in a straight line, about 11 m apart, cups no deeper than 20 mm. Watch how Palacios sets the first height, then how he raises. Club six-bars fail when the line is not straight or the cups are too deep.
What to take into a 20 × 60
You will not copy 1.60 m into a county ring. You can copy the paperwork.
For a two-round team class, print two copies of the same plan and mark round one and round two. For a two-round individual, draw the second track with fewer numbers before you walk the first. Open the designer, set a grass rectangle if you have one, or your school, and count numbered fences out loud.
Watch Saturday's first round with a notebook. Count 12. Note where the water sits. See whether the related distances still ride at 400 m/min after a long approach on grass. Then watch Sunday's second round and count to nine.
Stream and results sit on sprucemeadows.com/masters and World Sport Timing. Keep the 2026 Jumping Rules PDF on the phone.
If you are writing a two-round class for next weekend, sketch it now: 12 numbers for a team, or 15 then 9 for an individual. Put the article number on the plan before the first horse walks.
