Monocle 24 · Monocle 24: The Review

The Review - Edition 101

January 28, 2014·49 min·3 clips

Derek Braun says organizing a five-day horse show is like planning a wedding three times a day — and the FEI World Cup Finals is that times ten.

1. Practical Horseman host Kathleen Landwehr interviews Derek Braun, competition organizer of the FEI Jumping and Dressage World Cup Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, April 8-12, 2026. 2. Braun grew up in New York and competed on the hunter-jumper circuit as a junior, winning the 2001 USCEF Talent Search Finals East and 2002 Junior Jumper National Championships team gold before turning professional at Rollins College graduation in 2007. 3. The episode's core question is how a professional show jumper pivots to world-class event organizing and what that transition revealed about the business of equestrian sport. 4. Braun's most influential horses were the hunter Kayserah (acquired at 13-14, led him to national finals and to trainer Bobby Braswell at Quiet Hill Farm), jumper Mandela (anchor horse for the 2002 team gold), and grand prix horse Locker Rollis (developed from age six, retired on Braun's Kentucky farm). 5. As anchor rider at the 2002 Nationals with a six-second deficit, Braun completed the second round with Mandela in under 50 seconds to win team gold — his most memorable junior result. 6. Locker Rollis, whom Braun called 'Rolls' for Rolls-Royce, had a 'mind-blowing' clear round percentage across grand prix competitions and led Braun to his first nations cup appearance. 7. Braun decided to pivot from competing after concluding he could not simultaneously acquire horses good enough for the world top 50, maintain that standard, and provide stability for his family. 8. He was consistently critical of equestrian event organization throughout his career as a competitor — from South America to Europe — and viewed that dissatisfaction as a signal he could organize events better himself. 9. He started with two years of single-day schooling shows at his private Kentucky farm before launching Split Rock Jumping Tour's first international show in 2015. 10. Split Rock now operates 10 shows in four cities from Lexington to Los Angeles, ranging from single-ring spectator events to eight-ring competitions with 2,000+ stalls at the Kentucky Horse Park. 11. Braun describes his organizing philosophy as extreme attention to detail and a customer-service orientation he says distinguishes Split Rock from more dollars-and-cents focused competitors. 12. The FEI's decision to award the 2026 World Cup Finals to Fort Worth was partly driven by Fort Worth's agricultural culture and city government's financial and logistical backing — which Braun says few US cities would match. 13. He frames the World Cup Finals as one of only three global equestrian championships alongside the World Championships and Olympics — 'the entire world will be watching.' 14. Braun reveals the event's budget exceeds $9 million and describes equestrian event margins as far thinner than people assume, calling the financial risk 'insanity.' 15. The planning process uses a 38-slide master run-of-show document tracking every minute of every day, with approximately 20 specialized sub-teams working under the broader organization. 16. His primary success metric for the event is safety — 'if the sport is 100% safe, the competitors and horses are happy, then it's a win' — above entertainment or financial performance. 17. The interview is relaxed and biographical in tone, with Braun speaking directly and at length; he runs his own podcast called Horse Show 360 and describes being an 'open book' about event logistics. 18. Braun's self-advice for his younger self is to 'lighten up' — he says excessive self-imposed pressure clouded his judgment and that he became a better leader by learning to accept others' ideas. 19. Equestrian professionals, show organizers, and jumping fans interested in the business of major events will find the episode most relevant. 20. Listeners expecting commentary on specific riders or competition analysis from the 2026 World Cup Finals itself will find the episode focused on organizing logistics rather than sport outcomes.

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