The countdown begins to the Gucci Paris Masters.

The show-jumping action just keeps on coming. After only just catching our breath back following on from the intense and somewhat surprising conclusion to the FEI World Cup in Madrid, the next destination on the show-jumping calendar is the French capital Paris.
Today, signals the start of the week that will lead to the European stage of the Masters Grand Slam and the Gucci Paris Masters: a sport and fashion icon that always attracts the best of the best from the equestrian world.
Ahead of the event, here are some of the riders to take part at the 5 star event in the luxurious and glamorous French capital. We have the no. 1 in the Longines rankings and two-time GCT winner Scott Brash, the kaiser Ludger Beerbaum for whom there is no need for introductions, the FEI World Cup title holder and German champion Daniel Deusser, vice world-champion in the individual and team category at the latest WEG Patrice Delaveau and his team-mate and Gucci testimonial Kevin Staut. The list of top names continues and fans will also have the chance to see in action the world champion in the team category Maikel van der Vleuten, the finalist at the WEG in the individual category Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, the Olympic vice-champion Gerco Schroder and European champion Roger-Yves Bost. All exceptional riders who will be present with their top horses, ready to treat the fans and show why they’ve won some of the top titles in the sport.
Click here for a complete list of the riders taking part: http://www.mastersgrandslam.com/en/gucci_paris_masters/Equestrian World/245-A-meeting-of-Champions-the-official-5-stars-riders-list-for-the-Gucci-Paris-Masters-2014-is-out
To continue, one of the novelties of the Gucci Paris Masters this year is the amount of attention given to art and culture. Thanks to the collaboration with the famous Opera Gallery, a dedicated exhibition of contemporary and equestrian themed art will be on display at the event.
Amongst the artists and their work, visitors to the event will find Scotland’s David March (a 4m sculpture called “Stallion“), France’s Pierre Matter (Cheval Mecachrome, a sculpture displaying a horse’s head 2.6m high and made up entirely of mechanical parts from Formula 1) and Richard Orlinski from France (Cheval Cabrè).
In total, 25 of the best artists have been chosen for this exhibition: Alexis Paul, Arietti, Fernando Botero, Andrè Brasilier, Bernard Buffet, Lita Cabellut, Alexandre Calder, Umberto Ciceri, Mauro Corda, Nick Gentry, Gully, David La Chapelle, Tianbing Li, Umberto Mariani, Mr Brainwash, Noart, Hwang Ran, Gèrard Rancinan, Jean-Pierre Roc Roussey, Alain Rodier, Seen, Antonio Sègui, Ho Terry, Victor Visarely and Andy Warhol.
So, the countdown can now begin to the 4th of December when it all gets underway. As always there is a rich programme scheduled such as the Longines Speed Challenge on the Friday, the Guerre des Sexes Longines on Saturday and of course the big event, the Gucci Grand Prix on Sunday.
www.mastersrandslam.com