All sport relies on sponsorship - and showjumping is no different to other sports!

In showjumping the exceptional support from Longines goes "beyond the call of duty" and it is greatly appreciated by all the riders as this is what keeps the sport going.

Longines, go the one step further with the Longines Press Award for Excellence.

Since 2000 the Longines Prize for Elegance has been awarded for precision and style in equestrianism.

If Switzerland is synonymous with watches, Longines is synonymous with watches of excellence, precision and style - no arguement there!

Longines began in 1832 and now has a long tradition which is precious to the watchmakers who are still based in St. Imier, where they first began. St Imier is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

St. Imier is not a big place and most of the small population are in some way employed by Longines, which only adds to the romanticism of these beautiful watches. St. Imier is only 20.9 square kilometers with 42.5% of the area forestlands.

Back to the Longines Press Award for Elegance............

Ten male and 10 female riders who have won the most points by achieving the best results at the first six Meydan FEI Nations Cup events (presented by Longines) were shortlisted for the event at Dublin Horse Show, which is the last of the series.

The finalists were judged in the first round of the Longines Grand Prix by a panel of 5 members of the international equestrian press, who this year were French journalist/photographer Jennifer De Camp, Irish journalists Grania Willis and Louise Parkes, Northern Ireland journalist Ruth Loney and Australian journalist Jan Heine.

The winners received a cheque for CHF20,000, a superb trophy and and a set of Longines watches. The trophy was inspired by the pure lines and style of the mount combined with the power and subtlety of the mount, which is then also combined with precision and a keen sense of detail.

This years winners were stand out examples of precision, elegance and style - the Ladies award went to America's Laura Kraut who was genuinely shocked at the award, saying "I have never thought of myself as elegant - my horses are elegant - I am in shock but thankyou so much"

Laura was delighted with the statue even though it is so heavy she could barely lift it!

When confronted with a photographer who openly admitted to being a huge fan of Laura's horse Cedric, Laura could not have been more delighted to talk about the horse she says she would be "happy to have live in the house with her", going on to say that when she needs to have time out, "it is Cedric I go to because he is such a lovely horse - and now I have all this money to buy him extra carrots - thank you all so much for this award."

The Male award went to Switzlerland's Pius Schwizer and again the harmony between horse and rider combined with the precise placement to the fences, added to an elegant style in the saddle made this man the obvious winner.

No doubting that the partners of Laura and Pius will be more than a little delighted that the Longines gift included a pair of watches with one for them perhaps.

To see the beautiful time pieces available click here and enjoy a visit to the internet home of Longines.