Isabell Werth’s road to WEG: getting back in the saddle

I was back in the saddle very quickly after the birth of my son, Frederik, and I´m feeling really well. My plan is to get in the best shape possible before Kentucky, and it’s encouraging that Satchmo and I have become more consistent in our performances as the months have gone by.

Current form

I was really pleased with how both Satchmo and Hannes [Warum Nicht] performed at the grand prix at CHIO Aachen, and with a score of more than 75% I feel we can be quite satisfied and happy. However, we have higher expectations over the coming weeks and months, and the plan is to sort out the mistakes and concentrate on the finer details of our programme.

Between now and WEG we will go to the German Championships in Münster and following that the nominations will be announced, so I’m hoping that we can find our best form for that performance.

We now know that the Dutch riders are very strong and so is Laura Bechtolsheimer, so we will be hoping to finish closer and closer to Laura and Adelinde (Cornelissen). Edward (Gal) seems to be in a league of his own but the other two riders are definitely within our reach.

As it stands Satchmo is my prefered ride for WEG, with Hannes in reserve, although four years ago in Aachen it was the other was round. I am happy to have both horses at this level, and it is pleasing that Hannes has been so consistent and is not as spooky as he used to be.

New freestyle

I have some new freestyle music, which I am really excited about; it is mixed by Roberto Blanco and is really different to my old style. My thinking is that if we can’t win, we want to have fun; the music just really inspires me, and I hope it inspires the crowd, and of course the judges!

We had a meeting in the studio and Roberto was singing his famous song Ein bisschen Spass muss sein, and the Tom Jones song She’s a Lady. His music creates a real party atmosphere, which I think suits Satchmo really well.

It was surprising how great Roberto was; he was really positive and motivated and he even met Satchmo! It will now be interesting for me to see how the music works in a competition environment and how the crowd will react, so I’m looking forward to it very much.

German team at WEG

I am sure that Christoph (Koschel) and Annabel (Balkenhol) will do a really good job, and it’s normal that they will both need a bit more experience. Christoph surprised everybody with the improvements that he has made over the last few months, and his horse has huge potential. He had extra pressure on his shoulders at CHIO Aachen when he was the first team rider, but he performed well and he will now just grow in confidence.

Annabel and Christoph’s horses are both young and inexperienced so it will be a few more years until they reach their best form. Because of this it will be difficult for the German team for the next couple of years and I don’t think it will be possible to beat the Dutch, but give us a couple of years and then we will be competing with the best.

Isabell Werth, multiple Olympic Games gold medal winning dressage rider, is a Rolex equestrian sports Testimonee

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now