A top-seven finish – excluding Olympic hosts USA – in Aachen would secure qualification, and that should be within reach. In many ways, the pressure is off: with no team medal expectation, there’s room for some of the squad’s less experienced combinations to bank valuable championship experience.
Mari Durward-Akhurst and veteran Athene Lindebjerg anchor a team otherwise built around youth: Jemima Green’s eight-year-old Fantabulous, the selectors’ call to field Nicola Naylor aboard the developing nine-year-old Moulin Rouge rather than her more experienced European Humberto L, and Sophie Wells and the 10-year-old MSJ Gold Standard’s late, form-driven arrival into the fourth spot.
It’s a young squad built for the next cycle as much as this one, so let’s find out more about them.
Mari Durward Akhurst, 32
(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)
HORSE: Athene Lindebjerg, 19
BREEDING: Gribaldi x Diamant, bred by Ulla and Kristian Bech
OWNERS: Diane Redfern, Nick Durward-Akhurst and Romilly Hart
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GRADE: I
FORM: Athene, now 19, has been unbeaten all season – an 83.87% freestyle at April’s Hartpury CPEDI remains her high point, backed up by a clean sweep at Wellington in June (including an 80.76% freestyle) and another hat-trick at the final selection the following month, albeit a shade below those spring peaks (77.04%, 74.71% and 78.11%). The technical gains keep showing: Mari points to work on the stretch walk and the centre-line halts, and credits a lighter travel schedule for keeping the mare fresh.
RIDER’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORD: Mari will be making her World Championship debut but has competed at two Europeans and the Paris Paralympics.
Jemima Green, 37
(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)
HORSE: Fantabulous, eight
BREEDING: Foundation 2 x Fürst Romancier, bred by Rainer and Angelika Ahlers
OWNER: rider
GRADE: II
FORM: Fantabulous, still just eight, has kicked on since winning bronze in Ermelo – runner-up in the mid-70s in all three tests at April’s Aachen CPEDI – behind European gold medallists Heidemarie Dresing and Poesie 143 – a hat-trick at Hickstead in May, then back-to-back personal bests in the grand prix B (76.07%) and freestyle (78.44%) at Hartpury, in what Jemima called the most settled she’s felt him. The grand prix A there was tougher (74.76%) – a rare off day – but a tweak to their changeover routine with trainer Georgie Nicholls yielded the two personal bests that followed.
RIDER’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORD: Jemima will be making her World Championship debut.
Nicola Naylor, 65
(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)
HORSE: Moulin Rouge, nine
BREEDING: Decor Ferdinand x Dorado, bred by P Buwalda
OWNER: rider
GRADE: IV
FORM: Moulin Rouge has spent the season shadowing her more experienced stablemate Humberto L – and got the better of him at Wellington in June, sweeping all three grade IV tests, including a 76.55% freestyle. But Humberto turned the tables at the final selection trial, leaving Moulin Rouge second in both grands prix (71.75% and 72.19%). Nicola chose to ease off rather than chase more from the still-developing mare, and although Humberto edged the head-to-head on the day, it was Moulin Rouge the selectors chose to carry to Aachen, likely with the next cycle in mind as much as this one.
RIDER’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORD: Nicola will also be making her first appearance at a World Championships.
Sophie Wells, 36
(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)
HORSE: MSJ Gold Standard, 10
BREEDING: Governor x Fürstenball, bred by Mount St John Equestrian LLP
OWNER: Emma Blundell
GRADE: V
FORM: Since taking on the ride in February, Sophie’s grand prix B score has climbed steadily – 71.61% at Waregem, 72.46% at Hickstead, 73.03% at Wellington. Then, right when it mattered most, she pulled it out of the bag: a clean sweep at July’s final trial with personal bests throughout (74.05%, 74.4% and 80.27%).
RIDER’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORD: This will be Sophie’s fifth worlds. She won triple gold in Kentucky in 2010 (Pinocchio), team gold and double individual silver in Normandy in 2014 (Valerius), double individual gold and team silver in Tryon in 2018 (C Fatal Attraction), then individual silver and bronze in Herning in 2022 (Don Cara M).
Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).
