Horse & Hound brought you all the news in the run-up to the event, as well as in-depth reports on the action as it took place. The para dressage competition was held during the second week of the event, starting on Wednesday 19 August and finishing on Sunday 23 August.

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Medals

Para Dressage World Championships timetable

Para dressage World Championships format

Para riders are grouped into five grades according to how their impairment affects their riding.

Grade I is for the most severely impaired athletes (tests are ridden in walk), while grade V is for the least (walk, trot, canter and lateral work). Grades II and III compete in walk and trot, and grade IV includes all three paces plus lateral work.

Riders in grades I to III compete in the short arena, while riders in grades IV and V ride in the long arena.

Nations can send either two individuals or one team of three or four. Every team must include at least one rider from grades I to III, and no more than two from the same grade.

Individual medals

The championships open with the para grand prix A (individual test), held on Wednesday, 19 August for grades I, II and III, and Thursday, 20 August for grades IV and V. Every rider competes in this round and medals are awarded in each of the five grades.

Team medals

Next comes the para grand prix B (team test) – Friday, 21 August for grades I, II and III, Saturday, 22 August for grades IV and V. All team members ride, but only the best three scores count and at least one of those must come from grades I to III. Team medals are based solely on the team test – results from the individual test don’t carry over.

Freestyle medals

Finally, the freestyle – on 23 August – is reserved for the top eight riders in each grade, based on their combined results from the grand prix A and B tests. To qualify, riders must average at least 60% across the two. Each grade has its own freestyle medals too, meaning the five grades each produce two individual medal sets (grand prix A and freestyle) alongside the single team medal – 11 sets of medals in total across the championships.

Paralympic qualification

Aachen doubles as the principal qualification route for the LA28 Paralympics. The seven highest-placed teams, hosts USA aside, secure their team quota places here.

Aachen world championships officials

Para dressage officials

Germany’s Marco Orsini presides over the para dressage judging panel in Aachen, joined by Kjell Myhre (NOR), Kristi Wysocki (USA), Marc Urban (BEL), Katherine Lucheschi (ITA) and Anne Prain (FRA). Juliet Whatley (GBR) serves as technical delegate, with Jaena Alvesparr (SWE) as chief steward. Kerri Sowers (USA) is the chief classifier, alongside Jana Kulichova (CZE).

Veterinary officials: week two

Veterinary commission: Friedrich-Wilhelm Hanbücken (GER) (President), Berndt Stanglmeier (CAN), Constanze Zach (AUT)

Veterinary delegate: Thierry Grisard (FRA)

Overall chief steward: Cesar Hirsch (VEN)

Why is it not the Aachen World Equestrian Games?

Aachen previously hosted the FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in 2006. WEG brought together the World Championships in multiple different equestrian sports every four years between 1990 and 2018. Financial challenges associated with hosting so many disciplines at a single venue proved prohibitive and so since 2022 each of the disciplines have have their own World Championships. For 2026, Aachen was granted the World Championships for six disciplines, so is running a two-week combined World Championships – but it is not a WEG.

Para Dressage World Championships news

Horse & Hound brought you all the news in the run-up to the event (plus our complete showjumping World Championships form guide), as well as in-depth live news reports on the action as it took place. H&H’s magazine editor Pippa Roome, who has reported at numerous championships across the disciplines, was on the ground interviewing the riders after their rounds. H&H’s showjumping editor Jennifer Donald was overseeing the reporting from back in the UK, supported by the wider editorial team, as we brought you the stories behind the medals, as they happened.

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Showjumping individual medals

Showjumping team medals

Medals

Showjumping World Championships timetable

Showjumping World Championships format

The 2026 World Showjumping Championships take place from Monday, 17 August to Sunday, 23 August 2026. The famous final-four horse-swap decider was dropped after the World Equestrian Games in 2014 and since then these championships have run in line with previous world and European formats with four-rider teams and a drop score. The team medals are decided first, concluding with the individual medals.

What happens each day?

All team and individual riders start with Wednesday’s speed leg, where faults are penalised by seconds added to the time. Each rider’s score is converted via a coefficient into points.

Two rounds of team jumping then follow, with the top 10 teams from Thursday’s competition progressing to Friday’s final under the floodlights. The top 60 individual riders also compete. Team medals are awarded on Friday 21 August.

Sunday’s individual final consists of two rounds, the first for the 25 best placed horses and riders after the first three legs of competition, with the top 12 then qualifying for the medal-deciding round two.

What else is on the schedule?

Two prestigious international competitions for under-25 young riders take place on Friday and Saturday. Friday is a speed competition while Saturday’s competition is for drawn teams of four, regardless of nations. Each team will be supported by a team manager.

Aachen world championships officials

Showjumping world championships course-designer

World-famous German course-builder Frank Rothenberger, who has been involved in six Olympics, is Aachen’s resident designer and he will be designing the fences and courses for the showjumping World Championships in Aachen. Paris 2024 Olympic designer Santiago Varela, from Spain, is assigned as technical delegate.

Other showjumping officials

Ground jury: Patrice Alvado (FRA) (President), Harry Braspenning (NED), Anna Lindqvist (SWE), Kazuya Hirayama (JPN), Andrew Pollard (GBR).

Chief steward: Maria Hernek (SWE)

Veterinary officials: week two

Veterinary commission: Friedrich-Wilhelm Hanbücken (GER) (President), Berndt Stanglmeier (CAN), Constanze Zach (AUT)

Veterinary delegate: Thierry Grisard (FRA)

Overall chief steward: Cesar Hirsch (VEN)

Why is it not the Aachen World Equestrian Games?

Aachen previously hosted the FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in 2006. WEG brought together the World Championships in multiple different equestrian sports every four years between 1990 and 2018. Financial challenges associated with hosting so many disciplines at a single venue proved prohibitive and so since 2022 each of the disciplines have have their own World Championships. For 2026, Aachen was granted the World Championships for six disciplines, so is running a two-week combined World Championships – but it is not a WEG.

Showjumping World Championships news

Horse & Hound brought you in-depth reports on all the action from the FEI World Championships as it took place. From the Dressage World Championships entries to our ultimate form guide and exclusive podium predictions, we had every angle covered.

H&H dressage editor Oscar Williams was on the ground in Aachen watching the action and interviewing the riders in the mixed zone after every performance. He was supported in providing our live news reports service by H&H’s wider editorial team, based back in the UK. We brought you all the stories behind the scores throughout the competition. Oscar's complete Aachen report will be in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 20 August.

A Horse & Hound website subscription gives you instant access, wherever you are, to all of our coverage with no limit on how much you can read, from as little as £1 a week. Sign up now

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2026 Dressage World Championships timetable

Dressage World Championships format

The World Championships are split into three stages, with one set of medals awarded for teams and two sets of individual medals.

Each nation can enter a maximum of four horse and rider combinations, but only the top three scores count towards the team result. Nations without a team can send up to two riders as individuals.

The team contest

The action kicks off with the horse inspection (10 August), then the grand prix, taking place over two days: 11 and 12 August. This is the only test that counts towards the team medals, which are awarded on Wednesday 12 August. It also serves as the first stage of individual qualification for the special and freestyle, with all riders taking part, including those not on a team.

The individual contest

From there, things shift to the grand prix special on 14 August, where the top 30 combinations from the grand prix (including ties for 30th) compete for the first set of individual medals.

A score of around 69–71% has been enough to make that cut at recent championships (68.88% at the 2025 Europeans in Crozet, 71.15% at Herning 2022). However, scores across the board have depreciated since Herning, suggesting this year’s cut-off may land nearer the lower end of that range.

The week concludes with the freestyle to music on 15 August. The top 18 riders from the grand prix special (again including ties) are eligible to compete – historically requiring around 72.5–74% – but only a maximum of three per country may advance. If four from one country are in the top 18, the lowest-placed of them is replaced by the next-highest-placed eligible combination. This round decides the second set of individual medals.

The starting order

The running order for the grand prix is set by a draw. Teams are grouped based on their FEI world rankings, with lower-ranked nations riding earlier and the top contenders going later. Each team’s chef d’equipe submits their preferred rider order in advance, which is maintained during the draw.

Riders competing as individuals (not part of a team) are drawn separately and slotted into the schedule accordingly.

For the special and freestyle, the start order is based on performance. Riders compete in reverse order of results – so the best go last.

Why are the 2026 worlds important for the Olympics?

Aachen is the first and biggest qualifying event for the team competition at the LA 2028 Olympic Games. The six highest-ranked teams (excluding the host nation, the US) will secure their Olympic team quota places here – more than at any other single qualifier in the cycle.

Remaining team places are then decided across 2027 through the Europeans and other regional championships. A strong result in Aachen is therefore the most direct route to booking a nation’s place at the Games.

Aachen World Championships officials

Dressage officials

A panel of seven judges will decide the medals in Aachen, led by Germany’s Ulrike Nivelle as president of the ground jury. She’s joined by Kurt Christensen (DEN), Clive Halsall (GBR), Maria Colliander (FIN), Michael Osinski (USA), Maribel Alonso (MEX) and Alice Schwab (AUT).

Vincenzo Truppa (ITA) serves as technical delegate, with Didier Deschauwer (BEL) as chief steward, and a separate Judging Supervisory Panel – Andrew Gardner (GBR), Henk van Bergen (NED) and Mary Seefried (AUS) – overseeing standards throughout.

Veterinary officials: week one

Veterinary commission: Friedrich-Wilhelm Hanbücken (GER) (President), Kirste Neil (AUS), Juliana Ramalho De Freitas (BRA)

Veterinary delegate: Mark Sinnott (GBR)

Why is it not the Aachen World Equestrian Games?

Aachen previously hosted the FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in 2006. WEG brought together the World Championships in multiple different equestrian sports every four years between 1990 and 2018. Financial challenges associated with hosting so many disciplines at a single venue proved prohibitive and so since 2022 each of the disciplines have have their own World Championships. For 2026, Aachen was granted the World Championships for six disciplines, so is running a two-week combined World Championships – but it is not a WEG.

Dressage World Championships news

H&H eventing editor Pippa Roome was on the ground in Aachen, walked the cross-country course and interviewed the riders in the mixed zone after every performance. She was supported in providing our live news reports service by H&H’s wider editorial team, based back in the UK, who brought you all the stories behind the scores throughout the competition. Pippa's complete Aachen report will be in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 20 August.

A Horse & Hound website subscription gives you instant access, wherever you are, to all of our coverage with no limit on how much you can read, from as little as £1 a week. Sign up now

Key stories

Medals

2026 Eventing World Championships timetable

Eventing World Championships format

This competition will feel reassuringly familiar to eventing fans, as it follows the traditional team three-day event format, unlike the Olympics.

Teams and individuals

● A maximum of five horse and rider combinations can take part from each nation.

● A team consists of three or four combinations, with the best three scores to count. A nation fielding the full five quota of pairs will be represented by a team of four and one individual.

● Nations not represented by a team can field one or two individual combinations.

● Every rider who is in a team is also competing as an individual.

The phases

● The competition officially starts with the horse inspection on Wednesday, 12 August, when the ground jury – president Anne-Mette Binder (Denmark), Peter Gray (Canada) and Joanne Jarden (Ireland) –
and veterinary delegate look at each horse and assess its fitness to take part.

● On Thursday, 13 and Friday, 14 August, each combination will take to the arena in turn and perform the Olympic short dressage test, which includes movements such as half-pass in trot and canter, rein-back and flying changes.

● On Saturday, 15 August, every horse and rider tackle the cross-country course, designed by Giuseppe della Chiesa.

The course has to have between 38 and 42 jumping efforts (Giuseppe says there are 42 efforts on the direct route), with a maximum fence height of 1.20m (1.40m with brush) and a maximum top spread of 1.80m.

The course will be between 5,600 metres and 5,800 metres and should be ridden at 570 metres per minute, giving an optimum time between 9min 50sec and 10min 10sec.

● The final day, Sunday, 16 August, starts with another horse inspection.

This is followed by the showjumping, in reverse order, over a course of 11 to 13 numbered obstacles (16 jumping efforts), designed by Frank Rothenberger. There is a maximum fence height of 1.30m, and the optimum time will be set for combinations to tackle the track at 375 metres per minute.

Scoring

● The combination with the lowest score at the end of the event wins the competition individually. Each pair receives a mark for their dressage test and the aim after that is not to add any more penalties.

● A team consists of three or four combinations, with the best three scores to count and the team with the lowest total score taking the gold medal.

Teams cannot mix and match between combinations for scores from each phase – the final team score consists of the nation’s best three total scores across all phases (so if a horse does a brilliant dressage test, but is eliminated cross-country, the team cannot count its dressage score and discard its cross-country score).

Aachen world championships officials

Eventing officials

Ground jury: Anne-Mette Binder (DEN) (President), Peter Gray (CAN), Joanne Jarden (IRL)

Technical delegate: Philip Surl (GBR)

Course designer: Giuseppe Della Chiesa (ITA)

Chief steward: Caroline Farwick (GER)

Veterinary officials: week one

Veterinary commission: Friedrich-Wilhelm Hanbücken (GER) (President), Kirste Neil (AUS), Juliana Ramalho De Freitas (BRA)

Veterinary delegate: Mark Sinnott (GBR)

Why is it not the Aachen World Equestrian Games?

Aachen previously hosted the FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in 2006. WEG brought together the World Championships in multiple different equestrian sports every four years between 1990 and 2018. Financial challenges associated with hosting so many disciplines at a single venue proved prohibitive and so since 2022 each of the disciplines have have their own World Championships. For 2026, Aachen was granted the World Championships for six disciplines, so is running a two-week combined World Championships – but it is not a WEG.

Eventing World Championships news

The most famous meeting at the racecourse is Royal Ascot, which is five days of top-class Flat racing held in June. Other key Flat events include the running of the prestigious King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in July and British Champions Day in October. Notable Grade One jumps races held at Ascot include the Clarence House Chase, Ascot Chase and Long Walk Hurdle.

The racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne and is located about 6 miles (10 km) from Windsor Castle. Its current impressive grandstand was completed in 2006.

AP McCoy OBE is the greatest National Hunt jockey of all time. He has been Champion Jockey 20 times (that’s every year since he went professional in the 1995/96 season), and has won almost every big race there is to win.

Among his most high profile winners are the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, King George VI Chase and the 2010 Grand National.

He was also named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2010 and retired in April 2015. AP joined the Channel 4 Racing team in November 2015 and has since offered his professional opinion on some of the biggest race meetings in the calendar.

Carl has been crowned British national champion 11 times and has represented Britain at a record seven Olympic Games, four World Equestrian Games (WEG) and 10 European Championships.

Carl grew up on the Channel Island of Sark, where his first mount was a donkey called Jacko. He moved to mainland Britain aged 16 to work at the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy in Dorset. Just 18 months after taking up dressage, Carl won the 1985 Young Dressage Rider Championship on the Fortune Centre’s skewbald mare, Jolly Dolly.

In 1989, Carl started riding for the Bechtolsheimers. In his three and a half years with them, Carl went to the World Championships in 1990 and the European Championships in 1991 on Rubelit Von Unkenriff, as well as the 1992 Barcelona Olympics on Georgioni. Carl credits the Bechtolsheimers for setting him on his path to international success.

Alongside his own competitive achievements, Carl has become one of the sport’s most respected trainers. He discovered and mentored Charlotte Dujardin, guiding her partnership with Valegro – the most decorated dressage horse in history – to Olympic, world, and European glory. Carl also co-owns Valegro and remains a key figure in developing British talent.

As a rider, he has produced a succession of championship horses. His notable rides include Liebling, who helped secure team silver at both the 2009 European Championships and the 2010 WEG; Uthopia, with whom Carl won team gold at the 2011 Europeans and 2012 London Olympics; and Nip Tuck, who contributed to team silver at the 2014 WEG, 2015 Europeans, and 2016 Rio Olympics.

He also partnered Hawtins Delicato to team bronze at the 2018 WEG and 2019 Europeans, and rode En Vogue to Olympic and European team bronze in 2021. Most recently, Carl competed Fame, winning team gold at the 2023 Europeans, team bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics and team silver at the 2025 Europeans.

Carl also has a regular column in Horse & Hound magazine, which is also available to read online.

The aim of the Futurity programme is to identify talented young sport horses and ponies, to collect data on British breeding, and to provide feedback to participants on the suitability of their young horses in its intended discipline and market.

The Futurity series is open to both amateurs and professionals, and for British-bred horses aged from four weeks up to five years old. Horses are assessed in separate categories for dressage, showjumping, eventing, endurance and ponies.

A new section for native breeds was added in 2025 as part of an initiative to “recognise and celebrate the special contribution of our British native breeds to the equestrian community”. British-bred horses and ponies aged six weeks to five years, if they are registered with a Defra-approved native breed society, were eligible to enter the pilot.

The 2020 Futurity was run as a virtual series, with videos of horses submitted for evaluation rather than horses presented in person, due to the coronavirus pandemic. In normal years, horses and ponies are evaluated by a vet and a panel of experts from within the specific discipline at one of several regional venues, with evaluations throughout the summer months.

How to watch World Equestrian Games on TV

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Want to know more? For more information about our testers and how we score products, find out more about how Horse & Hound tests the products it reviews.

Signs of equine Cushing’s disease include:

• Excessive thirst (or polydipsia)
• Excessive urination (or polyuria)
• Weight loss and muscle wastage, with loss of topline in particular
• Sway backed or pot-bellied appearance
• Abnormally long, ‘curly’ coat
• Persistent sweating
• Extra fat accumulating around the eyes (giving a ‘pop-eyed’ appearance)
• Increased appetite without any obvious weight gain
• Laminitis
• Persistent infections, often involving the skin, feet or respiratory system
• Lethargy and dullness
• Production of milk in mares who have not had a foal
• Infertility

The signs suggest that it would be easy to recognise Cushing’s disease, but because these changes come on gradually owners often assume their horse is just growing older rather than developing an illness.

Born in Enfield in 1983, Ben Maher began riding when he was eight and competed in pony classes from an early age. After leaving school, he trained with British rider Liz Edgar, before travelling to Switzerland where he spent two years riding for Swiss show jumper Beat Mandli. He has since gone on to become one of the most successful riders in the world, including being ranked as the world number one for some time.

He now runs his global equestrian enterprise Ben Maher Stables and splits his time between his stables in Florida and Hertfordshire. He’s engaged to fellow showjumper Sophie Gracida from USA.

Ben underwent serious back surgery in 2020 after suffering with pain for many years.

“I’d had a couple of bad falls and in the end it catches up with you,” he said. “Riding wasn’t at all comfortable, but it was the best place to be. Through the European Championships in 2019, I struggled with simple things like putting my boots on and walking the course. You get tired of fighting that all the time. Now, I feel like a new person.”

Ben Maher and Explosion W

Ben Maher’s current top horse is Explosion W, a huge 12-year-old gelding by the stallion Chacco-Blue, known at home as the “BFG”, and widely considered to be one of the best horses in the world. Pamela Wright and Charlotte Rossetter stepped in to buy the gelding from previous owners Poden Farms after “multiple offers and a series of negotiations headed up by owner Neil Moffitt, whose priority was to keep Explosion W with Ben and under the British flag”.

Talking about his “horse of a lifetime”, Ben says: “He’s so powerful off the floor, even over a cross-pole. But I think that’s what separates him from other horses. He’s such an intelligent animal and loves attention.”

Among Ben’s other top horses in recent years have been Concona, Cella, Diva II, Tic Tac, Robin Hood W, Rolette and his home-bred London 2012 Olympic horse, Tripple X III, who was sold as part of the resolution of a long-term legal dispute between Ben and his former backers Michael and Emma Phillips of Quainton Stud LLP.

What else has Ben Maher achieved?

• In addition to his team and individual Olympic gold medals, Ben has also represented Britain at the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong and the 2016 Games in Rio.
• Ben won team bronze at the 2011 European Championships in Madrid, claimed individual silver and team gold at the 2013 European Championships and most recently he claimed individual silver and team bronze at the 2019 European Championships.
• He also represented Team GB at the 2009 European Championships in Windsor and the 2015 European Championships in Aachen. 
• Ben was selected to compete at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in 2014 with the brilliant grey mare, Cella but a late training injury ruled them out.
• In 2005 Ben became the youngest person to win the Hickstead Derby
• He won one of the world’s richest prizes, the Global Champions Super Grand Prix, in Prague in 2019 with Explosion W.
• He has won many other international grands prix including Olympia, Madrid and the King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead.
• In 2013, Ben Maher reached number one in the world ranking.
• He won the Longines Global Champions Tour championship two years in a row.

Ben Maher’s offical social media pages

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

Michael is one of the senior members of the Whitaker family showjumping dynasty, and began competing at the young age of seven. Michael trained with legendary Swedish coach Lars Sederholm when he was 16, the age at which he made his international debut. At the age of 20 he became Hickstead Derby’s youngest winner in 1980 and went on to win it three times in succession with his great horse Monsanta.

Michael Whitaker has ridden in five Olympic Games, the first time being in 1984 and most recently in Rio in 2016. Michael has competed in more than 20 FEI World Cup finals, finishing second in 2005.

In 2013, Michael helped Britain win team gold at the Europeans with Viking as well as playing a vital role when gaining team qualification for the Rio Olympics at the 2015 Europeans in Aachen. Britain fnished fourth to claim their Olympic spot.

Michael Whitaker lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife Melissa and three children. Oldest son Jack Whitaker is a rising star on the international showjumping circuit.

William Whitaker was born on 26 July 1989 into the Whitaker showjumping dynasty. Nephew of John and Michael, William’s father Ian is the only brother in the family who doesn’t showjump, but the sport is clearly in William’s blood.

Cousin to Ellen and Robert Whitaker, William grew up surrounded by horses and has competed since he was a child. In 2001 aged 12, William won the Horse of the Year Show 138cm championship on his pony Mystic Starlight Express. Two years later he won the Junior Foxhunter riding Devlin and in 2005 he won the Junior Show Jumper of the Year.

William won individual European gold (and team bronze) as a junior plus team gold and team bronze as a young rider, before stepping up to senior ranks. He also represented Britain in the Australian Youth Olympic Final, riding a borrowed horse, and brought home a bronze medal.

When William left school he trained with American showjumper Aaron Vale, who helped him with the transition from ponies to horses. On his return to England William worked on Michael’s yard. He set up on his own in 2011.

William has a son and a daughter with his girlfriend Elisabeth Fredlund.

William, who is the tallest of the Whitaker family at 6ft1in, has represented Britain in a number of senior Nations Cups. He has won three World Cup qualifiers, the first in Mechelen in 2007, followed by Stuttgart in November 2014 and Olympia in December 2018.

Whether it is over the jumps during the winter or taking to the turf for the summer Flat racing season, horseracing is renowned for creating spectacular, heart-warming moments that can make even the toughest of people shed a tear.

The jumps racing season comes to a head at the four-day Cheltenham Festival in March as the best National Hunt horses from across Britain and Ireland race for victory at the Gloucestershire track — fondly known as the home of British jump racing.

The most famous horserace in the world takes place a matter of weeks later in Liverpool as runners line-up for the Grand National in April.

As soon as the curtain closes on the jump season, all eyes quickly turn to Flat racing with the Derby at Epsom and Royal Ascot the ultimate meetings not to be missed.

Glorious Goodwood, the St Leger at Doncaster and the York Ebor are also hotly-contested Flat racing festivals.

How to trot your horse up for a lameness examination

Bubby first rode on a British team at the 2014 pony European Championships, where she took team and individual silver on Alfie.

She then contested two junior European Championships on Eros DHI, taking team bronze at the first in 2016 and individual gold and team silver at the second a year later.

Bubby rode at the young rider Europeans in 2018 and 2019 on Cola and came home with individual silver and team gold in the second year.

In 2021, Bubby won the under-25 CCI4*-L at Bicton Horse Trials on Cannavaro.

“It feels good finally to be a British champion,” said Bubby after her victory – she reckoned she had held the lead six times in under-age championships, without ever winning one. “They always ended up pulling it out the bag at the pony, junior or young rider Europeans so I didn’t mind. But there’s no under-25 Europeans, so it’s nice actually to seal the deal.

“Cannavaro really deserves it. He’s got a heart of pure gold and he showed it all week, so I’m delighted for him.”

After her Bicton win, Bubby was long-listed for the senior European Championships with both Cannavaro and Cola, but was unable to fight for a place when she contracted Covid and then broke her back.

She made her comeback in the autumn by contesting her first five-star at Pau Horse Trials, with both Cannavaro and Cola. She retired Cannavaro on the cross-country, but finished 12th on Cola.

Bubby had a devastating run-out at the last fence on her Badminton Horse Trials debut in 2022, but finished 14th at Burghley Horse Trials that autumn and went on to rack up a string of good five-star results on Cola.

Bubby had a very serious riding accident at home in August 2023, but has made a remarkable comeback to continue riding at the top level.

In 2025, Bubby made her senior championship debut at the Blenheim European Championships. She and Its Cooley Time were eighth after dressage but Bubby fell off across country.

Is Bubby at university?

Bubby has now graduated with a degree in sports management from Edinburgh University.

“I hope my degree will help if I event as a career,” said Bubby in an interview in 2019. “It’ll help me to make financial sense out of this and make it a successful business.

“I’ve always juggled education with riding as I was away at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire and commuted back and forth at the weekend and Mum would drive the horses to school.

“We are based just outside Newmarket, which is half an hour from Stansted and the most regular flights to Edinburgh are from Stansted. That makes it affordable and do-able — if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have been allowed to apply to Edinburgh.”

What is Bubby Upton’s real name?

Bubby’s real name is Isabelle.

What age is Bubby?

Bubby’s date of birth is 25 January 1999.

Has Bubby Upton had a riding accident?

Bubby broke eight vertebrae and her collarbone when she fell from a youngster while cross-country schooling at home in early August 2021. She returned to competition in September and went on to complete her first five-star at Pau that October, finishing 12th on Cola III.

Two years later, in August 2023, Bubby had a fall riding on the flat, which led to spinal surgery. She made a spectacular comeback in the spring of 2024, finishing 10th at Badminton on Cola.

Where is Bubby based?

Bubby is based at a yard at her parents Rachel and Hugo’s home near Newmarket.

It’s also a place to keep in touch with dressage riders’ stories, get useful dressage training tips, find out about the latest kit and clothing you’ll want to buy, and watch our recent dressage videos.

Groundwork can help keep horses fit and offers variety in their training without the weight of the rider.

If you need some inspiration for groundwork exercises to try at home, check out the examples below.

The breakable metal pins are inserted between the top rail and the uprights supporting it. The pin is designed to lower the jump’s top element by at least 20cm if the fence is hit from above, which research confirmed happens when a horse somersaults over a fixed fence. This drop is designed to allow the horse to get a leg forward to save itself from rotating over the fence, although it may not prevent the horse from falling. The pins were originally fitted in front of the upright supporting the top rail of the fence, but in 2010 this was changed so the pins were fitted behind the upright instead.

The frangible pin was designed to be used on post-and-rail fences, but Swedish company New Era then developed the MIM safety clip, which can be used on on other obstacles, including tables. The clip’s inventor, Mats Bjornetun, explains: “The clip is different [from the pin] in that it responds to the horizontal impact of a load hitting a fence and the fence can be rebuilt in a matter of seconds.”

A study by Anders Flogård, the designer of the MIM safety clip, found that the forces involved in a rotational fall are initially horizontal, followed by vertical, so reverse frangible technology allows the fence to be driven forwards in the same direction as the horse. This reduces the rotational speed, giving the horse a better chance of recovering and staying on its feet.

The penalties for breaking frangible devices have been a subject of heated debate and have changed over time from elimination through to a number of penalties. Currently riders receive 11 penalties for activating a frangible device during an FEI competition, but riders competing in British Eventing classes do not receive any penalties regardless of how many frangible devices are activated during a cross-country round.

M&M’s are one of the most popular mounts of choice today and the respective classes are usually the biggest on the show field.

The London Olympics were widely considered to be a huge success, both in sporting terms and for the country as a whole. Britain won five equestrian medals, including a historic first team gold in the dressage and team gold in the showjumping. The eventers claimed team silver. In the individual standings, Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro took gold in the dressage and Laura Bechtolsheimer (now Tomlinson) won bronze riding Mistral Højris.

The run up to the equestrian events at the London Olympics was far from straight forward owing to concerns about the risk of damage to the historic, UNESCO-listed Greenwich Park. However, special measures were taken to ensure the park could be quickly returned to its original state with no damage to the park’s landscape and archaeology and thousands flocked to see the competitions.

The temporary nature of the competition venue also raised questions about the legacy that equestrians could look forward to enjoying in the years after the Games. The British Equestrian Federation received £750,000 from Sport England spend on legacy projects — with £250,000 for a new training and rehabilitation centre in Shooters Hill, which has since closed and is at the centre of a row over whether cash-strapped Royal Borough of Greenwich Council can sell the property, £250,000 for the Ebony Horse Club in Brixton’s new riding centre and the rest to fund smaller Hoof projects.

Sadie Smith is one of the most exciting riders of her generation in British dressage, combining a working-pupil-turned-professional backstory with a career-defining partnership with her home-grown grand prix mare, Swanmore Dantina.

A national champion and a Nations Cup team rider, Sadie represents the possibilities open to riders without significant funding or a horsey upbringing – making it to the top of the sport on grit, talent and the backing of people who believe in her.

Sadie grew up in Southampton to non-horsey parents – “Mum’s petrified of horses” – and got her first taste of riding at a birthday pony party, aged eight.

She started at Quob Stables in Hampshire, working weekends in exchange for lunchtime rides, and began her dressage education after taking on a loan cob/thoroughbred mare who wasn’t good on the flat.

Training with dressage rider Kay Waterman, Sadie was taken to watch the 2005 European Championships at Hagen, where she watched Carl Hester ride Escapado and decided that was what she wanted to do.

Her professional start came with Irish international rider Roland Tong and his partner Ben St John-James, where she lived and worked for four years. It was during that time she won her first national titles – the prelim and novice restricted music – riding Roland’s Ambience IV, and bought the horse who would define her early career, Keystone Dynamite (Mambo). A sharp, character-building chestnut, Mambo tested Sadie daily but ultimately became the first horse she trained to grand prix, finishing fourth at the 2021 National Championships on 71%.

Sadie went on to work at Carl Hester’s yard, where she spent more than five years as one of his riders alongside Charlotte Dujardin – Charlotte having been the one to recommend Sadie to Carl in the first place.

Sadie credits both as transformative influences, learning not only the riding and training that shaped her into the grand prix rider she is today, but also how horses should be kept and managed.

In late 2021, on Carl’s recommendation, Sadie moved to the Netherlands to work for Anne and Gertjan van Olst, the base of Olympic team medallist Lottie Fry.

Sadie rode top horses and contested stallion performance tests, but struggled with homesickness during the Covid era and returned to the UK, where she rebuilt her career from scratch.

Now based with another former employer, Sarah Tyler-Evans, Sadie runs her own training and competition business with a string of young horses owned by supporters, including Peter Belshaw and Sue Garrard, and long-time backer Steve Readings.

Sadie’s career-defining partnership is with the home-produced mare Swanmore Dantina (Dia), a daughter of Dante Weltino and the national six-year-old champion in 2021. Dia took the prix st georges winter championship in 2023 and both the inter I winter championship and inter II national title in 2024, before Sadie made her senior team debut at the Rotterdam Nations Cup in 2025. The pair were crowned National Champions at the LeMieux National Dressage Championships on a personal-best 77.05% that same year.

Liz is from Southern California and wanted to ride from an early age, although her parents Debby and Don are not horsey.

“It was all I wanted to do – I was riding the tree in the back yard with a jump [skipping] rope as reins,” she says. “I started riding when I was about eight at a little barn down the road.

“My family didn’t have loads of money and made me really work for it, which I respect – some kids get everything bought for them. I had to show I was dedicated before I got breeches and boots. I had to go to the barn and do all the work. We leased random horses.”

Does Liz Halliday live in the US or the UK?

Liz currently lives in the US and spends winters in Ocala, Florida, and summers in Lexington, Kentucky.

However, for a long time she was based full-time in Britain. She first came to the UK when she took a year out of university and based herself with William Fox-Pitt – it “became a lot of years… I sort of never went back”.

After about 15 years in Britain, Liz spent time during the winter of 2014/2014 in Ocala, which led to about five years of splitting her year between the US and the UK.

“It was fun, but you can’t do that your entire life,” she says. “It’s insane going between the two and it’s not financial reality.

“We thought we had to make a decision one way or the other. From a business perspective – giving clinics, teaching and turning over sale horses – and to get me in front of the selectors to help my team aspirations, it made most sense to be in the US.”

Doesn’t Liz race cars?

Liz retired from racing cars in 2012, but for many years she combined eventing with being a professional racing car driver.

“It was crazy – for a lot of years I raced and rode together,” she explains. “It was pretty cool when I was young – I was on a plane or in a car or on a horse. I just bombed around the world doing crazy stuff.

“It was a really fun part of my life and I’ll never regret it, even though I’m sure I would have achieved better things with horses earlier in my life if I hadn’t been racing.”

Liz’s father Don raced cars and was an instructor as a hobby, which is how she started driving – she initially competed chiefly in sprint races in Don’s “funky historic car”, but she later particularly enjoyed endurance races, competing three times in the Le Mans 24-hour race where three drivers take turns in the cockpit.

Liz was a commentator and live pit reporter for Eurosport at the Le Mans 24-hour race for 10 years after she stopped driving there.

Which are Liz Halliday’s best known horses?

Liz was selected for the Tokyo Olympics with Deniro Z, with whom she has achieved her best results at five-star – the pair finished eighth at Luhmühlen Horse Trials in 2018, 15th at Burghley Horse Trials in 2019 and 10th at Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2021. Sadly, Deniro had to be withdrawn from the Olympics when he suffered an injury just before the team went into quarantine.

She made her Olympic debut at Paris 2024 on Cooley Nutcracker, finishing 19th individually.

Liz’s first podium finish at five-star was in 2023 at Kentucky on Miks Master C, when they landed third place. The pair went on to be team silver medallists at the Pan American Games that summer.

Liz Halliday first rode at five-star on HHS Cooley, completing Kentucky in 2016, and Fernhill By Night, who later became a prolifically successful campaigner at CCI4*-S level.

Is Liz married?

Liz was previously married to British ex-policeman Al Sharp and competed under the name Liz Halliday-Sharp. The pair married in November 2010 having met in 2007. They are now separated.