Gemma Owen is carving out quite a career for herself in the equestrian world. While millions of TV viewers know her from the 2022 season of Love Island, in which she finished runner-up, horse sport fans know she’s an accomplished dressage rider, who represented Britain at the junior European Championships. And now racing’s getting a look-in.

She’s still competing in dressage, currently at inter II on her Polish-bred gelding King Ron-P (Ron William x Corleone Z), who has won at grand prix with Sarah Rao.

“Ronnie is a grand prix schoolmaster,” Gemma says. “He’s not the easiest ride – he’s quite complicated, but incredibly talented, so amazing for teaching me all the harder movements.

“He’s teaching me a lot, in terms of the grand prix movements and also patience and resilience. He is amazing.”

The latest equestrian string to Gemma’s bow is her recent foray into the racing world. Over the past year, she’s transformed herself from the long stirrups and deep seat of the dressage world, to raising her irons and galloping down the home straight at “Glorious Goodwood” in the Markel Magnolia Cup at the end of July.

The transformation is captured in detail in a new Amazon Prime docuseries, Meet The Owens, a six-episode insight into the Owen family’s daily life, produced by Whisper.

Gemma, the eldest child of England football star Michael Owen (not to be confused with the five-star event rider of the same name), is portrayed as she starts from scratch in her quest to become a jockey. There are thrills and spills, hard work in the gym, hours on the equicizer – and ultimately the charity race goal.

Gemma describes her early gallops as “humbling”, with a stark contrast between the two disciplines.

“I’ve trained dressage for as long as I can remember, and how the dressage horses are and how the thoroughbreds are is completely different,” she says. “My position when I’m riding dressage to going up the gallops is completely different as well.

“It took a while to fully adjust. Your stirrups are so unbelievably short and I remember when I first started riding out and I thought my stirrups were short, I look back and I literally look like I’m a dressage rider that wanted to do a bit of jumping or something. It was humbling.

“But I’m getting there,” she adds. “My legs and lower body I found OK; it was more my upper body strength that I found more challenging and had to develop.”

But however tough the challenge, there’s no question which Gemma deems harder overall.

“Nailing the perfect test is definitely harder [than winning a race],” she says. “There is so much that goes into dressage, and you are dealing with the tiniest, tiniest detail. You’re constantly chasing the perfect picture. Which obviously is subjective to a certain extent.

“Racing, there are loads of different challenges – I have to concentrate in a different way when I’m riding dressage to when I’m going up the gallops.

“It’s just a completely different way of riding. It’s not necessarily when you’re going up the gallops, it’s more the stopping and starting, walking to the stables, from the collecting ring, all of the little bits in between you just have to be so on it.

“These horses are so young and you just can’t switch off, they will spin round and go off with you! Learning to control the pace up the gallops is something I had to learn. If you pull the reins that doesn’t necessarily mean stop, it means they take a hold and we’re going faster. So I’m like, ‘If I can’t pull the reins how do I stop?’ But it’s all learning.”

Dad Michael was known as one of the most competitive strikers of his era. Now he’s running Manor Farm Stables, a Flat racing yard with trainer Hugo Palmer, he’s channelled that ambition to a new sphere.

Gemma admits she’s no match for his intense drive.

“Dad is more competitive,” she says. “I’m extremely competitive and want to do well in everything I do, but Dad is ridiculously competitive. When it comes to card games or a family quiz, whatever it is, everything has to be a competition.

“Mum, on the other hand, when it came to the Magnolia Cup was like, ‘enjoy the experience, enjoy learning a new discipline’. I think I’ve got the best of both of them I’d like to say.

“Dad and I have a lot of similarities. One of the first things Dad says about me on the show is ‘she’s a female version of me’ which is kind of accurate. I do think in a similar way about a lot of things. I’m extremely driven, focused, competitive and determined.

“When I set my mind to something I want to achieve it and put as much in as I can and get the best out of it. In those ways we’re similar.

“But because of my mum’s slightly different approach, I try to enjoy the journey and learning of a new skill as much as it does kill me when I don’t do as well.”

When it comes to the dressage, Michael has been happy to take a back seat. There’s a hilarious (and very relatable to most riders) moment where Michael is prancing around his lawn as if he’s practising a dressage test. But that’s about as far as his involvement goes.

He’s been crazy about racing, however, since he was a child. And there’s a scene in the show where Gemma goes upsides on the gallops when she wasn’t meant to – and goes really fast. Cue frosty exchange between dad and daughter.

“In dressage he’d support from the sidelines but he’d never tell me how to ride, whereas the racing he knows a lot more, he’s more passionate about, he’s more knowledgeable,” Gemma says. “When you’re learning something new there are a million things you need to think about and we had a miscommunication.

“We were meant to be going single file, and I came up upsides, which now I know is a completely different thing and the horses know they’re racing each other, as opposed to just cantering nicely.

“I had to learn that the hard way but I think having Dad here and passionate about the racing stables is incredible and I’ve learnt a lot from him.”

When it came to riding in the big race, it nearly didn’t happen at all. Michael relates how she had a fall on a racecourse gallop at Southwell a few days before – but somehow she was back in the plate in time for Goodwood.

She finished fourth – on a miler called Turbo Trotter for whom the sprint distance was far from ideal. Not good enough, says Gemma, who rued her own bad start.

“I was frustrated with myself – I completely missed the start,” she says. “I made up good ground and finished the race strong. The horse gave me an incredible ride and I’m so happy to have ridden him. But I should have been more on it and ready for the start to go at any point. Yup, I’m competitive.”

As for what the future holds? Will she carry on racing?

“Yeah! And dressage! I’m going to try,” she says. “Racing’s completely different, but I love it so much I don’t want to stop.

“I love the people, I love the horses , I love the routine and the involvement I’ve got here now. So if I can do both, I will. Racing in the morning, dressage in the afternoon.”

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Leading Belgian dressage judge and official Jacques van Daele died on 4 July, aged 71.

Jacques started his career training horses for the Belgian mounted police. He moved into dressage judging in the 1980s and moved up the levels to become a four-star judge, continuing at national and international level until last year.

He officiated at six Olympics, multiple World and European Championships, World Cup Finals and young horse World Championships. He was on ground juries across the world and was chief steward at CHIO Aachen.

Jacques was FEI honorary steward general for dressage and served on the Belgian and Flemish dressage committees, chairing the Belgian committee for four years and serving as general steward for the Belgian equestrian federation.

He was muchrespected by riders, officials and organisers, and his contribution to equestrian sport was recognised in 2022 when he was named sport personality of the year by Horse Sport Flanders.

Jacques van Daele: hugely respected

“Jacques van Daele was a hugely respected figure in international dressage, valued not only for his knowledge and professionalism but also for his passion for our sport and the way he supported those around him,” said FEI dressage director Ronan Murphy.

“He was thoughtful, fair and always willing to listen, share his experience and support the development of others. His commitment to the rules, to the sport and above all to the wellbeing of the horse defined his approach as an official. Jacques’ wisdom, kindness and friendship will be greatly missed by the entire dressage community.”

An FEI spokesperson added: “The FEI extends its condolences to Jacques’ sister, his friends, colleagues and all those across the international equestrian community who knew and worked alongside him.”

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Sophie Wells scored 76.76% to finish just off the podium in the grade V freestyle at the World Para Dressage Championships in Aachen.

It rounded off a week of contrasts for Sophie – an emotional grade V gold on Thursday, a tougher team test on Saturday, and now a fourth-place freestyle finish, agonisingly close to a second medal – just 0.68 percentage points shy of bronze.

Gold went to Lena Malmström and Fabulous Fidelie for Sweden on 79.68%, with Regine Mispelkamp and Highlander Delight’s taking silver for Germany on 78.19% and Britney de Jong and Caramba NOP bronze for the Netherlands on 77.44%.

“It was a bit of a mixed bag”

Sophie entered the arena, gesturing to the sound technicians to turn the music up – a remix of covers by Croatian cellist HAUSER, including Waka Waka, Sway and La Isla Bonita.

“It was so much quieter than the sound check, but a few people had said that earlier in the order, so I was a bit prepared for it,” Sophie explained. “It’s the sort of music that needs to be a little bit louder anyway.”

It was a technical floorplan, and Sophie could count herself unlucky not to have picked up more marks from the judges – the watching crowd had her on 77.93%.

“The extended canter was good – I think that’s a really nice, bold thing she can do,” Sophie said. “But overall it was a bit of a mixed bag – she was fresh coming out, so I didn’t quite know what I was going to get in there. It was nice that she was feeling energetic on day three though, because I didn’t expect that.

“Of course it’s disappointing – it’s four percent off my best. But equally, it wasn’t our best test either – there were mistakes; she dropped me in the two half-circles, and the simple changes weren’t the best she could do. It is what it is, and we just try to get home, regroup, and get better.”

Looking ahead, Sophie confirmed MSJ Gold Standard’s owner, Emma Blundell, plans to sell the 10-year-old mare after these championships, with Sophie’s focus already turning to the horses waiting in the wings for her at home.

“We’ll see what happens – the plan was always that she’d be sold after worlds,” Sophie said. “We’ve got other horses coming up too, like seven-year-old Ontario LC, who did his first international at Hartpury this year.”

Sophie also still has her Paralympic medallist LJT Egebjerggards Samoa, whose talent she rates highly for grand prix work, alongside her para career.

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Nicola Naylor and Humbeto L scored 76.5% in the grade IV freestyle at the World Para Dressage Championship in Aachen to finish fourth.

It capped a memorable World Championships debut for Nicola, who had already claimed individual grade IV bronze earlier in the week. Today’s freestyle was another brave ride from the pair – finishing on a medium trot into a halt before the judge at C – and a marked improvement on yesterday’s team test (22 August), where Humberto had a couple of costly spooks in the canter and walk.

“I thought after yesterday, it was great, because he was so much more with me, so much more settled, willing to listen,” Nicola said. “I took a breath too, and it just felt smoother – he felt like he was in a happier place too, which, given the crowds and the noise, is amazing. But he still kept some of that power. He’s full of beans – I think he could go on for another three days, the way he feels.”

The freestyle itself – set to music from the BBC television series Sherlock – was a deliberately demanding one. “It’s a very busy freestyle – we’ve crammed a huge amount in, literally movement after movement,” Nicola explained.

“We did that deliberately because he likes to be busy. The more he does, the happier he is. If it’s just endless canter along the long sides, he starts to get unsure of what he’s meant to be doing – give him something to do, and he’s really happy.”

Picking out the highlights, she added: “As always, the medium canters were great, and the half-passes too – actually, the whole canter tour flowed really smoothly. I think the timing with the music in the extended walk was a little late, but halfway through he really did extend and take it down, and the trot work was really nice too – I’m very pleased.”

Humberto was also remarkably consistent today, not dropping below an average of seven for any movement. “And that’s lovely,” Nicola said. “Especially after yesterday, when he was a bit all over the place.

“To get him back secure like that is a great note to finish on. He’s never heard crowds like that before, never heard that sort of clapping – so to have given him that experience, and for him to stay with me, I think it’s a great way to finish.”

Reflecting on the week as a whole, Nicola was clear it had been a positive one despite its ups and downs. “It’s been a long week, but it’s been fabulous. There’ve been highs and lows – not really lows, but less-high moments, shall we say – but I always enjoy the training.

“Every test is an experience, and you learn so much from each one. I’ve loved every moment of it, because it’s not often you get this atmosphere to actually ride in and see how your horse handles it.”

She couldn’t resist a fond aside about Humberto’s temperament away from the arena – a horse who, moments earlier, had seemed almost half-asleep during the stewards’ final checks.

“He’s extraordinary – like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,” she laughed. “He goes into the arena and he’s got so much power, he’s completely on it, test after test. But you take him out, and he goes to see the stewards, drops his head, half-shuts his eyes – like a donkey falling asleep. He just switches off. He’s like, ‘I’ve done that now, and that’s me, I'm finished.’ Then you pick him up next time and he’s full of power again.”

Further glory for Kate Shoemaker and Vianne

Kate Shoemaker and Vianne took the class comfortably for the USA on 83.31%, the 10-year-old grey mare the only one producing artistic marks into the 90s.

It capped a remarkable treble for Kate and Vianne – having already broken the grand prix A world record for the grade with 78.89% on Thursday for individual gold, then anchored the US record 236.135 team total on Saturday with the first 80%-plus score of the championships.

“None of this has sunk in whatsoever,” Kate said. “It feels like maybe I’ll wake up from a dream tomorrow. To be in Aachen, in this amazing arena, on hallowed ground, is an absolutely incredible experience. I’m just incredibly thankful to be here, and to have gold medals is beyond the icing on the cake.

“Once the team was finished, I just wanted to see if we could have a little bit more in the trot and not really hold back – and she stayed relaxed with me the whole time.

“I think we had our best extended trot of the entire competition. We added one on the last centre line just for fun – that wasn’t originally in there, but she felt so good, I thought why not?”

France’s Alexia Pittier and Sultan 768 held off Germany’s Helen Brandt and Vulkan Vegas IB for silver, 78.65% to 78.01%.

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Athene Lindebjerg’s grade I freestyle at the World Para Dressage Championships in Aachen was her last-ever competitive test – Mari Durward-Akhurst confirmed after a tougher-than-usual ride, scoring 67.85% for eighth place, that the 19-year-old mare is retiring.

Athene had two uncharacteristic spooks, in the corners between A and K and between M and C, before downing tools for a spell. Mari had said after the team test how hard it can be for her, with limited leg power, to get Athene going again once she slows – and she needed all of her experience to bring Athene back on track here.

Athene’s retirement brings the curtain down on one of British para dressage’s longest and most decorated careers. She won individual and team gold with Sophie Christiansen at both the 2015 Europeans in Deauville and the Rio Paralympics the following year, then a hat-trick of individual, freestyle and team golds with Julie Payne at the 2017 Europeans in Gothenburg.

After a break from competition that included having two foals, she returned to top-level sport under the care of South Bucks RDA volunteer Romilly Hart, who got her fit again at the request of co-owner Di Redfern.

Mari took on the ride in 2023 and went on to win individual freestyle bronze at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, two individual bronzes at last year’s Europeans in Ermelo and individual silver this week in Aachen, before this freestyle brought her competitive career to a close.

“She’s retiring now – the World Championships is her last competition, and we’d like to have gone out with a different sort of bang,” Mari said, with good humour at first. But as she began to talk about what the mare had meant to her, the emotion of the moment caught up with her.

“I think she’ll be remembered for life regardless. Honestly, everything she’s given me – she got me to my first Paralympics, my first individual medal... She’s just absolutely incredible, and I can’t thank her enough for it all. This has been amazing.

“She’s made my dreams come true, and I don’t think I’d be the athlete I am now without her and everything she’s taught me. I think that test is a sign she wants to retire – so it’s the perfect time, really. She can go and live out in the field and have a wonderful retirement. She doesn’t owe Great Britain anymore.”

The decision had been made a while ago. “We always knew this would be our last competition together, so it’s been an emotional week. I really wanted her to go out on the high of a gold, but she’s been at the highest level for 10 years – and that’s after coming back having had foals, too. She’s just incredible.

“The sport’s changed so much from when Sophie and Julie rode her – she has to go with a slightly longer contact, and her head moves a lot. We’ve tried really hard with it, but some judges just don’t like the head movement. To end with a silver this week, though – you can’t want much more than that, can you?”

Asked what came next for the mare, Mari added: “She’ll be treated like royalty by Romilly – which she already is.”

Gold went to the Marie Vonderheyden and Fan Tastico H of the USA, scoring a personal best 80.54%, with Italy’s Sara Morganti taking silver on Bond Girl 18 (78.77%) and Latvia’s Rihards Snikus completing the podium on Rise And Shine (75.42%) – the gelding making his championship debut at just six years old.

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Fiona Howard and Diamond Dunes (USA) topped the grade II freestyle on 81.87% on the last day of the World Para Dressage Championships in Aachen, but it was Britain’s Jemima Green who produced the story of the class – a huge personal best on Fantabulous, taking silver on 80.93% (up from 78.44%) off the back of a fourth-place finish in the team test two days earlier. Jemima later said she’d gone into the freestyle with no expectation of making the podium.

Germany’s Heidemarie Dresing completed the top three on Poesie 143 with 80.81%, the narrowest of margins – just 0.126 points – separating silver from bronze.

Jemima could barely process the result when it came in. “I just found out it’s a huge PB, which is so, so exciting,” she said, still looking a bit shocked.

“There were mistakes – I was going around thinking, ‘Come on, a little bit more’. He felt a little tired, but relaxed, which meant we didn’t get the spooks, but we did have a trip, and just a couple of transitions where he was a little behind me.

“I came out of the test not really knowing what to expect, so when they said, ‘I think you’ve got silver’ I was like, ‘Pardon?’ I just remember it feeling slightly off – but that clearly doesn’t mean anything, it’s so hard to get that into your brain.”

Picking through the test for its highlights, she singled out the free walk in particular. “It's all a bit of a blur though. My first medium trot wasn’t strong, so I immediately thought, ‘Right, I’ve got to make the next one better’ – and that one was.

“The free walk across the long diagonal – he really let go and stretched for me and he goes so well to our Beatles music with that, which is lovely. When he keeps his rhythm and his balance throughout, it really flows, and it feels soft. He looked relaxed today, but I got a bit more oomph out of him too.”

The result, she explained, was built on a small but significant change made the day before. “We had a slightly longer warm-up – four minutes longer – we’re very precise with him, and we made a saddle adjustment too. Yesterday, I’d felt the left-hand side [of the saddle] had dropped, so we put a shim in to balance it up.

“He’s really sensitive to those tiny adjustments; he won’t hold himself square if the saddle’s not quite right. I think those little tweaks, and the conversations we’ve had as a team, have brought this here today.”

She was quick to credit the wider team behind it. “Without any of them here, I wouldn’t have been able to do this. British Dressage and Agria are supporting us, and we couldn’t be here without UK Sport's full support either.

“There’s no way I could have done this without all the coaches, the trainers, the farriers – everybody. It really is a full team effort, and I so appreciate it, because it's made the difference on him from two days ago to today.”

Reflecting on the week as a whole as she goes home with two medals having also taken bronze in the individual on Wednesday, Jemima admitted it had taken its toll. “Overwhelming and exhausting – I’m not going to lie, I think mentally this has been one of the hardest shows for me. I don’t think I felt the pressure physically, but mentally I did.

“I came in today really prepared – I’ve been watching my music videos and visualising, because I haven’t always had the best luck with music, but it’s got stronger and stronger. I went to bed early last night and really thought about how I wanted to perform. It’s been an incredible experience – but exhausting.”

The grade II field was one of the strongest of the week, and Jemima admitted she hadn’t expected to be anywhere near the podium in it – despite already having an individual bronze to her name.

“It was a really strong field, some big names, so I thought, ‘I’ll probably be fourth again,’” she said. “I would’ve taken that; that’s my comfortable spot! I was expecting some massive scores – I didn’t think I’d necessarily be one of them, so this is truly incredible.”

Elsewhere on the final day, Rixt van der Horst of the Netherlands continued her imperious week, topping the grade III freestyle on Eisma’s Royal Fonq NOP with 83.12%. Denmark’s Tobias Thorning Joergensen took silver on Blue Hors Zackorado (79.94%), with Italy’s Francesca Salvadè completing the podium on Escari (79.59%) – the narrowest of margins, just 0.353 points, separating silver from bronze.

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Pre-competition favourites, the US have won a commanding team gold medal at the World Para Dressage Championships on a total of 236.135 – higher even than their record-breaking 235.567 total at the Paris Paralympics. Germany were second on 229.875, while the Netherlands finished third on 227.639.

Fiona Howard and the 13-year-old stallion Diamond Dunes led a stacked grade II field, posting an unassailable 79.3% to give the US a flying start to the team competition on day one (21 August) – a massive improvement from their 75% in the individual test.

“He felt great today, even from the first trot around the arena, and he really put his whole heart in there,” Fiona said. “I’m just so proud of him and so happy that we could do this for the team.”

With no LA 2028 Paralympic qualification required as hosts, she was clear the pressure hadn’t lifted: “As a team, we’re all competitive, but we also really want each other to succeed. We put so much work into this that we all want to fight for those medals.”

Germany’s Heidemarie Dresing – an individual gold medallist earlier in the week – took second on Poesie 143 with 77.73%, and Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen third on Goerklintgaards Quater with 76.17%. “It was so fluent, and he trusted me totally – his trot was even better than the first test,” Katrine said. “This is a good start to our team score, and now I can cheer my teammates on.”

The US claimed grade I too, Marie Vonderheyden and Fan Tastico H, living up to his name with a personal best of 76.38%. “I’m so happy and proud of him, but I love that I gave a good score for the team — it’s important to be there for your teammates and help each other,” Marie said.

Rixt van der Horst and Eisma’s Royal Fonq NOP topped grade III once again for the Netherlands, scoring 78.47%. “He was on fire today – a really nice, constant and harmonious test,” Rixt said. “There are a lot of nations with a chance of a medal, so I was feeling the responsibility with my score.”

Denmark’s Tobias Thorning Joergensen took second on Blue Hors Zackorado (77.07%) – competing alongside his mother, Line Thorning Joergensen, in grade IV. “It‘s amazing to share a competition like this with my mum – she’s probably my biggest partner in all of this,” he said.

The hosts take silver

Grade V opened day two, with Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp adding 75.74% to the team effort on Highlander Delight’s – Germany looking to secure the runner-up spot behind a US side that already looked out in front after day one.

Britney de Jong and Caramba 74.61% locked in the Netherlands’ total on 227.639. That left grade IV, and two German riders still to come who could leapfrog the Dutch. Either Helen Brandt (Vulkan Vegas IB) or Anna-Lena Niehues (Vive l'Amour) needed at least 74.17% to get Germany’s total above the Netherlands’.

Helen went first but fell short, scoring 73.3% – leaving it to Anna-Lena Niehues, whose Vive l’Amour produced a standout test, her paces shining throughout. Despite a mistake in the medium walk, she scored 76.41%, securing silver for Germany.

“It's great for the team,” Anna-Lena said. “The canter work was very good, the simple changes too. It’s always important to be good – but for the team it's more important.”

The highest score of the championships

Kate Shoemaker on her exceptional mare Vianne needed to score better than 71.96% to guarantee gold – which, having scored a new world record 78.89% to win gold in the individual test earlier in the week, seemed a sure bet.

But a little bit of jeapordy was injected into the situation when, as she was entering the arena, the rider before her, Spain’s Carla Onrubia Roman, fell from her horse Valerio.

"She came off, right where we needed to pass each other,” Kate said. “I’d never had the experience of a loose horse next to me. Vianne looked over there, as if to say ‘Are you both okay?’ and Michel [Assouline, the US chef d'equipe] said, ‘Quick, get in the arena’ and I was like ‘Yes sir!’

“I was so proud of Vianne in that moment — she just went into the ring and got on with it. It meant a lot that she had that much confidence in me, with all that excitement going on, to still put in a really good test.”

They scored 80.46% – the highest score of the championships so far, and just shy of Vianne’s own grand prix B world record of 80.72%.

The 10-year-old mare combines exceptional expression with harmony, flowing from one movement to the next, apparently unbothered by any of it. Even after the final halt, amid the applause, she stopped to scratch her face on her leg for a good few seconds before leaving the arena – utterly unfazed by the occasion.

“I’m just flabbergasted – it’s incredible,” Michel added. “Paris was already historic for us, and to come here and set a record team score on the biggest stage in the world for equestrian sport – it’s just incredible. I’m so honoured to be with them, and very proud to be surrounded by such incredible athletes. It takes a village to get the best finish possible.”

Looking ahead, he was already thinking about the road to LA 2028. “I’m still very confident we have a system in place that works,” he said. “We’ve worked hard on putting a strategy together with strong foundations, so I have a solid roadmap.

“It’s going to be an important Games for us because it’s a home Games – but that brings its own pressure too, because the team at home will expect even more. Horses aren’t machines – but I have full confidence it’ll be okay, and that we can show the world it can be done outside of Europe too.”

Final team results

As hosts, the US had already secured their Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic team quota regardless of result – so it was the next seven placed nations who claimed Paralympic tickets in Aachen: Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, France and Sweden.

1. United States – 236.135
   Fiona Howard (Diamond Dunes) 79.3% · Marie Vonderheyden (Fan Tastico H) 76.38% · Rebecca Hart (Floratina) 73.533 (discard) · Kate Shoemaker (Vianne) 80.46%
   
2. Germany – 229.875
   Heidemarie Dresing (Poesie 143) 77.73% · Regine Mispelkamp (Highlander Delight’s) 75.74% · Helen Brandt (Vulkan Vegas IB) 73.3% (discard) · Anna-Lena Niehues (Vive l’Amour) 76.41%
   
3. Netherlands – 227.639
   Annemarieke Kobel (Doo Schufro) 73.71% (discard) · Tessa Baaijens-Van De Vrie (Happy Grace) 74.57% · Rixt van der Horst (Eisma’s Royal Fonq NOP) 78.47% · Britney de Jong (Caramba N.O.P.) 74.61%
   
4. Denmark – 225.867
   Katrine Kristensen (Goerklintgaards Quater) 76.17% · Sandra Lynge Eriksen (Inzurgenzy Firfod) 72.63% · Tobias Thorning Joergensen (Blue Hors Zackorado) 77.07% · Line Thorning Jorgensen (Suarez) 70.41% (discard)
   
5. Great Britain – 222.379
   Jemima Green (Fantabulous) 74.03% · Mari Durward-Akhurst (Athene Lindebjerg) 74.58% · Sophie Wells (MSJ Gold Standard) 73.76% · Nicola Naylor (Humberto L) 70.16% (discard)
   
6. Italy – 220.808
   Massimiliano Chiantore (Fashion Girl) 71.46% · Sara Morganti (Bond Girl 18) 74.08% · Francesca Salvadé (Escari) 75.27% · Federica Sileoni (Leonardo) 67.67% (discard)
   
7. France – 219.818
   Vincent Brunet (Drazic) 65.46% (discard) · Chiara Zenati (Zeus de Malleret IFCE) 71.47% · Vladimir Vinchon (Pegase Mayenne) 75.22% · Alexia Pittier (Sultan 768) 73.14%
   
8. Sweden – 219.106
   Renee Claesson-Ribring (Zapp VS) 70.6% (discard) · Pam Svane (Raja) 72.7% · Lena Malmström (Fabulous Fidelie) 73.97% · Lotta Wallin (Questionmark) 72.43%
   
9. Norway – 211.878
   Jens Lasse Dokkan (Dockland V) 69.71% · Ine Nyhuus (Aagaardens Lia) 70.93% · Mira Antonsen Hjelle (Atterupgaards Dora) 71.24% · Christina Marcussen (Zorro Hoejris) 69.61% (discard)
   
10. Belgium – 207.883
    Emma Vercammen (Odin) 69.4% · Barbara Minnei (Freiherr von Nymphenburg) 69.67% · Francesca Vanhoeck (Fastlane vant' Beekhof) 64% (discard) · Kevin van Ham (Eros van Ons Heem) 68.82%
    
11. Austria – 206.828
    Julia Sciancalepore (Heinrich IV) 70.96% · Pepo Puch (Royale Choice) 70.17% · Thomas Haller (Haller's Hermine) 65.57% (discard) · Julia Mitterhuemer (Showgirl) 65.7%
    
12. Canada – 205.622
    Roberta Sheffield (Nardando) 67.1% · Jody Schloss (El Colorado) 71.92% · Eleonore Elstone (Szecrecy HP) 66.61% · Laura Hall (Istrano) 64.65% (discard)
    
13. Singapore – 204.292
    Gemma Rose Jen Foo (Mona Lisa) 68.92% · Laurentia Tan (Hickstead) 72.88% · Hui'en Hilary Su (Gambler) 62.5%
    
14. Brazil – 203.891
    Flamarion Pereira Da Silva (Don Furitello) 63.23% (discard) · Cleberson Leopoldino Antunes Palhano (Fronterizzo Da El Comandante) 66.08% · Sergio Froes Ribeiro De Oliva (Novidade VD) 71.33% · Rodolpho Riskalla (Franziskaner 13) 66.47%
    
15. Spain – 203.070
    Felix Gomez González (Merlin) 68.23% · Maria Del Carmen Lopez Garcia (Bribon de Ymas) 62.17% (discard) · Iker Beitia Astondoa (Belizzo) 66.351 · Carla Onrubia Roman (Valerio) 68.49%
    
16. Ireland – 201.811
    Jessica McKenna (D.C.I Cerruti) 66.7% · Katie Reilly (Keystone Dawn Chorus) 69.73% · Rosemary Jean Gaffney (Norabel) 65.38%
    
17. Czech Republic – 199.083
    Marcela Lochovska (Viola) 65% · Anastasja Vistalova (Don Athello 3) 68.54% · Vladimir Votrel (Ruby Beatle) 65.54%
    
18. Poland – 193.990
    Mariusz Woszczek (Zachwyt - Nad Wigrami) 63.37% · Agata Weigt (Discovery 64) 65.97% · Dominika Paczek (Quentino) 62.24% (discard) · Maciej Bigaj (Be My Love) 64.65%
    
19. Japan – 193.933
    Soshi Yoshigoe (Vior) 66.43% · Sho Imaba (Dallas) 66.5% · Junichiro Okawa (RH’s Totally Joker) eliminated · Toshifumi Jo (Elmero) 61%
    
20. Hong Kong – 186.567
    Lok Yee Louie Lam (Jockey Club Felaini S) 63.07% · Fleur Schrader (Jockey Club Todays Special) 59.23% · Tin Chi Timothy Tsang (Jockey Club Cethegus M) 64.27%

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Britain has finished fifth at the 2026 World Para Dressage Championships on a team total of 222.379 – missing out on the podium, but comfortably inside the top seven that secures qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.

The USA won gold on 236.135, Germany took silver on 229.875, the Netherlands bronze on 227.639, and Denmark fourth on 225.867 – just 3.488 points clear of Britain.

The Brits went into grade IV and V on the final day of the team competition (Saturday 22 August), looking to build on a first day that left them a little off the pace for a spot on the podium.

Paralympic qualification was always the goal for the team, but their individual tests had been so strong earlier in the week that hopes were high heading into the team competition.

In a reminder of how strong the individual week has been for the team: had this week’s individual scores (grand prix A) been counted instead of today’s team scores (grand prix B), Britain would have won team silver – narrowly ahead of the Netherlands, comfortably clear of Denmark.

Mari Durward-Akhurst opened Britain’s team campaign yesterday in grade I, finishing runner-up to the USA’s Marie Vonderheyden on 74.58%. Jemima Green and Fantabulous added 74.03% for fourth in grade II, as Fiona Howard’s Diamond Dunes stormed from fourth in her own individual test to top the grand prix B outright on 79.3%. Rixt van der Horst extended her unbeaten run in grade III for the Netherlands.

None of the day-one totals were final – every team still had riders to come in grades IV and V. But a gap was already beginning to open up: Britain sat 13th overnight with only Mari and Jemima’s scores in and two riders still to come. The USA (229.208), Denmark (225.867) and the Netherlands (226.742) each had three of their four riders in already, while Germany, with three riders still to go, had just Heidemarie Dresing’s 77.73% on the board.

In the grade V, Sophie Wells backed up her individual gold with fourth in the team test on MSJ Gold Standard, scoring 73.76% – a drop of 1.19 percentage points from her individual test – behind Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp (75.77%) and the Netherlands’ Britney de Jong (74.61%).

Gold Standard looked a little harder work than two days earlier – still very accurate and relaxed, but a little behind Sophie’s aids at times and not as settled in the contact.

“I thought the feeling she gave me today was better than anything I've felt from her – even better than the individual test,” Sophie said.

“She warmed up really well, nice and energetic, and felt a little lighter, a bit more up for it. It’s a little frustrating going in there and coming out with a score lower than two days ago, but that’s dressage, that’s sport – my biggest goal coming here was for her to be a happy horse in the arena, and I feel like she was.”

Asked where she felt the marks had been lost, she added: “The halts probably weren’t as good. I felt the simple changes were actually better, the downward transitions were better, and I felt like she was a little more uphill in the trot – I don’t know, to be honest. I’ll go and watch the video, read the sheets, take the comments, and we’ll try again [in the freestyle].

“At the end of the day, I’m walking away with a happy pony, and I enjoyed the feeling I got today, so I’m pleased.”

“Nothing to lose”

Grade V’s completion locked in the Netherlands’ total on 227.639 – a real number for the chasing pack now to beat. The USA looked out in front regardless of what was still to come, needing Kate Shoemaker to better just 71.96% in grade IV to top that Dutch mark – a modest ask given her individual gold this week came on 78.89%.

Britain, by contrast, looked out of the running for the podium: Nicola would have needed a score well clear of her personal best – 79.02% – to get her team above the Dutch total.

With Germany still having two riders to go in grade IV, Denmark was the only other realistic target. That meant clearing 77.25%, assuming Denmark landed on their likely floor of 225.867 – the probable outcome, since last-to-go Line Thorning Jørgensen’s individual score of 70.08% was the lowest of the Danish team. It was a tall order: 3.39 points above Nicola’s own individual bronze-medal score of 73.86%.

But full credit to Nicola and Humberto L – they went for it. The pair came in with real purpose, at times almost looking like they’d take off in the canter, but Humberto had a touch too much energy for his own good, throwing in a couple of big spooks. They scored 70.16%, finishing as Britain’s discard for the day.

“We just went for a little bit more expression, a little bit more power today,” Nicola said, “and he got a bit more noise-sensitive and a bit more reactive – he was reacting to everything, so there were a few mistakes here and there where I had to nurse him through it. Some tests are just like that.”

She knew the risk going in: “There were some really lovely moments – I think he really came up in both canters, because we had that extra power. But it can just boil over slightly too much, and that was the risk.

“In some respects we had nothing to lose. He’s a horse I’d like to move up a couple of percent if I can, but he’s not used to being asked for that much more in the arena. I think he got quite excited about it – but it’s great to have an occasion where you can try that.

“It did feel like he was going to take off at times in the canter – that’s why I kept telling myself to dig deep with my seat and just sit tight. But I didn’t want to stop riding the test the way I was, because then what's the point? He did feel up for it – it was just that he was in overdrive with adrenaline.”

It was Nicola’s first World Championships, and despite not getting the team medal she didn’t take the moment lightly. “It’s been wonderful – we’ve had all four of us get medals on the first day, which was a really uplifting moment for everybody,” she said.

“We’ve all worked so hard to get here. It’s an honour wearing the flag – there’s a lot of competition at home, and I’ve been a reserve for many years, so I know what that’s like. When you finally get picked, it’s a dream come true, and it’s all the better because we’re such a strong group of riders.”

“Onwards and upwards”

Performance manager Georgina Sharples was left with mixed emotions reflecting on the two days of team competition.

“I’m thrilled that we have qualified,” she said. “Coming here to qualify for LA 2028 was the primary aim, and we’ve achieved that. But I’m disappointed with the final results. We’ve got some fabulous combinations, and I know what they’re capable of – we showed some of that over the previous two days.

“I think we were the only nation that medalled with all four riders individually in their grade, so we very much came here with an expectation that we'd medal as a team too.

“We’ve got some cracking horses, and they delivered some super work, but we also had some incredibly expensive spooks. You can’t get away with that at this level. It’s incredibly close, and ultimately that’s cost us a podium finish.

“I’m disappointed for the riders, for the team, because we know what we’re capable of. It wasn’t our day for this competition – but we’ve got the freestyle tomorrow (23 August). Onwards and upwards.”

Looking ahead to LA, Georgina was keen to stress the positives.

“We’ve had two days where people have done exceptionally well – a world champion, a silver, two bronzes. Our riders are all very much on an upward trajectory. We're still assessing horsepower – we've got horses at home that are potentially LA combinations, but there aren’t many opportunities to get that experience.

“You need competitions like this, where the pressure is high, and you’ve got the rest of the world there, to give those riders that exposure. I think we’ll take a huge amount of positives from here and build on it.”

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News broke on the morning of the team competition (Friday 21 August) at the 2026 World Para Dressage Championships in Aachen that judges had made an error two days earlier, allowing Ireland’s Clodagh Walsh and Chantal to complete their individual grade I test after the judge at C rang the bell for apparent lameness.

Clodagh correctly stopped but was then allowed to continue, following a discussion between the judges.

“Under normal circumstances, further to the judge at C ringing the bell, the athlete should have been eliminated,” an FEI statement read. “The FEI acknowledges that this decision was not in accordance with the rules.

“The FEI apologises for the understandable upset and confusion caused to Clodagh Walsh, who had acted in accordance with the rules at all times and who bears no fault for this regrettable situation; the FEI recognises the difficult circumstances in which she completed her test.”

Clodagh was not present for the grade I team test on Friday, suggesting the elimination has since been upheld – and therefore the Irish team has been reduced to three riders.

Oddly, though, her grand prix A score (61.83%) is still listed in the official results – a discrepancy that remains unexplained.

A scare for Japan’s Junichiro Okawa

The grade I team test brought further drama when Japan’s Junichiro Okawa, riding RH’s Totally Joker, fell during his test. He was attended to immediately by the emergency medical team and taken to hospital for further evaluation; his horse was unhurt and returned to the stables. Junichiro was later given the all-clear by doctors.

“I’m so sorry to have caused you all so much worry,” he said afterwards, in a statement translated by Hiroko Copley-Mackie of Team Japan Para.

“Thankfully, there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with the bone, and it seems I’ll be able to go home once the doctor has written up my medical certificate. I’m very relieved. I’m also incredibly grateful to everyone for being so concerned and for being so kind and helpful.”

The combination was eliminated from the grand prix B test as a result. With four riders in the Japanese team, all three remaining scores will have to count.

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Mari Durward-Akhurst backed up her opening-day silver with another strong test in the grand prix B (team test) on Friday, as Britain’s para dressage team began its World Para Dressage Championships campaign in Aachen.

Riding Athene Lindebjerg, she finished runner-up in grade I on 74.58% – a fraction up on her individual score of 74.54% earlier in the week – behind only the USA’s Marie Vonderheyden and Fan Tastico H, who topped the class on 76.38%, itself a shade down on Marie’s individual test 76.71%.

Jemima Green and Fantabulous, meanwhile, fell back slightly from their individual bronze, scoring 74.03% (against 75.24%) for fourth in grade II. It leaves Britain 13th after day one, sitting soley on Mari’s score – with Jemima's presently the lower of the two and set to be discarded. However, this is set against some teams who have multiple counting scores already.

Grade II produced the standout swing of the day elsewhere in the field. Fiona Howard and Paralympic gold medallist Diamond Dunes had finished fourth in Wednesday’s individual test on 75% after an uncharacteristic error; today, they responded with 79.3% to top the grand prix B outright.

Germany’s Heidemarie Dresing (77.73%, up from her individual gold-winning 75.48%) and Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen (76.17%, up from 75.31%) completed the podium places between them – both improving on their grand prix A scores.

Grade III also went, and Rixt van der Horst on Eisma’s Royal Fonq NOP shows no sign of letting up: the Dutch pair went even higher than their individual score two days ago, topping the class on 78.47% (up from 77.53%) to continue their unbeaten run at major championships. Denmark’s Tobias Thorning Joergensen (77.07%, up from 75.1%) and Italy’s Francesca Salvadè (75.27%, up from 74.77%) rounded out the placings behind her – both, like Rixt, improving on their individual-test marks.

With grades IV and V still to come for most nations, the team standings remain provisional – but on what's gone in so far, the USA (155.675), Denmark (153.234) and the Netherlands (153.034) look the most convincing of Britain’s rivals for a medal, each with two strong scores already on the board.

“A score that didn’t come easy”

Mari was last to go in the grade I. The score didn’t come easily, though – she felt Athene lacked the sharpness of her individual test two days earlier, even if the judges didn’t mark her down too much for it.

“It wasn't our best test,” Mari said. “She was hard work, but I managed to keep her going and get her to do what she wanted to do – she just didn’t have as much energy as the first day. I think it’s because she’s already been in there once; she was a bit like, ‘Oh, same thing again.’”

There were compensations, though – she felt the test flowed better in places. “I felt it was a smoother test compared to the first,” she said, picking out the halts again as a highlight, along with the stretch: “I can’t let go of my reins, so I have to try and hold my hands and push one arm as forward as I can, and she stretched nicely.”

Athene dropped behind her leg early on and never quite came fully back. "It's a hard one, because she felt really good in the warm-up, but then when she went in, she just dropped me a bit, and I don't have the leg power to get her to go more forward from behind," Mari said.

“I just try and use as much seat as I’ve got, and the whip for little taps and just keep going. It’s physically quite hard work. She’s not an easy ride. She makes it look easy, but she makes you work for every little bit.”

Mari, who watched none of her rivals’ tests beforehand, said the team was buoyed by Sophie Wells’ gold the day before. “We’re all on a high,” she said. “It’s always an honour to be on the team – I dreamed of it for so long, and to have done it successively for a number of years now is amazing.”

“Oh, where are we going?”

Jemima and Fantabulous were the first to go and their test was not without incident. Despite a fantastic start Fantabulous had a spook at E, jumping away from the boards.

“It was so quick – I was a bit like, ‘Oh, where are we going?’ He pulled the rein right out of my hand, so I’d completely lost it, and I just thought, okay, whistle, which is his cue to come back to me, and then straight back to it,” Jemima said.

“It’s just one of those moments you have to take. I needed to find my line and focus back on the test.”

Jemima did well to re-gather her reins and her composure to get back on track quickly, though she admitted the moment had cost her. "I feel a bit gutted, because it was going to be a stronger score," she said. “But I’m very pleased with what we’ve got – it’s still a strong score.”

Going first in the entire team competition added its own pressure. “I felt really good when I first woke up, and then I got here, and I really felt nervous – I had the shakes; it was a bit of an emotional moment,” Jemima admitted.

“Everything almost hit me at once, which I wasn’t prepared for. But we took some deep breaths, had some chats, and watching the others warm up helped me feel calmer.”

The walk on a long rein stood out for how she rode it straight after the spook. “I thought, ‘Oh God, please don't do anything' – but I was still confident enough to let the reins go and let him stretch. He could have held the tension, but he didn’t.”

Re-approaching the spot where the eight-year-old gelding had spooked, she worked hard to keep his concentration on her. “I was just playing with keeping him in a little left bend, so he wasn't looking to the outside – just trying to keep him with me, and that seemed to do the job,” she added.

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Sophie Wells scored a personal best of 74.95% on MSJ Gold Standard to win grade V gold for Britain at the World Para Dressage Championships.

This win with “Gracie”, a 10-year-old mare owned by Emma Blundell, extends her extraordinary championship medal collection to a new horse within a year of taking on the ride, and Britain’s gold medal haul at these championships to four.

“I’m quite emotional – which is quite rare for me,” said Sophie after hearing she’d won gold, her voice cracking. “I’m over the moon. I think it's just really special – I lost my dad last year... and it's just very special. He would have been thrilled – he’d be down the pub telling everybody.”

Despite Sophie’s record medal haul over her 17-year-long decorated championship career – this was her 41st championship medal by our count – it was her first individual gold since the 2018 worlds in Tryon.

She admitted the battle back to the top has not always felt certain: “I’ve got that perfectionist personality and dressage obviously suits me for that reason,” she said.

“I love the horses, I love riding, I love training them. There’s something in me that loves competing. I didn’t know if I’d get back to the top again, to be honest – I was really dramatic about it. We’ve had a rubbish few years with horses and things happening in life. I get up every morning, and I want to be the best that I can be for my horses.”

If the occasion was massive for Sophie, Gold Standard – “cool as a cucumber” – seemed oblivious to it. Sophie laughed when asked whether the mare had exceeded expectations for a first championship.

“She’s in the stable and looks like she’s been to 20 of them,” she said. “She’s like, ‘What’s the big deal?’ I really don’t understand it, but it’s so nice to have a horse that's so accepting of a new environment.

“She’s a happy soul, which is a bonus in a place like this – it’s not exactly a quiet championship. I took her round the fountain roundabout yesterday, and there were hundreds of people taking pictures of her, and she was just like, ‘Sure, take a picture, but I’m just going to have a snack’.”

Sophie Wells on the World Championships experience

Although Gold Standard has taken her first championships in stride, Sophie admitted – despite her experience – she’s been struggling with nerves, and the waiting in particular.

"I do feel so old, with how many championships I've done, and I still got so nervous today – I was thinking ‘What the hell, it doesn’t get easier’,” she said. “I think it’s because you know what’s coming. I couldn’t go on social media last night, so I was in the gym for about three hours, just stretching and exhausting myself this morning, because I couldn’t do anything else.”

During the test, Gold Standard’s temperament proved to be exactly the asset Sophie needed. The mare was unfazed even when, just before her first medium trot, a massive cheer echoed across from Aachen’s main arena where Germany’s Sophie Hinners and Iron Dames Singclair had just gone clear for Germany in the showjumping.

“I think she’d be quite happy if the cheer was for us!” Sophie said. “She’s a really nice type of horse to have. I wasn’t particularly worried about the atmosphere coming here, which is a nice change – the past couple of horses I’ve had have been a bit more on edge, a bit more tense.

“Gracie is the opposite. I have to do less schooling and keep her fresh and willing – at home she hacks and jumps and does all of that, and she’s done none of that here. I’m just trying to keep it as fun and light-hearted as possible for her.

“I've literally schooled her twice – we’ve been here since Sunday, and it’s Thursday now. I put the jumping saddle on and had a bit of a canter session around the arena familiarisation, but the less you do with her, the better. She’s probably good for about half an hour of schooling – if you drill her, she just switches off. She doesn’t need to be drilled. She finds the work easy; it’s just about keeping her happy.”

On the test itself, Sophie picked out her halt and half-passes as highlights, along with a walk-to-canter transition she felt particularly pleased with: “I felt like in my second [canter] extension I was able to go for a bit more – I didn’t want to ramp it up too much today, because you don’t know if they’re going to get a bit tight going in there, and I didn’t want tight mistakes rather than exciting ones.

“But there weren't really any mistakes at all – my simple changes could have been smoother in the downward transition, but the upward ones were good." Asked whether there was more to come from the pair, she was unequivocal: “Oh, 100% – there's loads more in there for her.”

European podium

Britney de Jong and Caramba NOP of the Netherlands took silver on 73.15%. Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp and Highlander Delight’s completed the podium in bronze on 72.97% – a margin of just 0.18 points separated silver from bronze.

Sophie’s gold completes a clean sweep of individual medals for the British team: Mari Durward-Akhurst (Athene Lindebjerg) won silver and Jemima Green (Fantabulous) and Nicola Naylor (Humberto L) took bronze in their respective grades. So all four British riders have now won individual medals at these championships.

For context, if team scoring were based on today’s individual results alone, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands would be separated by less than two points in the race for the podium behind the USA – though the actual team competition, starting tomorrow (21 August), will be decided by each grade’s dedicated grand prix B test, not today’s scores.

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Nicola Naylor scored 73.86% to win grade IV bronze for Britain at the 2026 World Para Dressage Championships – but not on the horse she was originally entered with. Her nine-year-old mare Moulin Rouge – known at home as Satine, after the character in the musical – was withdrawn in favour of her more experienced stablemate and European medallist Humberto L, who had been her direct reserve.

It was a late swap, and the original selection of Moulin Rouge over Humberto had been unexpected given Humberto’s higher average scores. Moulin Rouge appears to be the mare Nicola and the selectors have in mind for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, and the plan had been to give her championship experience here – but it was decided Aachen came too soon, and the decision was made to opt for experience instead.

“It’s just not her moment,” said Nicola, who was competing at her first World Championships. “She is absolutely extraordinary – a horse that will be on fire, and the campaign for LA will start with her as soon as we get home. Humberto and Satine have been neck and neck all year, and he was my direct reserve, so we had another horse who could step in.”

She stressed that the decision was about protecting the mare’s development, not doubting her: “There are some strength issues we’re working on. I don’t like to push them when they’re not ready,” she said. “They need to be at their best health, their best strength, to come and do something like this. She had amazing scores all year, but I was careful at her last international at Hartpury – I didn’t push her there. I just thought she needs to get stronger and healthier in herself, and then she can take on something like this.”

Nicola Naylor on her World Championships test

Humberto competed in this same arena in April, so it wasn’t new to him, and it showed. He and Nicola produced a flowing round, the medium canter a highlight, averaging an eight from the panel.

“He loves that bit,” Nicola said. “You can feel he’s quite excited – he just goes, and he covers the ground. He’s got such a big, bouncy canter, and you can feel he’s really happy when he’s cantering. He’s like, ‘Come on, we’re doing the thing I like now.’”

It’s remarkable to see a visually impaired rider trust her horse enough to ride that forward, with as much impulsion as Nicola had in the canter. Their one blemish came at M – where the horses enter Aachen's stadium three – when Humberto spooked. "I felt like there was a real partnership there, and he really trusted me," Nicola said. "There was one moment where he was a little unsure, but other than that, he was superb."

Nicola is blind – in 2025 she became the first blind rider to compete in an able-bodied grand prix – and relies on her groom, Julie Riches, who calls out the arena letters as Nicola approaches them so she can orientate herself. It’s a reminder of how much of a team effort para sport is, in particular.

“Julie has taken on the role of calling the letters – and it’s another partnership,” explained Nicola, who trains with Sarah Millis. “Whenever we go to international competitions, she has a great relationship with Humberto because she’s with him almost 24/7 at the stables.”

On what the day meant for her partnership with Humberto: “I’m beyond proud, particularly with Humberto – he’s been my horse for six years, and it’s been a real relationship of love and work. To get him to come here and trust me enough to go into that arena... that is not the horse I had six years ago. He could not have done that six years ago. I didn't know what to expect today, but he held it together, and I am really proud of him.”

US golden run continues

Kate Shoemaker won gold with a new world record of 78.89%, riding perhaps the outstanding para dressage horse of the moment, the 10-year-old mare Vianne – her fifth world record across two grades, but not, as Kate was keen to stress, a gold medallist before today.

“Coming into [the Paris Paralympics], we were still really trying to figure each other out – she was eight, still trying to figure herself out, and one day one aid would do one thing, and the next day something else,” Kate said. “This year we really came into our own as a partnership. It just feels so easy – I can go in there, think about it, and the ride’s going to happen. That’s what it felt like today – she was completely one with me. By the time I’d finished trotting, I was already smiling. I was crying before the final halt. I was just so filled with joy.

“I wasn’t thinking about points or scores or medals – I was just thinking, how can I show this very special horse to the best of our ability today,” Kate added.

“She earned a world record in this arena in April, so we got to come in thinking, this is our arena – let’s go show them our absolute best.”

It’s the US team’s second individual para gold at the championships; Marie Vonderheyden and Fan Tastico H took grade I gold on the first day of competition (19 August) with 76.71%

Germany’s Anna-Lena Niehues won silver on Vive l’Amour, scoring 74.64%.

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Writing this after the final medal ceremony at the dressage World Championships, I’m having a “did I just dream that?” moment. From the British point of view, could Aachen have gone any better? Well, yes – I suppose we could’ve won team gold, but all credit to the Germans, and the standard of the sport made the colour of the medal less significant.

Plus, we’ve secured Olympic qualification at the earliest opportunity, which means we can use next year’s Europeans to develop rising combinations. Talking of which, a shout-out to Fiona Bigwood for holding her nerve and riding Donna Bella sympathetically, even under the pressure of being on a championship team.

I had two roles in Aachen: part of the broadcast team for FEI TV and assisting Carl Hester with his warm-up. While the former requires neutrality and might appear to contrast with the latter in practice, it’s not an issue.

Having ridden in my fair share of championships, I couldn’t help but be lured-into the view from the saddle of every combination regardless of which nation they represented.

Across the three medal tests, there were highs, lows and unpredictability.

In the team test, it was Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle who delivered the standout harmonious performance. Sadly for Cathrine, that didn’t bring her an individual title – despite 11 individual medals, gold still eludes her.

A lack of immobility in Becky Moody and Jagerbomb’s first halt, followed by a break in the first extension, made for a difficult start. But Becky gave us all a lesson in damage limitation, clawing the scores back.

Despite outstanding movements elsewhere, Glamourdale’s first piaffe impacted his team score.

Carl used a shortened warm-up routine for Fame to take into account the impact of travel and heat. He rode a blinder and pulled off a great score. But all told, Germany beat us fair and square.

A canter that secures gold medals

For the special, Carl made use of the shade provided by the indoor school – roof only, so the breeze still got through. He removed Fame’s fly hood for extra coolness, with the breeze keeping the flies at bay.

The gold medal effectively came down to the canter tour and was, essentially, a flying-changes competition. Going into that phase of the test, the leading contenders were level-pegging. That suited Glamourdale: if he stayed error-free, the quality of his natural canter would be enough to counter any of his competitors’ gains over his piaffe achilles heel. And that’s how it played out.

Cathrine’s mistakes left her feeling she’d lost gold.

But as the kür would go on to show, even a fault-free canter tour from anyone else on the circuit can’t match Glamourdale’s extraordinary biomechanics in this gait.

The 40,000 spectators were invested – an “ooh” or a ripple of applause for every outstanding movement, and a whistle or two when they felt the judges had scored too low.

Becky and Cathrine both made difficult programmes look easy. Justin Verboomen had Zonik Plus close to last year’s form, though the contact issues are still a work in progress. Glamourdale was astonishing and on the final centre line, showed us that he can deliver a classical piaffe. The top five or six were all medal contenders.

Podium moments for owners and grooms

One new initiative from these championships must stay: bringing owners and grooms onto the podium and into the spotlight. Overdue and I fully support it. No medal is won without them.

As to the 91 starters in the team test, has dressage reached a point where the minimum eligibility requirement needs to be increased? In the interests of the judges and a consistent, level playing field, starter numbers need to be limited to what science tells us about cognition and concentration.

However, I was impressed with the stewarding, the veterinary supervision and the provisions for the heat.

I sat down with FEI vet director Dr Göran Åkerström to talk through the measures in place, including thermal cameras used to monitor horses during the warm-up. It’s a world away from where this all started – I was part of the first trial of heat-mitigation protocols in Atlanta in 1996 – 30 years on, it’s good to see the sport still taking it seriously.

● Where should be drawn on championship starter numbers? Let us know your thoughts at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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Jemima Green and Fantabulous produced a career-best round to take individual bronze in the grade II grand prix A individual test at the World Para Dressage Championships, scoring 75.24% – narrowly eclipsing the pair’s previous best of 75.23%, set at Aachen in April.

The result also came with a notable spread across the judging panel: E, C and M placed her in the low-to-mid 70s but the judge at B – Anne Prain (FRA) – marked her considerably higher at 80.35%, the top score of any competitor from that box.

“It wasn’t the easiest to ride – he almost felt too relaxed in there, which I wasn’t prepared for,” Jemima said. She was referring to their one real mistake – a walk-to-trot transition in which the eight-year-old gelding was slow to react.

“There was a slight moment of miscommunication – I think he just kind of was in his own little world, which we call ‘Fantaland’.

“After that, he was ‘Oh, I’m back with you, Mum’. It is a big place – he’s found the atmosphere over the last few days quite a lot, and he’s been sleeping quite a lot – but he’s still so young.”

On her reaction when the scores were read out, Jemima added: “I was very shocked, because I was actually walking up going, ‘Oh no, that was a disaster’. And then the [judge at B]’s mark came at the end, and I just couldn't hold in the shock. They said it was a personal best – that’s just incredible to get for our first worlds test.”

Jemima Green’s World Championships bronze edges out others

Jemima’s bronze came at the expense of one of the grade’s reliable performers. Fiona Howard and Diamond Dunes – a triple Paralympic gold medallist, and so often faultless in this class – were left to rue an error in the very same corner that had briefly caught out Fantabulous. The pair finished fourth on 75%, just 0.241 points shy of the podium.

“This has been a really hard 18 months for me and my health, and I’m just so proud of that horse because he has risen to everything I’ve thrown at him,” Fiona said. “We didn’t have our best ride out there today, but I really couldn’t fault this horse – he put his heart out there today. And I’m so proud of him because it has not been an easy 18 months for either of us.”

Gold went the way of Germany’s Heidemarie Dresing and Poesie 143, though not without alarm. A tractor sparked into life just outside the arena as the pair walked down the centre line, sending the 11-year-old mare reversing at speed – a heart-in-mouth moment for her support crew watching.

“I thought it was the end,” Heidemarie, 71, laughed afterwards. “But then I think I had better make the test, ride forward, and show people what my horse is able to do.”

That she did, keeping her composure and steering Poesie back to the task, and although they picked up an average of 1.8 from the judges for their entrance, the pair recovered well enough to top the board on 75.48%, with a nervous wait for the scores to follow.

Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen and Goerklintgaards Quater were next in and took silver on 75.31% with a less expressive but accurate test. Heidemarie’s scores took a while to come through, so it wasn't until both riders had finished that the picture became clear – hers read out first, then Katrine’s, confirming the Dane a fraction behind. In the end, barely half a point separated gold from fourth.

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Mari Durward-Akhurst and Athene Lindebjerg kicked off Britain’s World Para Dressage Championships, winning a silver medal in the grade I grand prix A individual test, scoring 74.54%.

Gold went to the USA’s Marie Vonderheyden and Fan Tastico H on 76.71% – a clear 2.167 points clear of the field – and Italy’s Sara Morganti and Bond Girl 18 took bronze on 74.46%, 0.08 points behind Mari.

Athene came into the arena with great purpose and kept her impulsion throughout the test, as distant roars from Aachen’s main arena – where the showjumping was under way – punctuated the air. It was only accuracy on the tighter movements, like the voltes, that prevented an even bigger mark.

“Everything we worked really hard on came off in the test, so I’m delighted,” Mari said. “Just at the right time, everything came together. She was hot out there. But when she saw the big screen [in a corner of the arena], she kept a lid on it and was really up for it.”

Athene Lindebjerg’s decorated career stretches back over a decade – Paralympic team gold with Sophie Christiansen at Rio 2016, three golds with Julie Payne at the 2017 Europeans and Paralympic and European bronzes with Mari. But despite the 19-year-old mare’s medal-laden history, this is her first World Championships appearance.

“I am emotional now,” Mari said. “She’s obviously 19 now, so we’re not sure what the future holds, and I’ve had so much pressure everywhere we’ve gone – we’ve had to deliver because somebody else already has, but this is our story, so this just makes it unique. I’m so pleased she’s now a World Championship horse as well.”

With the team test still to come, Mari was clear she had no intention of holding anything back today. “I definitely didn’t play safe – I went bold,” she said. “I worked really hard with the psychologist on going in and owning test A, because I find it harder than test B. The circles are much tighter; she’s one big-moving horse, and they’re hard to get around – whereas B’s got bigger 10-metre circles and they’re just a bit easier, it flows a bit better. We definitely went for it and hopefully in the team test (grand prix B), we’ll have a bit more to give.”

Mari’s silver took Britain’s 2026 World Championships medal tally to three gold, three silver and one bronze – seven medals in total – holding second place in the overall standings behind hosts Germany (12).

Golden birthday

For gold medallist, championship debutante Marie Vonderheyden, the win had extra significance – 19 August is her birthday, and she turned 36 the day she won her first World Championship title.

“It was very good – it’s my first medal,” she said, still visibly processing the result. “It’s kind of hard to find all the words I want to say, but [Fan Tastico H is] the champion.”

Marie took over the ride on Fan Tastico H – teammate Roxanne Trunnell’s Paris 2024 grade I silver-medal horse – in early 2025, so this is a partnership of around 18 months.

It marks a remarkable turnaround for the French-born American, who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in 2015 after a horse she was riding spooked. She was in a coma for two months and had to relearn how to walk and speak.

“I used to compete before and when I had my accident... I need to do it again and again and again,” she said. “I don’t know how I can tell you, but it doesn’t make me nervous, and I hope it will stay like this.”

This is predicted to be the first of a spate of medals for the US para dressage team – the dominant force in the sport at the moment.

Double European champion Rixt van der Horst (NED) took grade III gold in the individual test earlier in the day, riding Eisma’s Royal Fonq NOP to 77.53%
– comfortably clear of the field by 2.434 points. Denmark’s Tobias Thorning Joergensen took silver with Blue Hors Zackorado on 75.1% and Italy’s Francesca Salvadè completed the podium with Escari, 0.333 points further back on 74.77%.

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Watch the para dressage World Championships live from Aachen this week and join thousands of others to appreciate this sport at the highest level.

There are five days of competition across the five grades in the World Para Dressage Championships and there will be medals on offer every day. H&H dressage editor Oscar Williams has set out his predictions for the medals.

You can find more information about how to follow other sports at the 2026 FEI World Championships on our how to watch the FEI World Championships hub.

How to watch the para dressage World Championships on TV

There is no complete terrestrial TV coverage of the para dressage World Championships in the UK or US. ClipMyHorse.TV and FEI.TV will be the only place you can follow all the action live or on demand. ClipMyHorse.TV is showing every session across all sports during the fortnight of competition in Aachen.

This will be complete World Championships live coverage, including all disciplines, with additional editorial content for a complete viewing experience.

Find the broadcast schedule for para dressage below.

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ClipMyHorse.TV discount code

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Visit tv.fei.org to claim your discount.

Watch para dressage World Championships for free

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Viewers in Germany can stream for free on ARD.

How to watch the para dressage World Championships from anywhere

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Para dressage World Championships broadcast times

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Britains golden era in para dressage already feels a distant memory and the World Para Dressage Championships in Aachen won’t be the place it returns.

Once untouchable – team champions at every Paralympics until Paris – Britain finished sixth in Paris then fourth at last summer’s Ermelo Europeans. But the team in Ermelo went closer than most would’ve thought, finishing just 0.7 points off the bronze medal spot, buoyed by an impressive championships debut from Jemima Green and Fantabulous, who took individual bronze in all three grade II tests.

But close only counts for so much and the honest read is that Britain are no longer among the undisputed favourites for team honours. A podium finish in Aachen looks like a stretch.

That’s partly down to who’s coming back. The USA arrive as reigning Paralympic champions and the best para dressage nation in the world – and three of the four combinations that swept five golds in Paris return unchanged for Aachen.

Rebecca Hart (Floratina), Fiona Howard (Diamond Dunes) and Kate Shoemaker (Vianne) return, while Marie Vonderheyden takes over the ride on Fan Tastico H – US rider Roxanne Trunnell’s Paris grade I silver-medal horse – having partnered him since early 2025. If Aachen goes to form, gold should be heading back across the Atlantic.

Behind them, it should be the two nations who shared the top two Ermelo steps. Germany bring back both their Ermelo grade winners in the same combinations – Heidemarie Dresing and Poesie 143 in grade II, Regine Mispelkamp and Bayala in grade V – giving them a proven core to build a team score around.

The Netherlands counter with strength in even greater depth – Rixt van der Horst and Eisma’s Royal Fonq NOP return as reigning grade III European champions, Britney de Jong and Caramba NOP as Ermelo’s grade V grand prix B winners, and crucially Sanne Voets is back aboard Demantur after sitting out Ermelo, adding a Paralympic medal-winning combination the Dutch didn’t even need at Europeans.

Denmark, Ermelo’s bronze medallists, look the shakiest of the European top three. Katrine Kristensen returns on Goerklintgaards Quater, but Tobias Thorning Jørgensen has switched from multiple-championship-medallist Jolene Hill onto Blue Hors Zackorado. With further changes elsewhere in the team, it’s harder to read their medal chances.

Para dressage World Championship team medal predictions

Para dressage World Championship individual medal favourites

Fiona Howard (USA)

Fresh from a hospitalisation for kidney surgery last December, Fiona’s season took a record-breaking detour. While her triple Paralympic gold partner Diamond Dunes stayed off the CPEDI circuit, she rode US team-mate and coach Kate Shoemaker’s Vianne just days before March’s Wellington CPEDI and broke her own grade II freestyle world record – set on Diamond Dunes in 2025 at 83.27% – with an 84.934% score on a horse she’d never competed before.

Back on Diamond Dunes for Aachen, the pair picked up where they left off: 78.1% in the grand prix A and 80.83% in the grand prix B on their return in July.

Rihards Snikus (AUT)

Rihards and grade I ride King Of The Dance made history at the 2022 worlds, winning Latvia’s first-ever equestrian gold, before adding individual and freestyle Paralympic titles in Paris, and double gold at last summer’s Europeans.

Now 18, the gelding hasn’t competed at all in 2026, leaving his form for Aachen a genuine unknown after such a long absence. US team members Marie Vonderheyden and Fan Tastico H – world number two in the grade and unbeaten in the freestyle, bar one runner-up finish this season – look well placed to capitalise if the champion isn’t fully sharp.

Kate Shoemaker (USA)

Newly installed as world number one – dethroning long-time team-mate Fiona Howard’s 15-month reign – Kate has been near-unbeatable in 2026, winning almost every start across Wellington, Aachen and Aalborg, with only a single freestyle retirement blotting the record. On that run, she was also a winner in an able-bodied inter I test (67.29%).

Kate bought Vianne (below) outright at the end of 2024, after taking over the ride from Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, then lent the mare to her US team-mate Fiona for a week in March, so that she could go on her record-breaking run.

Rixt Van Der Horset (NED)

Runners-up in all three grade III tests in Paris, Rixt and Eisma’s Royal Fonq NOP (below) have kicked on since, sweeping all their tests at last summer’s Europeans. Their one defeat of the season came in the grand prix A at Hagen last month. They were beaten by Denmark’s Tobias Thorning Jørgensen and Blue Hors Zackorado – who will run them close in Aachen – but they responded by winning both the B and freestyle there, the latter their best score of the season at 85.69%.

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With Britain’s golden era in para dressage in the past, the focus at the World Para Dressage Championships (19-23 August) will be on building towards the LA Paralympics in 2028.

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

HORSE: Athene Lindebjerg, 19

BREEDING: Gribaldi x Diamant, bred by Ulla and Kristian Bech

OWNERS: Diane Redfern, Nick Durward-Akhurst and Romilly Hart

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

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

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

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).

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Becky Moody and Jagerbomb stepped up onto the biggest stage of all and were met with a standing ovation for their superb test in Saturday evening’s freestyle at the dressage World Championships.

"That was fun. I was super pleased with him, because that is a serious ask for any horse to go into an environment like that,” said Becky, who finished fifth on a score of 87.48%. She last rode this freestyle when she won the World Cup final in the US this spring.

“He’s done a lot of big shows. Obviously, he coped with Paris, but that's another level, so I wasn't sure how he was going to go in there, but he was just amazing.

“He stayed super chilled, he stayed really with me. I could have had a little bit more sometimes – my piaffe was a little bit quiet. I haven’t actually ridden that since Texas, so it’s a little while since I’ve done it. He was just so with me that it was a pleasure to ride.”

She added: “It is another level – it is crazy in there. The crowd is phenomenal; you could feel it building through the test. Even though you’re not aware of them visually, because they’re quite far back, you can still feel the atmosphere building as you’re doing it.”

Their technical floorplan, appreciated by Aachen’s knowledgeable crowd, was set to hits by The Beatles.

Their tempi changes – two-times into one-times on a curved line – received cheers from the packed stands. So too did their canter pirouette, which they capped with piaffe pirouette steps in both directions on the final centre line.

Watch Becky and Bomb’s freestyle test

Reflecting on the nitty gritty of the test itself, she said: “He’s not exceptional at anything, but he's just really pretty good at everything.

“The piaffes were a little bit quiet – they weren't quite as in front of me as I would have liked. The passage as well, you know, maybe not as sharp as it can be, but the pirouettes were good, the changes were good, the extensions felt nice.

“Everything just felt easy to do, which is such a lovely feeling to have.”

She added: “When are you going to get the opportunity to do something like that again? To know that he takes that all in his stride is just amazing, they are incredible creatures.”

World Dressage Championships: freestyle results

Gold: Lottie Fry (GBR) and Glamourdale (91.91%)
Silver: Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN) and Mount St John Freestyle (91.24%)
Bronze: Isabell Werth (GER) and Wendy De Fontaine (88.65%)

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Carl Hester and Fame rounded out their World Dressage Championships scoring 82.3% in the freestyle with their new David Bowie-themed routine to take seventh place.

In the cauldron of Aachen’s main arena under the lights, Fame gave Carl quite a round and looked hot and on edge at times. Carl had to use all of his horsemanship to keep it all together – with Fame spooking a couple of times.

Carl joked afterwards that Fame was a completely different horse to the one he’d planned for. “He was a totally different horse to work with today – I don’t know what got into him!

“He’s obviously feeling well – it’s cooler at night, he was a little bit spooking at shadows, all that sort of thing. It was like Fame from four years ago. He was looking for everything. Every time I turned right, there was a speaker in front of him, and he was like, ‘We’re not going in that corner!’

“Down the other end, another speaker in front of me – not going in that corner either. What can you do? You do all the arena walks in the world to prepare for it, but nothing gives you that feeling of what you get with 40,000 people in the stands. You can’t replicate that.”

It meant tearing up the plan on the fly. “It really was a freestyle – I just thought, I’ve got to get to a place in the arena where I can actually do something,” he laughed. “He’s great fun like that; I just wish he hadn’t done it at the World Championships.

“He's great fun to ride like that, because I’m literally just steering with my legs, like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa!’ Great fun, but obviously it’s not going to bring me into contention.”

Carl barely had time to enjoy the occasion itself.

“I didn’t have a moment to take it in, because he was so freaking spicy – I just couldn’t, I had to keep concentrating on where I could get to and calming him down,” he said.

“But I could feel it as I was going around, and you can hear it too – every time he did something, the crowd made more noise, and he got more oomph off the back of it. I shan’t watch that one back – I’ve got the other two tests to watch and enjoy.”

Even so, there was no disappointment in Carl’s voice when looking back on it.

“I’m not disappointed at all, because I’ve had an amazing week – he’s been fantastic all week, and without him, the team would be struggling.

“We need every single one of those horses and he’s proved again this week what a competitive horse he is – top 10 in all three tests at a World Championships. I can't complain.”

Asked to reflect on the championship as a whole, Carl was full of gratitude for the team around him. “As usual, I’m glad it’s over. It’s been a long year to get here, and it’s been another successful year for British dressage, which I couldn’t be more grateful for – our support team, the owners, everyone, we’ve got an army out here with us” he said.

“But I shall be in my car at 6 o'clock in the morning, and I’m looking forward to Sunday lunch at home tomorrow with my dogs – that’ll make my life complete.”

Carl had nothing but praise for his gold medal winner Lottie Fry.

“I have to say, I love the way Lottie’s fought back to be number one. I think her style’s changed a little more towards the softness people are looking for, and I really think her training and riding this week has definitely been worth the gold medal,” he said. “Last year they had to re-evaluate where it was all going, and they’ve come back stronger this year – fantastic to see for her too.”

Will we see Carl at more championships?

And, inevitably, with qualification for the 2028 LA Olympics now secured, the questions turned to his future – can we expect to see Carl there? There’d already been speculation this week that this might be his last championships. If he did compete in LA, he’d set a new record, becoming the first rider to represent Team GB at an eighth Olympic Games.

“I have said nothing [about retirement]. And that’s the plan – I’ve said nothing, and I’m going to continue to do that. So if you ever read anything about me retiring, it’s definitely not from my mouth,” he said.

“But it's year to year now, isn’t it? My age, the horse’s age, you don’t know where the next one’s going to come from. I’ve got a lovely one at home coming up. I’ll just chip away and enjoy some shows again next year.

“It’s great that Fiona [Bigwood]’s got her horse up to this level now too, because it’s nice to have someone to travel to shows with. I’ve actually enjoyed some of my shows this year, because I’ve taken the pressure off it always being a championship and just gone and ridden for fun.”

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Lottie Fry and Glamourdale performed “the test of a lifetime” to win freestyle gold at the dressage World Championships and so secure the “double double” world crowns.

The pair, who won individual and freestyle gold four years ago at the 2022 World Championships in Herning, defended the first of their gongs in last night‘s grand prix special. Tonight, in front of some 40,000 people, they held firm to the other on a score of 91.91%.

Their performance blended technical perfection and wow-factor athleticism with that magic ingredient – fun. “Captain” Lottie’s voice told the crowd to fasten their seatbelts for take-off on Glamourdale Airways, a riff on the original intro to Vengaboys’ 1998 hit We’re Going to Ibiza! as the opening notes from the song played out across the packed stadium.

The aviation theme continued through the music, John Denver’s Leaving on a jet plane and Nelly Furtado’s I’m like a bird among the other flying-related melodies on the soundtrack – and boy that canter must feel like flying.

“I had a smile on my face during the extended canter, I thought, ‘This is the most incredible feeling in the world and for me to be experiencing this tonight is just amazing’,” she said.

“I can’t believe how amazing Glamourdale was in there today. It was the test of a lifetime, we’ve never ever had a test so good – it all just came together at the right time in Aachen, it was so special.”

During an anxious wait while the final competitors rode their tests. Lottie kept herself busy and checked a few messages on her phone.

“I also knew that it couldn’t have gone any better for me, so whatever the result, I was incredibly happy because for Glamourdale to perform like that was just insane,” she said.

“He is so funny, he was whinnying the whole time to get in there, he was so excited to get started, then he went in completely relaxed with the crowd and just did everything to his best. He’s such an incredible horse.

“I was so relaxed and calm in there, not worried at all. He was just giving me so much confidence, we both enjoyed it so much, every minute of it.”

Rising to the medal challenge

Plenty of tests were brilliant tonight, of course. This is the sharp end of the very best in the world. What set Lottie’s apart tonight was the level of risk she was prepared to take, where some who finished off the podium erred a tad on the conservative side.

Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle were among those to give their all and rise to the challenge Lottie had set. The medal they won tonight by virtue of their huge performance (91.24%) an altogether sweeter silver than the one they collected yesterday.

“I’m over the moon today. Yesterday I really felt that I had lost the gold medal because of my performance and my mistakes, but today I won that silver medal,” she said. “I’m so happy about my silver today.”

Last to go Isabell Werth smiled and sang her way down the final centre line with Wendy De Fontaine in front of her home crowd, who rose to their feet as she finished.

“I feel so grateful, I’m so happy about my test today,” said Isabel, who scored 88.65% to win bronze. “I got goosebumps when I went in. Wendy was so fantastic, I saw the scores from the other riders and I thought, ‘Take the risks – that’s the only chance you have to get a medal’.”

All three British riders finished in the top seven. Becky Moody and Jagerbomb were fifth (87.48%) and Carl Hester and Fame were seventh (82.3%).

World Dressage Championships: freestyle results

Gold: Lottie Fry (GBR) and Glamourdale (91.91%)
Silver: Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN) and Mount St John Freestyle (91.24%)
Bronze: Isabell Werth (GER) and Wendy De Fontaine (88.65%)

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The times for this evening’s freestyle (15 August) at the World Dressage Championships have been released – but one name won't be on the start list. Katharina Hemmer has announced she will not be riding her individual bronze medallist from the special Denoix PCH.

Jump to: start times

“Just so you're not surprised – Denoix won't compete in the freestyle tomorrow," she said in the press conference after the prizegiving. “We had a small period of injury in the season, so we weren’t really able to prepare the freestyle. He gave his all to me in both tests, and I don’t want to compete him in the freestyle when it’s not 100% prepared – I think that’s what he deserves.”

She added that she had run the decision past national coach Monica Theodorescu beforehand.

“I think we kind of all knew,” Katharina said. “I was talking to Monica, and I told her I had the feeling it’s probably better not to do the freestyle, and she smiled at me and said, ‘Yeah'.

“We only did the freestyle once this year, and it wasn’t as well prepared as it should be. So the whole dressage committee and the whole team were on the same page.”

Denoix was unable to take part in the German Dressage Championships in June – Germany’s first mandatory selection trial – after a bump in the stable left him with a swollen leg.

Katharina made her comeback just in time for the final selection trial at Hagen in early July, winning the grand prix and finishing runner-up in the freestyle.

The pair had been breakout stars of these championships regardless, last-to-go in the special and finishing with bronze on 80.86% – a result no one would have predicted before the event began.

Katharina isn’t the only rider missing from the field, either. Patrik Kittel and Touchdown have also withdrawn, despite finishing 17th in the special – just inside the top-18 qualification cut-off.

Their absence, combined with the nation cap of three riders per country, means two names move into the freestyle who wouldn’t otherwise have made it: Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth OLD (GER), and Henri Ruoste and Tiffanys Diamond (FIN).

Carina Cassøe Krüth and Heiline’s Danciera (DEN) outrank Ruoste in the special (19th to his 21st), but Denmark already has its full three riders in the freestyle – Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, Daniel Bachmann Andersen and Nadja Aaboe Sloth – so the cap skips over her and passes the vacancy to the next eligible rider outside a capped nation.

Katharina’s withdrawal also changes who fills the final German spot. Raphael Netz’s own placing (10th) already secured him a starting berth regardless. It’s Frederic who benefits from her decision – ranked 14th, he’d originally have been squeezed out by the cap behind Katharina, Isabell Werth and Raphael, but moves into the freestyle now that her spot is free.

What time do the British riders go?

• Becky Moody and Jagerbomb – 8:53pm German time (7:53pm British)
• Lottie Fry and Glamourdale – 10:02pm (9:02pm)
• Carl Hester and Fame – 10:24pm (9:24pm)

If you would like to watch your favourite riders compete in Aachen, find out how you to watch the Dressage World Championships on TV from anywhere in the world with our comprehensive guide. And follow the action with our Dressage World Championships live reports service.

Dressage World Championships freestyle start times

19:00 (18:00) – Henri Ruoste (FIN) – Tiffanys Diamond
19:11 (18:11) – Larissa Pauluis (BEL) – Flambeau
19:22 (18:22) – Dinja van Liere (NED) – Mauro Turfhorst N.O.P.
19:33 (18:33) – Simone Pearce (AUS) – Will Marq
19:44 (18:44) – Frederic Wandres (GER) – Bluetooth OLD
19:55 (18:55) – Isabel Freese (NOR) – Total Hope OLD

14 min break

20:20 (19:20) – Sandra Sysojeva (POL) – Maxima Bella
20:31 (19:31) – Nadja Aaboe Sloth (DEN) – Favour Gersdorf
20:42 (19:42) – Raphael Netz (GER) – Great Escape Camelot
20:53 (19:53) – Becky Moody (GBR) – Jagerbomb
21:04 (20:04) – Maria von Essen (SWE) – Invoice
21:15 (20:15) – Daniel Bachmann Andersen (DEN) – Flash Gordon 37

14 min break

21:40 (20:40) – Marieke van der Putten (NED) – Zantana RS2 OLD N.O.P.
21:51 (20:51) – Justin Verboomen (BEL) – Zonik Plus
22:02 (21:02) – Lottie Fry (GBR) – Glamourdale
22:13 (21:13) – Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN) – Mount St John Freestyle
22:24 (21:24) – Carl Hester (GBR) – Fame
22:35 (21:35) – Isabell Werth (GER) – Wendy de Fontaine

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Carl Hester and Fame scored 78.3% to finish sixth at the Dressage World Championships in Aachen, just over a percentage point behind Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus in fifth – but the placing is only half the story of what was, by Carl’s own admission, one of the best rides of his career.

“It’s one of the highest scores I’ve ever had in the special,” he said. “He’s had an 80%, but one wonderful judge [Alice Schwab at K] gave me an 80% today, so it feels just as good. But what a horse to do that in this weather!"

The heatwave in Aachen – temperatures climbed to 35°C – forced a change of plan in Carl’s preparations. “Conditions affect how you warm up,” he said. “Because it’s so hot and very close, I warmed up just in the covered arena to keep the sun off his back for half an hour today.

“I made the decision to take his ear bonnet off, which could have gone either way – normally it helps him with the sound, but I thought it was too hot for that; he needs to be able to get air around him and enjoy the atmosphere as I do.

“It just shows how far he’s come, because he lights up in it now rather than run from it. I think that’s the difference between now and a few years ago – he was frightened of atmosphere and frightened of noise, and now I feel he has grown to it.”

Technically, Carl could have few complaints. “That was a really good test – he didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “My lifelong work is always to have him better in the frame, and I think there were moments today where he was really good in that, a very rideable test. But it's a long test, and it’s draining in this heat for them, and he still had that energy on that last centre line.”

Carl Hester: “He gives me everything”

It’s the consistency that stands out most to Carl himself. “He has always, for four years now, given me everything in a championship, which is unbelievable. A championship is what I do it for – and saving him like I did this year, just to do three shows and come and do one, so he arrives with a good mind and fresh, not thinking competition is boring,” he said.

“He surely has to be one of the most consistent horses I’ve ever had the pleasure of riding, because he just doesn’t want to make mistakes. It doesn’t matter whether it’s boiling hot or lashing with rain, or if there are thousands of people – he does what I ask. He’s such a willing horse – it was just great to ride.”

“It’s not always the case that you get the mark you feel you deserve when you ride – very often you feel you’ve had a good ride and then you’re disappointed with your score,” he added. “So to actually have the marks match my feeling was just great.”

Yesterday, when Carl entered the arena, he decided to ride in rising trot around the outside of the ring before entering. Today he walked Fame in. “In the grand prix I was just trying to ride him forward and get off his back, because he holds himself when he’s looking at things,” he explained.

“So I went rising trot yesterday to release him, because the first thing you have to do in that test is an extended trot – they’ve got to really go, and it’s not something I’m very good at either – the first extended trot. I’m a cautious rider, but I thought, I’ll go for it today – push, let go, who knows when the next ride is, go for it. And he reacted well to it.”

Asked whether the special suits Fame better than the grand prix, Carl added: “No, I don’t think so. I think if it was the other way round – if I could do the special first and the grand prix second, I think he’d be even better, because of the things on the long side, because of his little spooks,” he said.

“The grand prix, if you think about it, is mostly in the middle of the arena – the zigzag, the pirouettes, crossing the middle with the half-passes. He’s quite happy in the middle. So the special is actually a difficult test for him, because he has to stay on the wall a lot more, and I can feel him the whole time – his left eye, especially on the right rein, is constantly ‘What's that?’ and I have to ride him a bit in the test, which I love, because that’s his personality.”

“Becky Moody rode the test of her life”

Carl finished just ahead of Becky Moody and Jagerbomb in seventh, scoring 77.66% with a much improved test from the grand prix – despite a lost shoe moments before they entered the ring.

But Carl laughed off any suggestions of a friendly rivalry with his student. “There’s no rivalry at all,” he said, adding with a laugh: “I train Becky, so I can’t have her beating me at this championship, embarrassing me!

“I thought she did a phenomenal job today, and I’d easily put her test on a par with mine – she could easily have had my score. We’re a team – cliché maybe, but we’re very good mates. I wouldn’t care if she beat me.”

He had nothing but admiration for how Becky handled her scare in the warm-up. "Imagine that happening if you’re not focused – the shoe comes off before she’s even gone up. That would freak most people out. Not her. She went and did the test of her life.”

A Bowie surprise for the freestyle

The rumours doing the rounds at the showground turned out to be true: Carl is performing a brand new freestyle tomorrow night (15 August).

“Yes, I do have a little surprise,” he said. “It’s David Bowie – completely not something I’d normally do. It’s a mash-up of his greatest hits, it should be a great crowd-pleaser, banging songs everyone knows.

“I’m hoping that’ll change the way my freestyle looks – I haven’t done it yet, of course. I’m furiously watching a video every day, trying to learn it and get my ear into the music.

“I don’t expect to win a medal – but I expect to do well and go home with a really successful, happy championship and a great score.”

The technical side, as ever, is his own work. “I design [the floorplan] – I always do the technical side of it myself. And Tony Hobden, who does Becky’s music, has designed my new one.”

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Britain’s Lottie Fry and Glamourdale have retained the world champion title they won four years ago with a scintillating performance in the grand prix special at the 2026 World Dressage Championships.

Will we ever see an extended canter like Glamourdale’s again? To watch 28 horses at the top of the sport and for the 29th to produce something so spectacular it makes you gasp is special indeed.

Their early trot work was solid, but this horse’s canter is the strength in his armoury.

Some niggly mistakes from their rivals opened the door an inch, and Lottie and Glamourdale powered through it. Their first set of tempi changes, the two-times, were huge, and they followed these with an equally impressive set of one-times.

The crowd that clapped Lottie and Glamourdale down their final centre line roared in delight as they finished their test. Their score of 82.3% took them to the head of the leaderboard and meant they were guaranteed a medal.

“I really haven’t taken it in yet, it was just the most incredible test. Glamourdale knew how important it was, and he loved that arena. He did the most amazing test,” said Lottie.

“I think I’m a bit emotional still, it’s still sinking in. It was an amazing feeling. We’ve been really working to this point and hoping we would peak at the right time; for it all just to come together is like a dream.”

She added that she “didn’t dare” to think too much about holding on to the world champion title.

“I knew what amazing competition we have and how much the sport is improving all the time,” she said. “There are so many incredible horses and riders now, I knew it was going to be really tough, so we’ve just focused on ourselves and didn’t think too much about anyone else.”

She added: “I cried my eyes out the whole way out of the test as I was in such shock at how amazing that horse is, and I’ve just been shaking for the last 10 minutes waiting for the final score to go up!”

Grand prix special goes down to the wire at dressage World Championships

Last to go, Katharina Hemmer and Denoix PCH gave a good challenge, trending very close to the world champions at times, and finished on a score of 80.87% to secure individual bronze.

“I’m incredibly happy and super proud of my horse, he tried his hardest for me and it was such a great feeling to ride him there in the big stadium and to feel he gave his very best. It was a big honour for me,” said Katharina Hemmer, who ended the day in a tussle for bronze with her team-mate Isabell Werth.

“To be in a battle with Isabell is always a good feeling, because then you know you’ve reached the top!”

The pair have had a phenomenal time in Aachen, adding this their first individual senior championship medal to the team gold they won earlier.

We will hopefully see them at many more championships to come, but this is the end of their 2026 worlds campaign. Katharina revealed at the press conference that she will not be competing in tomorrow’s freestyle.

She said the horse had a small injury during the season and so they have not been able to prepare for the freestyle.

“He gave his all to me in both tests, and I don’t want to compete him in the freestyle when it is not 100% prepared,” she said.

Mount St John Freestyle scoops silver

Sandwiched between the two is the silver filling of Denmark’s Catherine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle (80.93%).

The pair, the first of the day to break the 80% barrier, made a beautifully harmonious start to their performance, floating through the extended trot work and showing some lovely technique and lightness in the passage.

Some imperfections crept in as the test went on. There was the short change behind in the two-time flying changes and a stutter in the one-times, plus what appeared to be perhaps a slight loss of balance coming out of the second pirouette on the centre line.

That is splitting hairs and there was still so much to enjoy – their flying changes in between the two pirouettes were excellent, as was the last centre line.

“To be honest, I was quite disappointed with my ride today,” Catherine said. “For some reason, I felt I just lacked sharpness today, which is really unfortunate because I feel that she is in such amazing form. She’s fit, she likes the arena and she loved the crowd today. So I'm just really hoping for myself to be just a tad sharper tomorrow.

“But that’s the name of the game, and that's the sport sometimes. It is what it is.”

Isabell Werth and Wendy De Fontaine were fourth and European champions Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus finished off the podium in fifth.

All three Brits in the special have made it through to tomorrow’s freestyle. Carl Hester (Fame) and Becky Moody (Jagerbomb) both enjoyed super tests today, finishing sixth and seventh respectively.

Dressage World Championships: grand prix special podium

Gold: Lottie Fry (GBR) and Glamourdale (82.3%)
Silver: Catherine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN) and Mount St John Freestyle (80.93%)
Bronze: Katharina Hemmer (GER) and Denoix PCH (80.87%)

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After a difficult grand prix on Tuesday (11 August) Becky Moody and Jagerbomb needed a boost in the special – and they delivered, scoring 77.66% to take the provisional lead heading into a heatwave-lengthened lunch break at the Dressage World Championships in Aachen.

But it was, once again, far from smooth sailing. Their start time had already been brought forward by over two hours owing to the heat, but Jagerbomb kept his cool in the vast main arena. There was still one more scare to come, though – as he lost a shoe in the 10-minute box, and as there was no time to replace it, completed his test on just three.

“That was much better today,” Becky said. “I mean, I’m kind of a little frustrated I didn’t manage to do that on Tuesday, but super pleased with how he went in.

“He was just a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more at ease, more confident when he went in there. I was careful at the beginning, but as soon as I stopped for that first halt I didn’t have any of that nervous anticipation I had on Tuesday.

“So I was a little cautious to begin with, but then was able to really build on that as we went through, and both of us got a little bit more confident."

The shoe came off in perhaps the lowest-key way possible. “We had a little drama – we probably came into the 10-minute box four or five minutes before we were due in. It’s not a full-length arena, so I don’t like to be in there for too long, just doing some basic transition work,” Becky explained.

“With about a minute to go, I did a centre-line halt, and then I use quite often a turn on the forehand to help with my halts – I sort of halt, do a turn on the forehand, halt, and as he did the turn on the forehand, he pulled a front shoe off.

“Luckily, he really does have very strong, substantial feet – his feet are a bit like the rest of him. It was a very clean pull. We gave him a trot round in both directions; he was totally comfortable and fine, but it certainly wasn’t the ideal prep just before going into that arena.”

Becky Moody: the grand prix special is different

If Tuesday’s mistakes were still on her mind, they didn’t show. “I think Tuesday was just one of those things – I wasn’t sure how he was going to react going in there, maybe I wasn’t quite ready to deal with it in some ways, or took a little too much of a risk in that scenario,” she said.

“But [the special] is different – it’s not the team test; it’s just an individual competition, so immediately the pressure is less. I also prefer this test, and I think he prefers it too – it suits us a little better. So we went in there, maybe just a little more confident.”

Talking through the test in detail, she added: “We actually halted, so that was an excellent start, and the first extended trot, after what happened on Tuesday, I did keep quite conservative – I sort of thought, okay, let’s just have a seven for this.

“It suits him that it starts with the left half-pass, which is his slightly stronger half-pass, and the way the test goes, with the passage, extension, half-pass, passage, it helps to build the momentum and the energy a little as you go.

“I think the thing I was able to show in that test was just an easier relaxation – I could show the harmony a little more. For me, from on board, the piaffes weren’t as good today as they were on Tuesday, because they didn’t have quite the engine I want to feel.

“But actually, I think probably to the people watching, you don’t see it as much as I feel it. He was cool with his pirouettes and changes and things like that – so I was really pleased with him.”

With all that had come before, it was a fantastic round – the changes were a particular highlight, and on the judges’ average marks, Jagerbomb only dropped below seven for one movement, averaging 6.9 for the extended walk. In truth, the piaffe-passage could have scored even higher.

The frame was the best we’ve seen so far – averaging an 8.6 for harmony from the judges. Given how electric Bomb was in the grand prix, it’s a real compliment to Becky that she resisted the urge to take a tighter hold of the reins to enforce that control, trusting him throughout instead.

Asked whether Bomb himself had felt calmer, she added: “Definitely – literally from the moment I went in through the gates. I have to go away and look at this – maybe it was a little bit me on Tuesday as well, but I think he was definitely different in here today.

“He did the arena familiarisation under the lights last night, so he’s been through this arena again, been in there another time. So maybe both of us were just feeling a little bit more confident.”

The searing heat added another layer of difficulty. “We’ve had some quite serious heatwaves, even in Yorkshire!” Becky said. “Jesting apart, we have had a lot of days hitting 30 degrees, which has probably helped us prep for this a lot more than if we'd had a normal Yorkshire summer.

“But when the chips are down, you just deal with it – we’ve got a great team around us. There’s electrolytes and water, there’s ice, and the horses have been being washed off, they’ve got lovely ice water and things like that.

“The team here at Aachen, and our team around us, are brilliant in terms of supporting us in this situation with the weather.”

“27 pairs of overreach boots will be staying on until we go in the arena!”

As for the farrier who had no time to help, Becky could only laugh about it afterwards. “Mark Watson went to pick up his tools, and we were saying ‘There’s no time; we can't do anything here’,” she said. “I think Mark comes to these events largely for Bomb, because Bomb has this uncanny ability to do something – I think maybe it’s because his feet are a bit big, he just likes to keep us all on the edge of our seats.”

She hadn't seen the score before being told it in the mixed zone. “I don’t actually know what I finished on,” she admitted. Told it was 77.66%, she nodded: “I’ll take that. I think, for the mistake – and knowing that, again, it’s that balance – our personal best in the special was here, and it was a 78.3% or something like that, and I’d have said he was a little more electric, a little hotter then, but then that comes with a little more risk as well. So yeah, I’ll take that – that’s pretty good for where we were at.”

With the freestyle to come tomorrow night, in front of a packed 40,000-strong crowd, Becky was already looking ahead. "I’m just wanting to not lose my mind when I go into that arena tomorrow night – I think it's just going to be an absolutely incredible night of dressage,” she said. Asked if she had anything special planned, she laughed: “27 pairs of overreach boots will be staying on until we go in the arena!”

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The team behind the FEI World Championships in Aachen have explained why they have changed tomorrow’s dressage timetable in deference to the hot weather – but not the eventing dressage schedule.

In the pure dressage, the grand prix special will now start at 8.30am local time, rather than 10.50am, with a break in the hottest part of the day between 12.30pm and 3pm. Competition re-starts at 3pm and finishes at 4.50pm as originally planned.

The eventing dressage schedule has not been altered. The action runs from 9.30am to 5pm, although there is a long lunch break across part of the hottest period, from 1.13pm to 2.44pm.

Göran Akerström, veterinary and equine welfare director at the FEI, told the press tonight at the World Championships that there is “quite a big difference” between eventing and dressage in the context of hot weather.

“First, if we look at the horses, eventing horses are relatively lean. They are extremely well trained for that kind of purpose and also, very importantly, their test is much, much shorter than the grand prix special,” he said.

“Dressage horses, on the other hand, have much more muscle mass. They do much more concentrated muscle activity, which generates heat, and therefore they are more susceptible for getting to a high temperature. That’s why we are taking this measure.

“So there’s a clear difference, in relation to the risk between these two types of horses and the activity they are doing.”

A question was asked about whether the break could have been longer, with the dressage finishing later, but another member of the organising team explained that level playing fields have to be considered and the new timetable mitigates the risk sufficiently.

“We can’t have conditions that are vastly different for one set of horses compared to the other set of horses. So the main concern was obviously welfare and then secondary, level playing fields,” she said.

“I think the solution that was found, avoiding the middle of the day – the risk window – ticked both of those boxes and we’re very confident with that,” she said.

World Championships: planning for hot weather

Göran was also joined by the president of the veterinary commission Dr Friedrich Wilhem Hanbücken.

The pair explained that learnings have been taken from events such as the Tokyo Olympics, while also emphasising that Aachen (with humidity at a maximum of 45%) is a different set of conditions to Tokyo (where humidity could reach 90%).

The organisers here in Aachen are monitoring the conditions every half an hour at 16 different locations.

Thermography cameras are being used to measure horses’ body temperatures – “a system that was developed ahead of Tokyo 2020 and used successfully there; the method has been peer-reviewed and published in scientific publications.”

The system allows the vets to see if horses are becoming too hot and if necessary, to intervene and advise the team to go and cool down the horse.

In addition, the officials spoke about the cooling measures being put in place here in Aachen, including having iced water in preparation and cooling areas and shaded areas.

Cross-country day on Saturday is predicted to be cooler than tomorrow. Iced water and people to cool horses will be available at all the stopping points on course.

At the finish, there is a “really well-resourced cooling area” in the shade, with a number of wash bays, a lot of iced water and huge cooling fans. Veterinary supervision will include all horses having their temperature taken before they are allowed to leave the venue.

Göran said: “So we’re very well prepared for anything on Saturday, but of course we very closely monitor the weather forecast to be prepared for anything.”

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The FEI has announced a significant change to tomorrow’s (Friday 14 August) grand prix special schedule at the 2026 Dressage World Championships in Aachen.

The class is now due to start at 8:30am German time (7:30am British time) – more than two hours earlier than the previously confirmed 10:50am start.

A lengthy break has also been added between 12:45pm and 3pm, before the competition resumes and concludes at the originally scheduled finish time. The decision was made by the President of the Ground Jury, the Technical Delegate and the President of the Vet Commission, in consultation with the organising committee, based on veterinary and meteorological advice given the heat expected on Friday. Enhanced heat mitigation measures will also be in place across the venue throughout the day.

The change was made under FEI rules that allow a competition to be postponed, rescheduled or cancelled if extreme weather conditions or horse welfare are a concern.

Eventing’s second day of dressage, held elsewhere at the venue, will run as originally scheduled. We’re expecting more information on this to come; a press conference is scheduled at 5pm German time (4pm British time)

Jump to: Revised start times

Who’s through, and who can win it

The special decides the first set of individual medals, with the top 18 combinations progressing to Saturday’s freestyle for the second – though only a maximum of three riders per nation can advance.

The top 30 individual combinations from the grand prix progress to the special, and the qualifying score has typically been between the high 60s and low 70s at recent championships. This year’s cut-off was 70.71% – notably higher than the high 69% we predicted and closer to the Herning 2022 worlds’ 71.15% than the 68.88% at last summer’s Europeans.

Three of Britain’s four grand prix combinations made the cut. Becky Moody and Jagerbomb, Carl Hester and Fame and Lottie Fry and Glamourdale all return to the main stadium on Friday; Fiona Bigwood and Donna Bella narrowly missed out on 69.35%.

Much of the individual intrigue centres on the piaffe-passage specialists, who our preview tipped to have the edge over Lottie and Glamourdale – whose scores lean more on the canter work – in this particular test. Piaffe and passage, including the transitions in and out of both, make up 42% of the marks on offer in the special against 36% in the grand prix, so the specialists in that department stand to gain most.

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle were our pick for gold, Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus – who edged the pair 82.37% to 81.69% in the equivalent test at last year’s Europeans – for silver and Isabell Werth and Wendy De Fontaine, with a sell-out home crowd behind her, for bronze.

Here’s how that trio actually fared in the grand prix: Cathrine and Freestyle topped it on 82.38%. Tension crept into Justin and Zonik Plus’ test and they finished second on 80.89%, Isabell and Wendy De Fontaine were fourth on 79.88%. Lottie and Glamourdale were third on 80.31%.

Of course, the special is a completely clean slate, but this shows it’s not a clean cut at all. Katharina Hemmer and Denoix PCH can consider themselves unlucky not to have scored even more than their personal best 79.22% – audience scoring put her third overall rather than fifth, one of only a handful of combinations the crowd rated higher than the judges did.

Expect her to push for a podium spot too – and don’t rule out Becky and Jagerbomb. Although errors pegged them back to 73.82% and 12th in the grand prix, they can do a lot better, and the special is probably their best test.

What time do the British riders go?

• Becky Moody and Jagerbomb now go over two hours earlier than planned – 11:46am German time (10:46am British), rather than the original 2:01pm (1:01pm)
• Carl Hester and Fame – 3:22pm (2:22pm) unchanged
• Lottie Fry and Glamourdale – 4:28pm (3:28pm) unchanged

If you would like to watch your favourite riders compete in Aachen, find out how you to watch the Dressage World Championships on TV from anywhere in the world with our comprehensive guide. And follow the action with our Dressage World Championships live reports service.

Revised Dressage World Championships grand prix special start times

08:30 (07:30) – Felicita Simoncic (AUT) – Four Legends
08:41 (07:41) – Maria Caetano (POR) – Hit Plus
08:52 (07:52) – Julio Mendoza Loor (ECU) – Jewel's Goldstrike
09:03 (08:03) – João Victor Marcari Oliva (BRA) – Feel Good Vo NRW
09:14 (08:14) – Christian Simonson (USA) – Fleau de Baian
09:25 (08:25) – José Antonio Garcia Mena (ESP) – Gladiador Do Lis
09:36 (08:36) – Nadja Aaboe Sloth (DEN) – Favour Gersdorf
09:47 (08:47) – João Miguel Torrao (POR) – Lirio MVL
09:58 (08:58) – Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu (CAN) – Jaccardo
10:09 (09:09) – Henri Ruoste (FIN) – Tiffanys Diamond

20 min break

10:40 (09:40) – Carina Cassøe Krüth (DEN) – Heiline's Danciera
10:51 (09:51) – Therese Nilshagen (SWE) – Navarro
11:02 (10:02) – Simone Pearce (AUS) – Will Marq
11:13 (10:13) – Patrik Kittel (SWE) – Touchdown
11:24 (10:24) – Maria von Essen (SWE) – Invoice
11:35 (10:35) – Sandra Sysojeva (POL) – Maxima Bella
11:46 (10:46) – Becky Moody (GBR) – Jagerbomb
11:57 (10:57) – Dinja van Liere (NED) – Mauro Turfhorst N.O.P.
12:08 (11:08) – Raphael Netz (GER) – Great Escape Camelot
12:19 (11:19) – Larissa Pauluis (BEL) – Flambeau

2.5 hour break

15:00 (14:00) – Frederic Wandres (GER) – Bluetooth OLD
15:11 (14:11) – Marieke van der Putten (NED) – Zantana RS2 Old N.O.P.
15:22 (14:22) – Carl Hester (GBR) – Fame
15:33 (14:33) – Isabel Freese (NOR) – Total Hope OLD
15:44 (14:44) – Daniel Bachmann Andersen (DEN) – Flash Gordon 37
15:55 (14:55) – Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN) – Mount St John Freestyle
16:06 (15:06) – Justin Verboomen (BEL) – Zonik Plus
16:17 (15:17) – Isabell Werth (GER) – Wendy de Fontaine
16:28 (15:28) – Lottie Fry (GBR) – Glamourdale
16:39 (15:39) – Katharina Hemmer (GER) – Denoix PCH

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Three eliminations were recorded during the grand prix at the Dressage World Championships in Aachen, held 11–12 August.

On 11 August, Rotem Jale Ibrahimzade (TUR) and Wendi Williamson (NZL) were both eliminated under the blood rule following review by the Ground Jury, after FEI stewards flagged a matter for further review during the post-test tack inspection.

Under FEI rules, elimination is mandatory when fresh blood is found in a horse's mouth, the area of the mouth, or the area of the spurs during the post-test check.

Riding the 18-year-old stallion Hexagon’s Double Dutch, Rotem had already endured a difficult test before the inspection – issues in the piaffe left her marked at 62%, having dropped as low as the mid-50s in the movement itself.

Straight after her test – before she had been told of the elimination – Rotem said the stallion had grown anxious in the atmosphere of the big arena.

She later added: “Unfortunately, during the bit check after our test, a tiny spot of blood was spotted in the mouth.

“There was no visible wound once we looked, at the stables, and, most importantly, he is absolutely fine. Nevertheless, we completely understand and respect the decision that was made. The welfare of our horses must always come first.”

Wendi was riding Don Vito MH, who was found during the post-test check to have bitten his lip. The pair had scored 64.95% before the elimination was confirmed.

“It feels very disappointing to fall short on the world stage in a prestigious event and venue like this,” Wendi later said.

Wendi and Rotem were both competing as individuals, so their eliminations had no bearing on the team standings. Suphakamol Vuntanadit’s did. She was riding Dreamboat BCN for Thailand – fielding their first-ever World Championships team – and her elimination for marked lameness meant the team couldn’t register a total at all: with only three riders and no discard score, all three results have to count.

Under FEI rules in cases of “marked lameness”, the judge at C informs the athlete directly once it is confirmed – for Suphakamol, that came fast; Britain’s Clive Halsall rang her out soon after her opening halt.

The FEI added that elimination under either rule carries no implication of wrongdoing on the athlete’s part. The rules exist to protect the welfare of competing horses, safeguard the integrity of competition and ensure a level playing field for all athletes.

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With so much emphasis on winning and killer pressure to stay at the top, is our young riders’ system flawed? It should be a stepping-stone to the senior ranks, yet many never successfully make the jump because they have never learned how to produce their own horses. Indeed, many avoid competing against adults until they have to – then get a shock.

Then there’s the ever-present threat of being without a suitable horse; dropped from the World Class Programme and minus the hope that goes with it. So high is the standard of horses that riding merit alone won’t keep a young rider on that top list.

Having said that, there are phenomenal learning opportunities and the current team management is excellent.

At the recent international at Wellington, the new stars on show were really just that.

But the costs of competing, where it’s normalised to spend without restraint, are extraordinary.

In the real world, how many 16- to 21-year-olds can afford £1,000 a pop for a helmet, jacket and riding boots? Or complain that “I’ve only got £250,000 to spend on a horse”, as was expressed to me recently.

As I watched in awe a young rider on a stunning horse coached by a foreign trainer flown in for the day, I realised how so many ambitions remain at home trapped behind the affordability barrier.

One day, we’ll invent a horse with a coin slot between its ears. You put 50p in and turn the ear to the level you require. Then anyone can win!

There are glimmers of hope. A favourite young rider I know gets more pleasure from painting a patent top on their second-hand De Niros than buying a shiny new pair. Even their horses are bargain-bucket rejects; a £200 stud fee and a vet failure.

But sadly, without access to millions, competing at the top level is unreachable for the normal rider. Unless, that is, you are Gracie Catling, whose ability and success are inspirational. Mette Dahl is also brilliant, albeit with a hugely experienced and well-resourced team behind her.

A few are bucking the trend. But even with exceptional talent, young riders need a miracle of luck to achieve without the money. Although affordability perhaps needs addressing, horsemanship should win the day.

Praised, not protected

Written and spoken praise is heaped upon riding schools, crediting them with fostering the future of equestrianism and giving root to many an international rider.

Yet they’re closing faster than village pubs because common sense dictates that it’s financial madness to try to run one.

Unlike other countries, UK riding schools have no government support, fiscal or otherwise. There’s no lobby to clamp down on illegal “lessons on own horses” in defence of lawful, licensed establishments, for instance.

The plight of equestrian businesses has no traction with the public. It’s simply too elitist.

The British Horse Society (BHS) offers much advice and support around how to run a business, from marketing to management.

It runs world-class assessments and globally-recognised qualifications. Yet those of us in the system are having to work harder just to maintain the wherewithal for these to happen, not to mention to create jobs for the newly qualified.

Despite all it does, the BHS lacks political clout. We have the British Horse Council, which does a decent job with the Government, and Defra on equine health and welfare, which overlap into sporting issues. However, there’s a distinct lack of appetite to take up the cudgel on behalf of embattled equestrian businesses.

Farmers have the National Farmers’ Union and Jeremy Clarkson fighting their corner. But despite a preponderance of organisations, the lack of a “National Equestrian Union” renders us voiceless.

Like farmers, our animals are a way of life beyond counting our costs and time. But it would be nice to earn a little money – if only to enable us to keep going and give generations to come the chance to experience the joy of horses and riding.

Good luck to our World Championship teams!

● How can the sport work to make top-level competition affordable again? Let us know your thoughts at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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Isabell Werth and Wendy de Fontaine scored 79.88% to seal Germany’s 13th Dressage World Championships team gold – and the 10th world gold of Isabell’s own extraordinary career.

Jump to: Final team results

She’s been coming to championships in this city for two decades, and this one clearly meant more than most. “This rates a lot, because it's not so normal to come back after 20 years and to be in the team again, and to win the gold medal again,” she said.

“That makes me really proud – especially when I think about everything that’s happened in between, how many different horses I’ve had, and everything through the World Championships in between. That’s something very special, and of course, especially on this showground – I think there is no bigger, no nicer, no greater showground than Aachen.”

Going last for the German team, Isabell knew exactly what was needed. As Lottie Fry and Glamourdale had posted 80.31% for Britain, and Frederic Wandres and Katharina Hemmer’s scores were already banked for Germany, anything above 76.26% would be enough to secure gold.

She credited the platform her teammates had built. “We had a super great and strong team. It started very, very well, and then Freddy and Katha this morning – she did superb, it was really a great ride, and that gave us some safety and some space,” she said. “I was very proud to be in the team and to go last and finish it off with the gold medal.”

On paper, that looked well within hers and Wendy's range – but the test wasn't without its scares. Mistakes crept into both sets of tempi changes, and at one point their running score dipped below the mark Germany needed. It was the piaffe and passage work that pulled it back, scoring well enough to close the gap and see gold safely home.

For all that gold means to her personally, Isabell’s 79.88% didn’t crack the top three individual scores of the whole competition. Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour’s 82.38% topped the leaderboard, with Justin Verboomen on Zonik Plus (80.885%) and Lottie on Glamourdale (80.311%) also finishing ahead of her – Isabell’s score was good enough for fourth on the day, so comfortably clear of the medal target Germany needed, but far from their best individual ride.

H-A-M-M-E-R time

Whatever margin for error Isabell had going last, she owed in large part to Katharina. Had she ridden only to her season average of 76.62% rather than producing a personal best, Germany’s winning margin over Britain would have shrunk from 3.62 to just 1.02 – still enough to win, but by a fraction of the cushion they actually had. National coach Monica Theodorescu didn’t need the maths to reach the same verdict.

“I thought today we should actually rewrite her surname H-A-M-M-E-R, because that ride was really a hammer today,” she said. “Katharina is relaxed anyway – I know she can perform under pressure; she’s proved that many times. But it’s still very special to perform that way in a championship, for a team, under that kind of pressure. No one wants to be the one to fail, and she never did that.”

Silver for a team to be proud of

Missing out on gold clearly stung a little for the good-humoured Brits, but Carl Hester put that pressure in the context of a 36-year-long championship career. “36 years is a very long time, and I can’t think how many grands prix I’ve ridden,” he said. “But still 36 years later, being on a team brings pressures, brings fun, brings sleepless nights – there’s so many things that go with it, however long you’ve been doing it.

“I can’t say it gets easier as you get older – I think it probably gets worse, because once you start winning, you want to keep winning, and I did 20 years at the bottom. When you’re not winning anything, it’s actually easy. But when people expect you to win, or your team starts winning, you want to keep winning.”

Britain’s silver, came with something he seemed just as proud of as the medal itself: the make-up of the team that won it. “It’s never any good just being a good individual – to make your country proud, you need a team, not just one person as a one-off,” he said.

“We've been winning medals since 2009, and that’s a big ask every year, to find riders and horses that can join us and be successful. I think that’s made our country very, very proud, because it also shows anybody from any background can be part of our team.

In reference to Becky Moody and Jagerbomb and Fiona Bigwood and Donna Bella, he added: “The interesting thing on our team is we also have two girls with home-bred horses that they produced themselves. That’s a wonderful story for normal people who might think, ‘I don’t come from a horsey background,’ or ‘I haven't got enough money’ – those are the stories I think are inspiring, so it’s a very good team to be on."

Final team results

1. Germany – 235.063
   Frederic Wandres (Bluetooth OLD) 75.963 · Katharina Hemmer (Denoix PCH) 79.224 · Isabell Werth (Wendy de Fontaine) 79.876 · Raphael Netz (Great Escape Camelot) 73.338 (discard)
   
2. Great Britain – 231.445
   Becky Moody (Jagerbomb) 73.820 · Carl Hester (Fame) 77.314 · Charlotte Fry (Glamourdale) 80.311 · Fiona Bigwood (Donna Bella) 69.348 (discard)
   
3. Denmark – 229.426
   Carina Cassøe Krüth (Heiline's Danciera) 72.174 · Daniel Bachmann Andersen (Flash Gordon 37) 74.876 · Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (Mount St John Freestyle) 82.376 · Nadja Aaboe Sloth (Favour Gersdorf) 71.956 (discard)
   
4. Belgium – 223.044
   Jeroen Devroe (Lestor) 69.690 · Larissa Pauluis (Flambeau) 72.469 · Justin Verboomen (Zonik Plus) 80.885 · Wim Verwimp (Jedai de Massa) 68.121 (discard)
   
5. Netherlands – 221.428
   Rowena Weggelaar (Don Quichot) 69.503 · Dinja van Liere (Mauro Turfhorst N.O.P.) 74.161 · Marieke van der Putten (Zantana RS2 OLD N.O.P.) 77.764 · Thamar Zweistra (Hexagons Mr Magnum N.O.P.T.) 65.342 (discard)
   
6. Sweden – 216.552
   Therese Nilshagen (Navarro) 72.376 · Maria von Essen (Invoice) 72.080 · Patrik Kittel (Touchdown) 72.096 · Rebecca Mauléon (Johnnie Walker BCN) 68.711 (discard)
   
7. Portugal – 212.625
   João Miguel Torrao (Lirio MVL) 71.398 · João Pedro Moreira (Drosa Fuerst Kennedy OLD) 70.202 · Maria Caetano (Hit Plus) 71.025 · Vasco Mira Godinho (Marques Dos Cedros) 68.680 (discard)
   
8. United States – 210.621
   Kasey Perry-Glass (Heartbeat W.P.) 70.606 · Christian Simonson (Fleau de Baian) 71.304 · Ashley Holzer (Hawtins San Floriana) 68.711 · Meagan Davis (Toronto Lightfoot) 67.624 (discard)
   
9. Canada – 210.559
   Denielle Gallagher (Come Back de Massa) 68.074 · Camille Carier Bergeron (Finnländerin) 70.559 · Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu (Jaccardo) 71.926 · Chris von Martels (Londoncrown) 66.320 (discard)
   
10. Spain – 209.379
    Severo Jurado Lopez (Flaconi W) 68.913 · José Antonio Garcia Mena (Gladiador Do Lis) 71.134 · Borja Carrascosa (Frizzantino FRH) 69.332 · Lucia Gallardo (Hip by Johnson) 68.370 (discard)
    
11. Austria – 208.479
    Felicita Simoncic (Four Legends) 70.730 · Ulrike Prunthaller (Fleur TSF) 68.665 · Bettina Kendlbacher (Broadmoars Don Alfredo AWÖ) 69.084 · Peter Gmoser (Dante's Daiquiri) 59.037 (discard)
    
12. Poland – 207.220
    Roy First (Infinity Win T) 67.282 · Aleksandra Poplawska-Slazak (Sambalito) 66.786 · Sandra Sysojeva (Maxima Bella) 73.152 · Hubert Jankowski (Guerlain) 66.506 (discard)
    
13. Australia – 206.677
    Mary Hanna (Ivanhoe) 67.267 · Simone Pearce (Will Marq) 72.391 · William Matthew (Faye 43) 67.019 · Warwick McLean (Le Special) 64.984 (discard)
    
14. Finland – 205.699
    Anu Sironen (Ypajan Fioretto) 65.373 · Ville Vaurio (Dante NL) 68.509 · Henri Ruoste (Tiffanys Diamond) 71.817 · Stella Hagelstam (Hagels Prince Nassak) 62.516 (discard)
    
15. Switzerland – 204.798
    Estelle Wettstein (Quaterboy) 67.795 · Delia Eggenberger (Santa Maria) 68.742 · Charlotte Lenherr (Dettori) 68.261
    
16. France – 204.053
    Alizee Roussel (Bel Amour) 67.407 · Alexandre Ayache (Ruling Olivia) 67.950 · Pauline Basquin (Sertorius de Rima Z Ifce) 68.696 · Bertrand Liegard (Ginger) 65.637 (discard)
    
17. Brazil – 202.080
    Nuno Chaves De Almeida (Noga) 66.273 · Murilo Augusto Machado (Jorge V.O) 65.093 · João Victor Marcari Oliva (Feel Good Vo NRW) 70.714 · Manuel Rodrigues Tavares De Almeida Neto (Hermes) 60.761 (discard)
    
18. Ireland – 199.161
    Kevin Acres (Ganesh) 66.289 · Alex Baker (Top Gear) 64.596 · James Connor (Vanotti) 68.276 · Jessica Dunn (Dan Its Carston) 63.401 (discard)
    
19. Thailand – no total
    Suphajit Vuntanadit (Wall Street JV) 65.078 · Pakjira Thongpakdi (Definitely) 63.230 · Suphakamol Vuntanadit (Dreamboat BCN) eliminated

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Lottie Fry and Glamourdale scored 80.31% to secure silver for Britain at the 2026 Dressage World Championships

Before Lottie went in, the picture in the race for silver was clear. Denmark’s total was locked in at 229.426, after Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour’s 82.376% made Nadja Aaboe Sloth’s score the team’s discard. This was the highest score of the championship so far, and enough to put Cathrine provisionally top of the individual leaderboard, pending Lottie and Isabell’s rides. As Becky Moody and Carl Hester’s scores counted for Britain, that meant Lottie needed more than 78.29% to keep Britain ahead of Denmark and secure silver.

Lottie herself wasn’t thinking about any of it. “No, actually, I had no idea,” she said, when asked if she’d known beforehand what she needed to hit silver. “I just really wanted to do everything we could.”

Lottie and Glamourdale looked in good form in the warm-up and breezed through the first few movements in style, scoring eights and nines. “I think that's the best feeling I’ve ever had in a test with him,” she said. “He was on fire. He was listening, he was calm and on the aid and relaxed, yet so sharp and with me the whole way.”

Some old issues re-emerged in the first and second piaffe, which knocked his score back, leaving the pair hovering around the 76% mark towards the end of the trot work.

Lottie Fry’s grand prix nail-biter

“I just kind of threw him into that first piaffe, which was a shame – it was a bit of a misunderstanding," Lottie explained. “It’s such a fine line. Everything is such tiny little aids, and just one tiny wrong thing, wrong timing, and it doesn’t come off perfectly.”

It was turning into a bit of a nail-biter – Glamourdale can always bank on getting some marks back in the canter work, and he did climb back up, towards 79%. But could he hold it together for the double-marked piaffe on the final centre line? Yes, he could, and Lottie was able to show off some of the work she’s put into the movement ever since the issue emerged last season.

“We’ve been just building his confidence with it, really, and letting him learn to travel forwards, and become really strong and happy in it,” she said. “It’s always been there – it’s just about finding the right aids in the ring to show it off to its best.

"The piaffe I think we showed on the last centre line was one of his strong points. He’s become much stronger and much more confident in it, and when he does it well, he does it incredibly. Everything else, I don’t really think it can be better. He’s just incredible – he seems to be in a really good place this week. He loves that arena, and it’s going to be so exciting to ride in there again [in the special] on Friday.”

Whatever the final colour of the medal, she was adamant it would be a result to be proud of. “Any medal is amazing to win at a World Championships,” she said. “Becky had a difficult ride yesterday, but she did everything she could and really still pulled it out of the bag for us. And this morning, Carl was so inspiring – every time you’re surprised at how amazing he is riding a test, it was just beautiful to watch.”

In the final reckoning, the British team finished on 231.445 – 2.02 points clear of Denmark’s 229.426, but 3.62 points short of Germany’s gold-medal-winning 235.063. It came down exactly as the maths suggested it might: Isabell Werth, going last for Germany, rode Wendy de Fontaine to 79.88% – close enough to her season average that Lottie's recovery back to 80.31% was never quite enough to close a gap that size.

There’ll be some disappointment for the British team that gold slipped away, but it’s hard to begrudge the Germans on home soil – they were always going to take some stopping. There were twists and turns enough for a dozen team competitions, but when the dust settled, the final placings felt about right.

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After Becky Moody and Jagerbomb’s difficult grand prix yesterday (11 August), the British team needed a big result from Carl Hester and Fame to keep them in the race for gold at the 2026 Dressage World Championships.

In response, Carl delivered a masterclass. He never looked rushed, rearranging his seat before the rein-back and softening his hands to let Fame stretch through the extended trot.

“It was just details that I felt in every movement,” Carl said. “My twos had nice ground cover and felt straight. The extended canter I could ride out, the zigzag again – he’s just so lovely and easy, I don't even do those in the warm-up, I just save it for the test.”

The pirouettes, in particular, have become his trump card. “The horse I rode before him, En Vogue, taught me how to do a pirouette, and Fame and I just enjoy doing them together for as high a mark as possible, because I know that’s my double-marked movement and I know that’s something I can go for, and I can make it small with him."

The 16-year-old stallion can at times be electric, but Carl’s riding visibly gave him confidence throughout, and although their 77.31% wasn't a personal best, it was one of the most accomplished rounds of Carl’s career, especially given the circumstances.

He knew exactly what was riding on it. “It was important for me to try and get my best score today. I needed to – yes, it was very much on my mind,” he said. “I knew Daniel [Bachmann Andersen]’s score was above 74%, so I needed to try to move ahead of that, because we might have a difference [to catch up] when Freestyle and Glamourdale go as well – we want to try and keep them as close together as possible so we don’t make the gap too big.”

He was quick to support his teammate, too. “Becky beat herself up yesterday with her test, which she shouldn’t, because she delivers again and again and again,” he said. “I thought her highlights between the mistakes were the best work I’ve seen her do. So on one hand you get a hotter horse that doesn’t want to walk, and then you get your best piaffe – this is where experience and age come in.”

Even with a target hit, Carl was characteristically modest about the number itself. “It’s not the best score I’ve ever had, but at a World Championships you‘re just happy – I said this morning I’m aiming for between 75% and 77%, I’d be comfortable with that. I’ve gone over 77%, so I should be ready for a really large glass of... water.”

The gold and silver equation

Carl’s score has indeed strengthened Britain’s grip on silver – with Fiona’s score discarded, Becky and Carl’s combined total gives Lottie Fry and Glamourdale a 4.08% cushion over Denmark’s equivalent position ahead of Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle.

But as we go into the lunch break, it’s Germany that has stretched its overall team lead, thanks to a stunning individual performance from Katharina Hemmer and Denoix PCH, who topped the leaderboard for the day with a personal best of 79.22%.

“It’s of course very special to deliver a personal best in front of the home crowd at a World Championships,” she said. “But he was already doing good in the classes he did [this season] – there weren’t many, but what he did was good. I had the feeling that in our preparation we made a step forward, and we were even better than before the last show. So I was feeling quite confident, and I think Denoix felt confident as well.”

Asked what stood out most, she pointed to the feel of the test rather than any single movement. “I think it was probably the harmony during the whole test – I could really do everything with light aids. He was listening, and I think that was what made it good.”

Knowing Carl’s score before she entered the ring only settled her further. "Yes, because I asked – I had the headset with Hubertus [Schmidt] and Monica [Theodorescu], and I asked, ‘What did he get?’ And they said, ‘77%’ And I said, ‘Oh, well, that’s no problem, because we had 77% in the last two grands prix, and we’re in better shape now.’ It gave me a push.”

If anything, the context took the pressure off rather than adding to it. “I didn’t ask too much, because I also knew that the boys on the team had done very well, and we were in a very good situation,” she said, adding with a laugh: “And I also know that even if I’d scored a little lower, that would only push Isabell [Werth] to score higher.

“I was in a very, very good situation today, and that made me feel relaxed and confident.”

It's amazing to think what Denoix PCH could still achieve riding at only half power. For me, Katharina was the difference-maker in the race for gold at last summer’s Europeans – the only rider across Germany and Britain’s core trios to outperform her season’s grand prix average, posting 75.7% against a pre-championships average of 74.3%, a jump of 1.4 points at exactly the moment it mattered most, while her German teammates and all three of Britain's trio dipped below theirs. And she’s done it again – what a competitor. You have to take your hat off to her.

That performance leaves Britain’s route to gold hinging heavily on Isabell. If she has a disaster and scores below 73.34%, Raphael Netz’s discarded score gets reinstated as Germany’s third counting total, capping their total at 228.525 regardless of how low Isabell’s actual score goes – in that scenario, Lottie would need to beat 77.39% for gold.

But if Isabell scores 73.34% or higher – the far more likely outcome, given her season average of 80.39% – her score counts instead, and Lottie would need to outscore her by more than 4.05% to win gold. If Isabell rides to anything close to her usual level, that’s almost impossible: matching her season average would push Germany’s total to 235.577, meaning Lottie would need above 84.44% – well into personal-best or beyond territory.

Silver still isn’t guaranteed either, and the picture there is tighter than that 4.08% cushion suggests. Britain currently leads Denmark by that margin, so Lottie doesn't need to outscore Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour at all – she just needs to stay within 4.08 points of her. But Cathrine's own season average sits at 83.43% – considerably higher than anyone else left to ride – so if she rides to form, Lottie would need something close to 79.35% just to keep Britain ahead of Denmark. That's within Lottie's own season average of 79.62%, but only just – so it’s actually a much tighter margin than it might appear on paper.

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The race for the team gold medal on day one at the Dressage World Championships in Aachen has swung the German way decisively.

The Germans were the pre-competition favourites but were expected to be pushed all the way by the British. But a difficult test from Becky Moody and Jagerbomb – scoring 73.82%, almost three percentage points below their season average – opened the door for Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth OLD to capitalise, scoring 75.96% to sit top after the first day of competition.

Germany’s Raphael Netz with Great Escape Camelot (73.34%) and Britain’s Fiona Bigwood with Donna Bella (69.35%) had gone earlier in the day, but both are likely to be their nations’ discard scores.

It wasn’t a flawless test from Frederic – he pointed to an unexpected complication in the arena itself. “What we couldn’t train in the familiarisation was that the video screen was showing movement; the horse was moving on it.

“We didn’t have that in the familiarisation, so that was something different for him. He came a little bit back to me when he saw himself – maybe he was thinking, ‘Is there another horse?’ I don't know,” he said.

“Especially in those lines, which is important – the one-tempi line, you’re going in the video’s direction – and the second extension too. So he was a little bit holding himself back. But other than that, I think it was quite a fluent test, a consistent, harmonious round, like always.”

Knowing Becky's score before he entered the ring shaped his approach. “I saw it a very little bit on the video screen in the warm-up in the covered arena, but of course I had to focus on my warm-up. Then when the result came up, I got the final result,” he said.

“Honestly, it’s better that it pops up as a 73.8% in my mind than a 78.8%; that’s for sure. But in another way, it also gives my alarm bells a little bit of a signal, because I know Becky is super experienced, the horse is super experienced, and obviously she had problems or mistakes. So that’s my alarm bell that makes sure you’re not the next one who has problems.”

That instinct – consistency over ambition – was echoed by the German team leaders as he headed into the arena. "I heard a bit when I went in that Monica [Theodorescu] and Isabell [Werth] were talking, ‘Don't go crazy, bring it home’,” he said. “Because they’d already got the result from Becky, and they thought, okay, we don’t have to go all-out, just bring it home like always, and we’ll see. I heard it through my coach’s earpiece.”

An ultra-experienced competitor, Frederic rode accordingly – a conservative round built on the knowledge that avoiding mistakes, not chasing marks, was now the priority for the German team.

Even from the top of the leaderboard, he’s wary of reading too much into day one. “It doesn’t mean anything at the moment. We’re a little bit ahead, but it can change by one ride tomorrow completely,” he said. “Carl [Hester] and Lottie [Fry] will have to go all in – they’re super experienced, they know how to do that, and they know that if they want to reach something, they have to go all in, or the points won’t come. But our other two riders, Katharina [Hemmer] and Isabell, also have to deliver good, consistent, or even better, personal-best scores. So everything is still open.”

Where the race for team medals stands

Understandably, Frederic didn’t want to get ahead of himself – but it's difficult to see a path to gold now for the Brits.

Carl (Fame) and Katharina (Denoix PCH) go head to head in the group just before lunch tomorrow (12 August), before Lottie (Glamourdale) and Isabell (Wendy De Fontaine) close out the day in the final group.

Britain have a banked deficit of 2.14% to close – the gap between Frederic’s counting score and Becky’s, assuming both teams' weakest scores so far (Raphael and Fiona) end up as their discards. Season form doesn’t offer much encouragement on top of that: Carl is up on Katharina by 0.13%, but Lottie is down on Isabell by 0.77% – a net swing that, if both pairs simply rode to their averages tomorrow, would stretch Germany’s lead closer to 2.78% rather than close it.

Of course, Becky’s test is proof that you can’t go on form and averages alone. Aachen‘s vast stadium is an unknown quantity for every rider still to come. We’re not in miracle territory yet, but it’s safe to say both Carl and Lottie will need to score close to their personal bests, while hoping either Isabell or Katharina slips up somewhere.

If you’re watching tomorrow, the number to have in mind is 2.14% – the deficit Britain needs to close over their two remaining rides to beat Germany to top spot.

Where the rest of the teams sit

Australia are in an unexpected third place – but don’t expect that to hold. They sent their best combination, Simone Pearce and Will Marq, out on day one, unlike most other nations, who have held their strongest pairings back for day two.

Denmark doesn’t look to have made much of a dent in Britain’s grip on silver – both Nadja Aaboe Sloth with Favour Gersdorf (71.96%) and Carina Cassøe Krüth with Heiline‘s Danciera (72.17%) scored below their season averages too. But should Carl or Lottie have a day like Becky’s, while Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (Mount St John Freestyle) and Daniel Bachmann Andersen (Flash Gordon 37) both ride to form, that gap could close quickly.

Elsewhere, expect Belgium and the Netherlands to rise up the leaderboard, and the battle between Canada and the US looks tight – it would be quite the boost for the Canadians to come out on top.

Team standings after day one

1. Germany – 75.963
   Frederic Wandres (Bluetooth OLD) 75.963%
   Raphael Netz (Great Escape Camelot) 73.338% (discard)
   
2. Great Britain – 73.820
   Becky Moody (Jagerbomb) 73.820%
   Fiona Bigwood (Donna Bella) 69.348% (discard)
   
3. Australia – 72.391
   Simone Pearce (Will Marq) 72.391%
   Mary Hanna (Ivanhoe) 67.267% (discard)
   
4. Sweden – 72.376
   Therese Nilshagen (Navarro) 72.376%
   Rebecca Mauléon (Johnnie Walker BCN) 68.711% (discard)
   
5. Denmark – 72.174
   Carina Cassøe Krüth (Heiline's Danciera) 72.174%
   Nadja Aaboe Sloth (Favour Gersdorf) 71.956% (discard)
   
6. Portugal – 71.398
   João Miguel Torrao (Lirio MVL) 71.398%
   Vasco Mira Godinho (Marques Dos Cedros) 68.680% (discard)
   
7. Austria – 70.730
   Felicita Simoncic (Four Legends) 70.730%
   Ulrike Prunthaller (Fleur TSF) 68.665% (discard)
   
8. United States – 70.606
   Kasey Perry-Glass (Heartbeat W.P.) 70.606%
   Meagan Davis (Toronto Lightfoot) 67.624% (discard)
   
9. Canada – 70.559
   Camille Carier Bergeron (Finnlanderin) 70.559%
   Denielle Gallagher (Come Back de Massa) 68.074% (discard)
   
10. Belgium – 69.690
    Jeroen Devroe (Lestor) 69.690%
    Wim Verwimp (Jedai de Massa) 68.121% (discard)
    
11. Netherlands – 69.503
    Rowena Weggelaar (Don Quichot) 69.503%
    Thamar Zweistra (Hexagons Mr Magnum N.O.P.T.) 65.342% (discard)
    
12. Spain – 68.913
    Severo Jurado Lopez (Flaconi W) 68.913%
    Lucia Gallardo (Hip by Johnson) 68.370% (discard)
    
13. Finland – 68.509
    Ville Vaurio (Dante NL) 68.509%
    Anu Sironen (Ypajan Fioretto) 65.373% (discard)
    
14. Switzerland – 67.795
    Estelle Wettstein (Quaterboy) 67.795%
    
15. France – 67.407
    Alizee Roussel (Bel Amour) 67.407%
    Bertrand Liegard (Ginger) 65.637% (discard)
    
16. Poland – 67.282
    Roy First (Infinity Win T) 67.282%
    Hubert Jankowski (Guerlain) 66.506% (discard)
    
17. Ireland – 66.289
    Kevin Acres (Ganesh) 66.289%
    Alex Baker (Top Gear) 64.596% (discard)
    
18. Brazil – 66.273
    Nuno Chaves De Almeida (Noga) 66.273%
    Manuel Rodrigues Tavares De Almeida Neto (Hermes) 60.761% (discard)
    
19. Thailand – 65.078
    Suphajit Vuntanadit (Wall Street JV) 65.078%

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Becky Moody and Jagerbomb endured a rollercoaster grand prix test at the Dressage World Championships in Aachen, scoring 73.82%.

The test got off to a difficult start – Jagerbomb did not settle in the halt, then moved off with tremendous power through the collected trot and broke into canter in the first extension.

It was a costly mistake, dropping their running score into the low 40s after just two movements and leaving Becky with a mountain to climb. To her great credit, she clawed back plenty of marks from there, the piaffe a particular highlight. But it was not quite enough – just as they found a rhythm, another small error would creep in, like a lurch out of the second pirouette that drew groans from the crowd, right after a stellar first pirouette.

“It was certainly not the mark that I wanted to put on the board for the team, but after a difficult start, we did probably some of our best piaffes – the first one was good,” Becky said. “The trot half-passes were better in the test than they were in the warm-up. I was pleased that I managed to pull as much of it back as I did, but obviously very, very frustrated with the bits that I didn’t get right.”

She traced the lapse in focus back to the size of the arena itself.

“It’s always that balance with him – I love it when he’s hotter like that; it really is how I want him,” she explained. “But I just lost a little bit more of his focus than I would normally do.

“I think it’s just such an unusual arena. It’s incredible, and it's huge, but it's all quite far away, so I did just feel his focus went too far away from me. When everything is closer, I somehow feel like he stays a little bit closer. It's just knowing how they’re going to react in an arena like that, and I just have to learn from it and hopefully come back better for the next one.”

Mentally, she treated the mistakes as something to manage in the moment rather than dwell on. “It’s definitely something as a top competition rider you have to be able to do – not focus on the mistake that’s happened, but really go to ‘what can I do to try to either pull it back or at least not lose any more’,” she explained. “My focus was really on just doing the rest of the work without taking unnecessary risks, but trying to get the best marks I could.”

Becky Moody Aachen grand prix: the fightback

The good work that came with the fightback only sharpened Becky’s frustration. “It makes it even more frustrating,” she said. “It’s the wonderful sport that we do, that it's a little bit like this. But we just focus on the good bits and go away and make sure the bad bits don’t happen again.”

Looking ahead to the special, she doesn’t expect to change her approach too much. “I don’t think so, really – maybe just be a little bit more prepared for how he’s going to be,” she said.

“I know the special really suits him – you go straight into the extension still, but I’d probably be a bit more cautious with the first extension. Otherwise, the test really helps to get them focused and with you, with all the transitions, the changes and the half-passes. So in some ways, that test is more helpful when he's like that.”

Coming out of the ring, Becky spoke to her teammate and coach Carl Hester, and his message was simple: “Don’t beat yourself up.”

Away from the personal disappointment, though, this score carries real weight for Britain’s medal picture – which was riding on every score in this line-up.

Becky’s grand prix season average coming into Aachen was 76.43%, well above today’s 73.82% – which makes this score a blow to Britain’s gold medal hopes. The Germans were arguably favourites on home soil regardless, and with Becky’s contribution already several points shy of her own season form, Britain are now facing a much longer shot at gold – needing a massive day two from Carl and anchor Lottie Fry, and more than a little help from the hosts, to stay in the conversation.

It certainly looked like Becky came out all guns blazing, aiming for a big score, but she insisted the race for gold hadn’t crossed her mind in the test. “To be honest, I don’t actually think that really factored in. It’s just an incredible show to be at, and you're always just trying to do your best,” she said. “I was a little bit, ‘Oh, the Germans on home soil, we’ve not a chance,’ in so many ways – because for my mentality, that’s almost better for me to deal with, then I don’t put the pressure on myself quite as much. But I know that Carl and Lottie will absolutely come out fighting tomorrow, so we'll see what they can do.”

Of course, anything can happen in an arena like Aachen, as Becky’s own test showed. Averages and season form can only tell you so much – on the day, it’s the horse in front of you, not the horse on paper, that decides it. That’s the nature of top-level sport.

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Eleven years ago, Fiona Bigwood rode a 10-year-old mare to European silver in Aachen.

On Tuesday, she brought the same story back to the same city: her home-bred Donna Bella, daughter of that mare, Atterupgaards Orthilia, was also 10 years old when she went first into the ring for the British team at the FEI Dressage World Championships, scoring 69.35% – a little below the mare’s season average.

“It’s really nice to bring her daughter here and do the same thing – a really special moment,” Fiona said. “They’re both very similar, they both go and try their hardest. It’s lovely to have brought her here.”

Donna Bella was hesitant in the early movements – spooking slightly at the cameras – and broke into 17 one-time changes rather than the required 15. But with the pressure eased in some ways – this score was always likely to be the British discard – Fiona could focus on what mattered most for a green horse: giving Donna Bella a positive, confidence-building round.

“I’m absolutely delighted,” Fiona said. “She hasn’t done a huge amount of grands prix, and to come to one of the biggest venues in the world and do that… she’s unbelievable.

“I just wanted to go in and give her confidence, a nice round, getting her used to all this. Hopefully, it’s a long time I’m on her now – you’ve just got to start building everything up. It’s another stage in her training and her career.

“She was with me; she literally locks on, knows what I want, and is really trying for me, and I just can’t ask any more from her at the moment. I’m so pleased with her.”

On the mistakes in the one-time changes, she added: “The one-tempis are the ones that are really irritating – I thought I had it, and then two more.

“I had the 15, I thought I’d got her to stop. And then she did two more. It was my fault, rider error. But the whole year she’s hardly made any mistakes, so it’s okay.”

The same instinct to protect a young horse’s confidence ran through her whole round. Fiona chose not to spend too long in the 10-minute box – walking in alongside Carl Hester, who coaches her, riding a couple of walk-to-piaffe transitions and less than a minute of trot before entering the arena.

“She’s quite a hot mare, so we just try to keep her really calm, really chilled,” Fiona said. “She wants to give too much, so Carl’s last words to me were, ‘You’re doing fine, just keep her walking, keep her really calm and go and enjoy it’.”

She added that she didn't over-ask in any of the movements: "She’s 10, and in the extensions you’re probably better off instead of asking for the eights and nines, playing it safe and getting a nice seven rather than risking a break.

“I just wanted to give her confidence in there, because I could feel as I was coming in she was thinking, ‘This is a bigger atmosphere than I’ve ever been in.’ So I just wanted to give a nice, confident round.”

Fiona rode with a loose contact on the curb rein – as H&H website editor Carol Phillips noted in the live blog – but Fiona explained that it isn’t always deliberate. “It’s just a habit that I do; it’s nothing on her. Normally she’s ridden in the snaffle, but she’s absolutely fine in the double.”

Asked whether Donna Bella could go on to have a similar career to her dam, Fiona had no doubts: “Absolutely. I love that mare – she’s got the brain and the talent. Over the winter I’ve got a period to improve, obviously I know there's stuff that needs improving, and hopefully she’ll come back stronger next year.”

Will Fiona Bigwood qualify for the special?

Fiona faces an anxious wait to see if her 69.35% is enough to qualify for the special. 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 dropped since Herning, suggesting this year's cut-off may land nearer the lower end of that range. Results are trending a little lower at Aachen than expected – but not by much.

Global Dressage Analytics estimates a score of around 70.5% will be needed to make it through. H&H’s own best estimate is a mid-to-high 69% score.

At 69.35%, Fiona sits below both estimates for the cut-off – it’s not over yet, but she’ll likely need the rest of the field to underperform to sneak into the special.

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