Let the games begin!
This morning’s First Horse Inspection for the eventers at the FEI Eventing World Championships Aachen 2026 was our first real opportunity to lay eyes on the 88 competitors who have come forward to represent their countries. Presided over by the Ground Jury headed up by Anne-Mette Binder (GER), joined by Peter Gray (CAN) and Joanne Jarden (IRL), the Horse Inspection yielded its fair share of drama.
With horse welfare ever at the present, the Ground Jury and veterinary team at each show is tasked with assessing readiness to compete. Today’s inspection took place inside Stadium 2, which will be the site of dressage for the eventers over the next two days. There is plenty of atmosphere in this stadium, which is a different location for dressage than typical, and it adds the element of dressage on grass versus footing; the last time we did dressage on grass in this stadium was in 2021, the year CHIO Aachen was won by the USA’s Will Coleman and Off the Record. With the jog strip located right up against the grandstand and spectators packed in, there were more than a few high-spirit moments with eight riders asked to jog their horses twice.
We also did have three holds, all of which were accepted upon re-presentation out of the holding box: Matěj Sukdolák and Quad for the Czech Republic, Libussa Lübbeke and Caramia FRH for Germany, and Sanne de Jong and Enjoy for the Netherlands.
Shortly after the jog, the Chef d’Equipes for the team nations submitted their running orders. We already knew the order in which we’ll see the nations come forward (view that here), but here’s what we know so far:
Will Coleman and Diabolo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
For the USA, Phillip Dutton and Denim will be the pathfinders and subsequently the first to see in dressage and on cross country Saturday (the U.S. is fourth in the nation order). Kentucky CCI5* champions Will Coleman and Diabolo will be the anchor final riders out, and Tamie Smith will ride Lillet 3 as an individual competitor. For the defending World Champion Germans, Libussa Lübbeke and Caramia FRH will be the pathfinders, with Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH serving as anchors. The full running order for dressage is now available here.
Dressage gets underway on Thursday, August 13 at 9:30 am CEST / 3:30 am EST (refer to this website for handy time zone conversions elsewhere in the world), with Austria’s Daniel Dunst and Chevalier 97, making their World Championships debut, leading us off. You’ll be able to tune in live with a subscription to ClipMyHorse.TV here. You can also follow along with Cheg Darlington’s live blog here on EN for all phases; we’ll kick things off with a new style of live blog featuring judging break updates throughout both dressage days.
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