Sunday horse inspections can be a tense affair, and at a major Championship the pressure rises exponentially. Following their big efforts on cross country yesterday, the hardworking grooms and care team for each horse spent a large portion of the evening on aftercare and recovery. Yesterday, standing at the mixed zone near the finish I was able to observe most of the horses coming home, and I was impressed that they largely looked fresh and fit for another run as they jumped the last.
This morning’s cool temperatures and packed grandstands yielded some spice, and our Final Horse Inspection was not without its drama, though all presented horses were ultimately accepted by the Ground Jury headed up by Anne-Mette Binder (DEN), Peter Gray (CAN) and Joanne Jarden (IRL).
Will Coleman and Diabolo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
First, a few withdrawals were noted on the leaderboard. Last night, both remaining Japanese horses (Vince de la Vigne JRA for Kento Nagura and Feroza Nieuwmoed for Ryuzo Kitajima) were withdrawn after cross country. This morning, a few more joined them. U.S. individual Tamie Smith opted to withdraw Molly Duda’s Lillet 3 after a fantastic cross country performance due to a “badly placed overreach,” Tamie posted on social media. Additionally, Carlos Parro (BRA) withdrew Safira and Daniel Dunst (AUT) withdrew Chevalier 97.
We did not see Nicolas Touzaint (FRA) present Diabolo Menthe at the jog, though initially he was not listed as withdrawn. This came later and he is now confirmed to be out of the competition. As of publication, there has been no statement made; we’ll update this post if there is one shared.
This withdrawal now eliminates France — placed sixth in team competition after cross country — and leaves them with two individual riders in Gaspard Maksud (Zaragoza) and Alexis Goury (Je’Vall). It’s worth a reminder that the top seven teams after today will earn a berth to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles; all others save the USA, the host nation, will subsequently need to find another path to qualify. Brazil (13th after cross country) and Austria (14th) are also eliminated from team competition with the withdrawal of Carlos Parro (BRA) and Daniel Dunst (AUT). Japan had already been eliminated with the fall of Toshiyuki Tanaka and Jefferson JRA.
Julia Krajewski and Uelzener’s Nickel. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
This morning, we also saw three horses sent to the holding box. Felix Vogg (SUI) was the first victim with Freida, who is 15th individually after cross country, and he was shortly thereafter joined in the hold by Germany’s Julia Krajewski with Uelzener’s Nickel. Both horses were later accepted upon re-presentation. Later, Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier was sent to the hold with Kiarado d’Arville, but she too was accepted on the next go.
Photo by Tilly Berendt.
So this leaves us with a total of 65 horses to see this afternoon in the grand finale. We’ll see the first 40 beginning at 1:00 pm CEST / 7 am EST, and that will be followed by the top 25 beginning at 3:30 CEST / 9:30 am EST. You can view the show jumping order of go here. Today’s jumping will be designed by Frank Rothenberger, who’s designing all show jumping for these World Championships and designs annually here at Aachen. He also was a course designer for the 2006 World Equestrian Games at this venue and has designed at major venues all over the world, so our eventers should be in for a proper challenge this afternoon. We’ll be bringing you a quick preview on our Instagram later today, so stay tuned.
A huge thank you to Kentucky Performance Products, who are supporting this week’s coverage. You can learn more about Kentucky Performance Products’ science-backed nutritional solutions here.
FEI Eventing World Championships for Seniors (Aachen, Germany): [Website] [Tickets] [Definite Entries by Country] [Timing & Team Scores] [Live Scoring] [Live Stream] [Official App – Apple] [Official App – Android] [EN’s Ultimate Guide] [EN’s Nations Form Guide] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Kentucky Performance Products]
