AACHEN, Germany--The U.S. finished with six gold medals, thanks to an incredibly talented group of Para Dressage riders, and two bronze medals.

Kate Shoemaker on Vianne won three gold medals (Photo by Kim MacMillan) Aachen put on a spectacularly successful World Championship that included six disciplines, Jumping, Eventing, Dressage, Para Dressage, Driving and Vaultiing, and added in a new, three event competition for U25 riders.

The World Championship drew enormous entries, with many nations competing for their first time in a championships, and all those new nations competed quite well. a great indication of the future for equestrian sport.

Jumping had teams from 31 countries plus individuals from other countries, Eventing had  teams from 16 countries plus individuals, and Dressage had teams from 19 countries.

Rebecca Hart, Fiona Howard, Kate Shoemaker and Marie Vonderheyden won the Para Dressage Team gold medal, Howard,Shoemaker and Vonderheyden each won their Freestyle gold medal, and Shoemaker and  Vonderheyden also won gold in the Grand Prix.

The Eventing team of Will Coleman, Phillip Dutton, Boyd Martin and Caroline Pamukcu won the Eventing team bronze medal, rising from fifth after dressage to fourth after cross country and up to third with three clean round in jumping to finish third.

Coleman finished fourth individually.

 

PQMUKCU'S horse, HSH Blake, suffered from a bad case of hives,, but he wasn't allowed any medication.

Chester Weber, individual bronze (Photo by Sarah Miller for MacMillan Photo)Usually avery reliable cross country horse, Blake, clearly not feeling well, left a leg badly over a fence cross country, and he threw Pamukcu to the ground when he almost fell, causing her elimination.

Good news for the Eventing team's future is that Tamie Smith has an exciting new 10-year-old mount in Lillet 3.

Smith, competing as an individual, was eighth after dressage, a score that would be a huge help to future teams, and 18th after a careful cross country, but Lillet suffered a grab from an over-reach cross country and didn't compete in jumping.

Chester Weber won the bronze medal in Driving after setting a record with his dressage score as he continues to be a power in Driving, while Taran Lester, in his first World Championship, helped the team to a fifth place finish.

The Jumping team had two substitutions just before the World Championship,, with Katie Dinan replacing Marilyn Little and Baloutinue replacing Bisquetta as Laura Kraut's mount.

Lille Keenan, Kraut and McLain Ward finished on 16.95 after Dinan pulled up and withdrew in the Team Jumping.

Will Coleman on Diabolo, fourth individually in Eventing (Photo by Sarah Miller for MacMillan Photo)Had she kicked on and jumped the water after crashing through C of the combination, as many people felt she could have, that team result may well have been different, but the team finished fourth, just one rail behind the bronze medal team of Great Britain.

In U25 Jumping, JJ Torano won the Speed with a beautifully ridden, very fast round despite suffering from a very bad cold, and despite having a rail down was on the gold medal team of mixed countries.

In Dressage, the U.S. in past years was fairly consistently in the medals, most often bronze.

But the team of Ashley Holzer, Kasey Perry-Glass,Christian Simonson and Genay Vaughn finished eighth.

The only light for the future is Simonson, who at least qualified for both the Grand Prix Special and the Freestyle.

Vaulting has never been a strong point for the U.S., and the team's best placing was one sixth place finish in a Female test.

Half a million spectators watched outstanding sport across the six disciplines, with the German team, in particular, competing on home ground, winning seven gold, five silver and eight bronze medals, to lead the medal table.

The U.S.was second and Great Britain was third with 4 wins and a total of 13 medals.

“We saw exceptional performances across all disciplines and a wonderful mix of established champions and a remarkable new generation of athletes, said Ingmar De Vos, President of the FET (Federstion International Federation).

 “Aachen 2026 has exceeded even our very high expectations.” said De Vos.

He said that the combination between world-class sport, outstanding organization, excellent facilities, passionate audiences and six disciplines coming together created an even stronger experience than hoped for.

“With Aachen 2026, we have provided a blueprint for a modern FEI World Championship, demonstrating that a major multi discipline Championship can be delivered at the highest level while creating a fantastic experience for athletes, horses, spectators and the wider community,” said De Vox.

“What the horses achieve and how they fight for us and our sport is a special gift,: said Stephanie Peters,Aachen event president. "They are so sensitive and intelligent, yet at the same time so strong and good-natured. Through their personalities and their interaction with humans, they deliver truly outstanding performances,”