A few tears of joy already rolled down Katharina Hemmer’s cheeks hours before she stood on the podium as a World Team Champion – particularly as she rode down the final centerline of her Grand Prix test at midday. In her World Championship debut aboard Denoix PCH, the 32-year-old delivered a performance that thoroughly delighted her, the audience and her team. After the final salute, the national coach, Monica Theodorescu, repeatedly flung her arms toward the brilliant blue heavens in the Aachen sky, while Hemmer’s mentor and trainer, Hubertus Schmidt, stood by, visibly moved. The experience of watching, which he had described the day before as being even more nail-biting than riding himself, turned into a magical moment for his student.

Her score of 79.224 percent – her personal best – was an impressive demonstration of what is possible when a horse places its absolute trust in its rider. “Purzel,” as the 14-year-old chestnut gelding is affectionately called in the stable, had initially looked around with awe upon entering the impressive Main Stadium. Katharina Hemmer nevertheless remained calm, gave him a quick pat on the neck and rode with focus to the first salute – a mental feat the national coach later praised as being “incredibly strong.” “I am so proud of my horse,” remarked Hemmer, visibly moved. “Every now and then an ear would swivel to the side; I would then engage him with my aids, and he was immediately back with me. He gave everything for me today.” And that “everything” was noticeable in an excellent silhouette, elastic movements, an active piaffe, effortless transitions and precise pirouettes – the list of highlights is almost endless.

After Raphael Netz and Frederic Wandres had already delivered commanding performances the day before, it fell to the most successful rider of all time, Isabell Werth, to seal the deal for the German team. If anyone knows how to handle pressure, it is certainly the 57-year-old – even if her star mare, Wendy de Fontaine, let the electric atmosphere get her a little fired up. Amidst many excellent movements, they had one slight misunderstanding during the one-tempi changes, their final score was 79.876 percent. This secured the Team World Championship title for Germany once again – eight years after their triumph in Tryon (USA), which marks the tenth World Championship Gold for Isabell Werth and the first for her three teammates. “It is not something to be taken for granted, being part of the team here in Aachen again after 20 years,” said Werth, for whom this gold medal holds a very special significance.

Silver goes to Great Britain, Bronze to Denmark

The British team rode into the Silver medal position with a total score of 229.426 percent. Carl Hester delivered a commanding performance in the saddle of Fame, leaving no points on the table in the arena (77.314%). “I’ve been riding Grand Prix for 36 years now,” the British rider said with a smile. “But it’s a challenge every single time.” He had his little recipe for success in hand that morning: “I watched the best ride of my life on my smartphone and told myself: You just have to do it exactly the same way again.” Even the seasoned veteran was surprised at how focused his 16-year-old gelding, who has had a tendency to get distracted in the past, remained in spite of the imposing atmosphere at the Aachen Soers. “It was a great feeling to sense that the atmosphere didn’t break his concentration for a moment. It was as if he were saying: ‘We are going in there now and doing our job –just like we have done a hundred times before.’”

His teammate, Charlotte Fry, also had every reason to be delighted: Together with her four-legged partner, Glamourdale, with a strong score of 80.311 percent, the 2022 double World Champion largely contributed to the team total. The jet-black KWPN stallion seems to be maturing year by year; today, he appeared to be even more relaxed and self-assured without losing an iota of his expressive power – and the final centerline, in particular, impressively demonstrated that the pair is finding the right “buttons” with increasing confidence, even in the piaffe. “I am just delighted,” the 30-year-old said, beaming. “Glammy loves Aachen; he loves the crowd. It was simply a joy riding him here today.”

The Danish bronze medal-winning team included the day’s top performer: Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour – the Team World Champion from Herning 2022 – riding Mount St John Freestyle, a horse that previously won Team Bronze at the 2018 World Championships in Tryon. “We both have World Championship experience, but now we are doing it together for the first time,” said Laudrup-Dufour. And what a performance they delivered. The air of confidence exuded by the pair carried them through the entire test. Only a slight mistake during the transition out of the second piaffe marred the overall picture for a brief moment. That was the only error and the final scoreboard flashed out an outstanding 82.276 percent. “The people watching here are fair-minded horse enthusiasts; they appreciate good performances,” said the number one in the world rankings, delighted by the standing ovation following her test – a performance that, as she noted herself, revealed a few minor areas for fine-tuning in the coming days. “But for the first test in this impressive arena, I am really very happy.”

Her teammate, Daniel Bachmann Andersen, was also happy; earlier that morning, he had secured valuable points for the Danish team (74.876%). He has competed in four international Grand Prix tests so far aboard the Oldenburg gelding Flash Gordon – improving his performance each time. “He has so much expression, power and elasticity. But he has never seen an arena like this before,” said the 36-year-old. “I told myself: if he lets you ride him in there, then ride. And he did let me.”

The FEI Dressage World Championship continues on Friday with the MEGGLE-Prize—the Grand Prix Special. The top 30 athletes from the Individual Ranking presented by LONGINES are eligible to compete. In those rankings, the Belgian double European Champion, Justin Verboomen, riding Zonik Plus (80.885%), managed to squeeze in between the team medallists Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Charlotte Fry, to complete the top three.