Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Quidditch dressage at the World Championships in Aachen—not quite what could have been

Yesterday, at the opening press conference for the Eventing World Championships in Aachen, cross-country specialist Andreas Dibowski had said that the hot outside temperatures were actually an advantage for the cross-country horses (which is why the start times for the Grand Prix Special will change tomorrow— a separate announcement will follow regarding this). He noted that in dressage, the horses would be calmer, and in cross-country, the weather wouldn’t bother them. The “calmer” part may apply to some horses, but not to Malin Hansen-Hotopp’s 14-year-old Holsteiner gray Quidditch K. “It was like riding a volcano,” was the 2025 European Team Champion’s conclusion. And by that she didn’t mean the outside temperatures above 30° or the ground (“The ground is really, really, really great. Huge kudos to the organizers!”).

36 degrees and Quidditch is getting even hotter

At first, everything was great—Quidditch trotted beautifully, with expressive, elegant posture, rhythmic in the lateral movements, and responsive in the transitions. The halt came a bit abruptly. But you won’t see a better collection in any Grand Prix horse. By then, the scores were already pouring in—7.5s and 8s. The score (1) lit up on the scoreboard several times. “He moved really well. I was able to keep him nicely forward and up in contact and drive him forward. The trot sequence was really great,” Malin described her feeling in the saddle.

Then came the stride—and everything was still fine. One of the tricky parts of the task, however, is breaking into the canter at C on the outside track. Here, Quidditch broke into the canter incorrectly—that is, in a hand canter. “He was probably so fired up and focused on other things. That’s why we had that misunderstanding.” From that moment on, the outside temperatures weren’t even needed to get Quidditch “on fire.” He was already hot enough on his own. Nevertheless, Malin managed to guide him through the canter sequence largely without errors and even demonstrated some truly expressive flying changes. Everything went well until the last center line. After turning away, Quidditch threw in a change that wasn’t in the script.

“I wanted to push him up, but he wasn’t quite through. I noticed that in the last turn. That’s when I sat back a little too hard, which I’d been avoiding the whole time. That was really frustrating. But I’m super satisfied with everything else and totally happy that we managed to pull it off like this despite the tension and are still in the running.” However, she also has to admit that she would have preferred a different number before the decimal point. “I would have preferred a score of 25 or 26. He’s been absolutely sensational in dressage this season. But still, I’m proud that we stayed under 30 despite the mistakes.”

No Dressage Competition

And one thing is clear: This competition won’t be decided by dressage. “A real World Championship course,” says Malin about the cross-country. “It’s definitely going to be tough!” She’s already walked the course once and is familiar with the direct routes. The next step is to memorize the alternative routes. “I’ll probably walk the course about five times.” Walking it once without a briefing takes about an hour and a half.

The Current Standings: Top Teams Neck and Neck

After the first two riders, the top teams are separated by only a few points—or rather, tied, since New Zealand and Great Britain both have 55.9 penalty points and are thus tied for the lead. For New Zealand, Jonelle Price on Senor Crocodillo (27.2 penalty points) and Clarke Johnstone on Rocket Man (28.7) scored points. Tomorrow, Monica Spencer on Artist and Tim Price on Falco will take to the arena for the Kiwis.

Gemma Stevens on Flash Cooley (29.3) and Tom McEwen on JL Dublin (26.6) did a great job representing the British colors today. Tomorrow, Laura Collett will ride London and Ros Canter will ride Lordships Graffalo.

Germany—where Libussa Lübbeke competed today alongside Malin Hansen-Hotopp—is in third place with 59.9 penalty points, close behind the top teams. Switzerland follows closely behind (61.6), ahead of France (64.1) and the U.S. (64.9). A total of 16 teams are competing.

You can find all the results here.