Newsletter: World Championships, Day 8: The Dirty Work, Water Damage, Show Jumping Horse Fitness Test, Training Tip from Monica Theodorescu

A Herculean task—mucking out at a rapid pace. I have no idea how many Herculeses the team in Aachen hired. Unlike the Greek hero, who had to struggle with mundane cattle manure—colloquially known as s…—in the Augean stables, all that had to be done in Aachen was to remove the horse droppings from the first week. But they did it in record time. The last show jumping and vaulting horses were loaded up at night, then it was time to grab the manure forks. By eight o’clock this morning, everything was clean and disinfected. Whether the toilet paper in the stable restrooms was folded into that distinctive triangle at the end is beyond my knowledge. Probably so.

Why is Germany so successful in dressage?

The changeover day is a chance to catch your breath a bit. Across from the cathedral, there was an event hosted by the World Horse Library, a project of the University of Caen. It was a symposium designed to get to the bottom of why the Germans are so successful in dressage. One theory: It’s due to German thoroughness. No one in the international audience wanted to disagree with that. We’re just picky. Dr. Britta Schöffmann had prepared a historical overview and clearly highlighted the difference between the art of riding and the sport of dressage, without forgetting their common foundation. National team coach Monica Theodorescu and Kyra Kyrklund, who coaches Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, among others, took part in the discussion, as did former international judge Bernard Maurel. It was both interesting and informative. An article about it will be available soon on EQUI PAGES. Dirk Willem Rosie explored the economic aspects. The Dutchman had asked horse dealers about their pricing calculations. His conclusion: The German horse industry is a gold mine. My conclusion: I must have taken a wrong turn there—financially speaking.

By the way , Monica Theodorescu shared a tip she likes to pass on during dressage training: Just watch a video of Michael Jung riding cross-country—low hands, with the upper body position determining the pace—that’s how to ride properly.

The show jumpers are here and ready for training jumps

The first trucks arrived today at 8:02 a.m.—or rather, almost all of them. That caused a traffic jam during unloading. The World Cup traffic service had to report, “There are currently delays at Aachen’s Soers due to extremely heavy traffic; you should plan on an additional two hours here.” PIIIIEP. “And now for Joachim Witt’s biggest hit from the ’80s… Hey, hey, hey, I’m the Golden Rider.”

Not only have the show jumpers arrived, but so have their riders. Only one was late: Olympic champion Christian Kukuk, who is participating as a reserve. He has water damage in his new house. The team riders trotted their horses during the fitness test. Sophie Hinners received a 10.0 from judge Dominique Wehrmann for her technique and elasticity. Marcus Ehning had his horse inspected. His knee has healed, but it’s best not to run on it just yet.

Today is the practice jumping session. Divided into groups, the teams are allowed into the stadium. Germany drew starting position 34. The team is in the third group, which is allowed into the stadium starting at 1:00 p.m. So starting at 2:15 p.m. at the earliest, we’ll get a sense of how United Touch S, Singclair, Otello van de Guldenboom, Coolio, and Checker are performing. And we’ll see how the horses from the other nations are doing. I promise a photo gallery plus thoroughly researched facts for this afternoon.

With that in mind—see you tomorrow!

Jan Tönjes
jan.toenjes@equi-pages.de

This is the EQUI PAGES newsletter—published daily from Aachen during the World Equestrian Games

This text was first published on August 18, 2026.

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