All para-equestrian horses pass the vet check; the World Championships in Aachen: a childhood dream comes true

Anna-Lena Niehues is stressed. First, the constitutional review; then the press conference; and right after that, up on the horse for “familiarization”—in other words, getting to know the competition arena. “I thought I’d at least have a little time to chill here…,” the Grade IV rider gasps, out of breath, as she’s the last of the four riders on the German para-equestrian team to show up for the first media event of the World Championships week.

Niehues is a horse manager; she earned her high school diploma before starting her apprenticeship (“You never know what might happen”) and then took over the family business. She almost had to completely change career paths. In 2017, she underwent surgery to remove a tumor from her cervical spine, right next to her spinal cord. “When I woke up, I was completely paralyzed on my right side.” A nightmare. But Niehues says, “As I lay there in bed, I never asked myself, ‘Will I ever get back on a horse?’ That was completely clear to me.” In fact, she managed to walk and ride again much faster than the doctors had expected. Today she still limps, has less strength on her right side, and her arm’s reactions and movements are delayed. But she’s back in the thick of life—a pretty hectic one at that.

You can understand how someone might think that a world championship could be a break once you know how Niehues makes a living: The family runs a riding school with 40 horses, along with a vacation program and courses for earning riding badges. The latter have just come to an end (Niehues: “Very exciting for everyone involved, including me!”), and now it’s time to switch gears—instructor mode off, championship mode on.

At the World Championships, Niehues will compete with her Westphalian mare Vive l’Amour, a daughter of Dorothee Schneider’s Vainqueur out of a Christ dam (breeder: Josef Decking). The two have been a team since February 2025. Vive l’Amour came to Niehues’s stable as a training horse and was apparently not the easiest to ride. “She had little trust in people,” explains Niehues. Ground work, trail rides, and daily interaction—in other words, “building a friendship,” as Niehues puts it—helped. The pair has since enjoyed victories and placings in regular competition up to the M** level. With two second-place finishes at the most recent World Championship form check in Hagen, Niehues and Vive l’Amour have earned their spot on the World Championship team.

A Childhood Dream

Unlike her three teammates, 28-year-old Helen Brandt is looking forward to her championship debut. She’s perfectly prepared. Even her stud earrings sparkle in black, red, and gold. How is she feeling right now? “I’m very happy, but also incredibly excited.” She laughs; you can even hear the excitement in her voice. “But in a good way. Of course, you have goals, and of course there’s pressure to be successful. But for me, just being here is already a highlight.”

She earned her spot in the competition thanks, in part, to victories in Mannheim and Stadl Paura, each time with comfortable scores of 70 to 75 percent. She’ll be riding “Willi,” the eight-year-old Westphalian son of Vitalis named Vulkan Vegas. She discovered him on Facebook, where his trainer, Ann-Christin Wienkamp, had uploaded a video showcasing him for sale. “I drove out there and knew right away—this is my horse!” She was right.

Brandt suffers from a rare metabolic disorder, which severely limits her ability to use the left side of her body. Willi, however, quickly learned to adapt his approach to assisting her. In 2025, the two competed in their first season of para-sports. Now they’re in Aachen and on the World Championship team—a lifelong dream coming true for Brandt. “It’s even better than I could have ever imagined. When we arrived here, I went to the stable and saw all the flags hanging there, and my horse was looking at me—I looked over at my friend, who had pushed me in my wheelchair across the (music festival, Ed.)festival and has now come with me as my caretaker—I looked at her, had tears in my eyes, and said, ‘We’re really in Aachen …’”

The two

seasoned

veterans

The team is rounded out by two highly experienced and successful championship riders: Regine Mispelkamp (Grade V) and Heidemarie Dresing (Grade II). Both were in the fortunate position of having the difficult choice between two equally qualified horses with championship experience. Mispelkamp chose her two-time Paralympic partner Highlander Delight’s, the horse closest to her heart. Heidemarie Dresing will compete on the mare Poesie, with whom she was part of the European Championship gold-medal-winning team in Ermelo last year and with whom she became German champion in Grade II this year.

Mispelkamp, who became a three-time European champion last year riding Pramwaldhof’s Bayala, says “Light’s” is “in great shape.” And what about herself? “I’m someone who can handle stress very well. I stay focused and tune out everything around me. For me, the arena is always the same. We have to ride from X to X, and no one can help us.”

Dresing is looking forward to her debut with Poesie. “She’s a sensational horse! We’re a great match, though we had to get used to each other first—I’ve only had her for a year and a half. But there have been hardly any races where we didn’t win.”

Maybe even at this World Championship. A medal is definitely within reach—and not just for her.