National Team Coach Otto Becker announces the roster for the 2026 League of Nations Final in Barcelona

Following yesterday’s decision in St. Tropez, we now know which eight of the world’s top show jumping teams will face off on October 4 at the League of Nations Final in Barcelona. And we know who won’t be there: the Netherlands and Switzerland.

However, Germany had already secured its spot in the tournament, so national team coach Otto Becker had time to decide who he wanted to send to this prestigious season-ending event. This is the team he selected:

• Marcus Ehning with Coolio


• Sophie Hinners with Iron Dames My Prins


• Jörne Sprehe with Toys


• Richard Vogel with Cloudio

The trio of Ehning, Vogel, and Hinners has not only performed exceptionally well at this year’s World Championships but also on other occasions. For example, Hinners’ My Prins—who had recovered from an injury and was the 2025 European Championship bronze medalist—was the only horse at Spruce Meadows to complete two clear rounds. In addition, the three were already part of the team that took third place last year. Germany had won in both 2023 and 2024.

What’s

surprising is

the

selection

for the reserve spot

. National team coach Becker has chosen Kendra Claricia Brinkop and the BWP-approved stallion Replay van’t Paradijs, who is just nine years old. He represented Germany for the first time at a five-star Nations Cup in Hickstead. In the first round, he still had to acclimate: eight penalty points. But in the second round, he jumped clear.

Incidentally, the stallion is not only highly interesting as a competitor but also from a breeding perspective. Just look at his pedigree: Bamako de Muze-Emerald-Heartbreaker-Nabab de Reve-Lys de Darmen-Lugano van la Roche. And the performance record of the entire line is also impressive. Replay not only has a full sister, Mona Lisa van’t Paradies, who has also been successful at heights over 1.60 meters, but also a niece—Pretty Woman van’t Paradijs, owned by Willem Greve—who has won a World Cup jumping competition. But that’s just an aside.

The

”

”

Format

The League of Nations final will be held using the same format as the individual stages: in the first round, all four riders from a team compete, and one result is discarded. In the second round, however, only three pairs per nation compete, and every result counts. Just how much this format can turn the results upside down was evident yesterday in St. Tropez.