Newsletter Editorial, July 6, 2026: World Championship Dressage Roster, Thoughts on Raphael Netz, Lightness, and Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour

Dressage, as is often said, means improving—or rather, refining—a horse’s natural abilities through systematic training. Raphael Netz demonstrated just how that’s done last weekend in Hagen at the Nations Cup in dressage.

It’s the details that make all the difference

The pleasure of watching him ride begins even before the actual test. The calmness with which he enters the arena at a walk. The focused trot. A shoulder-in on the long side—the final fine-tuning before the warm-up. Then the test: every halt is confident, calm, and collected. The backing up—textbook-perfect. We’re all familiar with horses that can only shuffle backward because they’re guided around the arena with a stiff back—even if it’s to rack up points in the passage later on. It’s not uncommon for such horses to end up ahead of a pair like Raphael Netz and Great Escape Camelot. Because those horses possess more “fundamental quality.” That said, one might ask whether legs raised high in front—and, yes, in back as well—really represent that much more basic quality than a consistently supple back. Or than a horse that never loses the required rhythm in any of the basic gaits or any of the dressage movements.

A 12.5 for the impact

Raphael Netz knows how to bring out the best in his gelding’s natural abilities—both its strengths and its weaknesses. He truly celebrates dressage. If I could give a 12, it would be for the 27-year-old’s hands. That sensitive, feather-light touch toward the horse’s mouth. A touch you can’t see—but you can sense it. Not least from the expression on his riding partner’s face. When you witness the two of them, it’s not just empty rhetoric—it’s a sensory experience that makes your heart race. I’m just going to go out on a limb and give a 12.5!

If you’re looking for an answer to many perfectly valid questions about dressage: 10 letters, starting with an “R” (I’ll leave it up to each and every one of you to figure out the answer).

Shaping Horses and Bringing Out Their Radiance

When Raphael Netz was nine years old, he got a Haflinger named Aki—who was three at the time—and taught him all sorts of tricks. He competed with him up to the Prix St. Georges level. Perhaps that experience also shaped him and helped him develop the conviction that you can make it to the top even with horses that have a few less “horsepower.”

As long as you ride them the right way.

And the world can now see exactly how he does it at the World Championships in Aachen, because Netz is on the dressage team that was named on Monday afternoon!

Horses Sought—and Found…

Finding the right horse isn’t easy. Many people are currently wondering whether they should even get a new horse at all. All I can say is: Yes!

Even though it may be difficult, to paraphrase Loriot, a life without a horse is possible, but pointless.

And I’m not writing this just because, as of July 1, we’ve been partnering with ehorses, the world’s largest online horse marketplace—which we’re very excited about! (If you’d like to check it out, click here to go directly to the horses for sale.)

Even though we’re focusing a bit more on dressage this Monday—the big tournament in Falsterbo, Sweden, is coming up this week. Here’s another tip: In addition to the five-star show jumping and the derby, there’s something we’re already looking forward to: Danish rider Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour will be riding her new freestyle routine for the first time. I’m guessing we’re not the only (Germans) who’ll be watching very closely.

With this in mind, best regards and see you next Monday!

Jan Tönjes

jan.toenjes@equi-pages.de

This is the EQUI PAGES Newsletter

This article was first published on June 22, 2026. Every Monday, Jan Tönjes provides commentary on current events in our weekly newsletter on EQUI PAGES.

Plus: The week’s top stories from our various sections—for everyone who wants to know on Mondays what happened and what’s coming up this week!

YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER HERE!