WM Aachen Newsletter, Day 13: Star-Studded Final Lineup, Stewards, and What the British Bronze Medal Has to Do with Carpets and Sofas

The finaaaale! You don’t have to act like a soccer fan, but you can really feel a collective sigh of relief—especially among the colleagues who took on “the complete Aachen.” Every discipline, every day. Kimberley from the U.S. says she slept five hours last night and three hours each of the previous nights. The reason (not that any of us got much more sleep) starts with Z and ends with “time zone shift.” Over on the East Coast of the States, it’s afternoon, and anyone who still has to deliver to print magazines (some of which still exist) runs into layout artists and editors there who, at 3 p.m., are thinking, “It’s about time some texts and photos started coming in from Germany.” And headlines, and so on.

The show jumpers had to put on their white riding breeches only once yesterday, for the warm-up during the fitness test. As expected, none of the German horses had any problems.

The Paras had reason to celebrate: silver in the team competition. Today is freestyle day. For the riders, yesterday was the premier event: the marathon. The weather was sometimes favorable for riding, sometimes not. Rain—but not as bad as the night before last—then sunshine again. The moisture does have one upside. The farmers will have less plowing to do after the World Championships wrap up—the teams have already taken care of that today. Germany is in fourth place after this strenuous effort, which also demands a great deal of concentration. Compared to the obstacles faced by eventing riders, those faced by drivers are many times more complex. Even more options, even more confusing—and all of it with four horses.

Today, the drivers will have to prove themselves on the bowling alley. A colleague in the press office was thrilled that people are getting together to go bowling. Yessss, let me put it this way: “A strike.”

Even though the freestyle competition seems like it was months ago, I heard today that not all stewards were happy with the official wording used when supervising the warm-up. You’re not supposed to say, “Hey, that horse is turning too tight.” That would be an accusation. Instead, there are English-language guidelines that, loosely translated, go something like this: “Excuse me, I’m afraid I’ve gotten the impression that, perhaps unintentionally, you’ve been riding your horse with a bit too much pressure on the reins over the past few minutes, and it almost seems to me as if the horse’s nose-to-forehead line might have briefly dropped slightly below the vertical. I think we can agree that this was not at all intentional, and therefore I would very much appreciate it if you could perhaps let the reins out a little more.”

If nothing has changed after five minutes, the stewards are therefore not allowed to be any more direct, but must repeat the entire rambling lecture once again. This group, which is so important to the smooth running of the tournament, finds this anything but acceptable.

That said—flight attendants who aren’t busy checking seatbelt buckles but are instead serving drinks will probably just smile pityingly at that. The bored expressions they’re met with when they explain that “the emergency exits—two in the front section, four above the wings, and two in the rear section—are marked with the word EXIT” and that “in the highly unlikely event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will automatically drop from the cabin ceiling,” are probably just as motivating. (The podcast ERZÄHL MIR WAS VOM PFERD once did an episode on how flight attendants work.)

At other tournaments, the second time around, the remark is probably quite different. “Hey, you, I see that.” And said in a tone that flight attendants would surely love to use when someone asks for more pepper in their tomato juice.

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Be that as it may. We’ve already returned our seats to an upright position and buckled up again—the flight through six disciplines is drawing to a close. We’ve encountered so many wonderful horses on this journey. One of them is Scott Brash’s mare Hello Mango, whom we profiled yesterday (and who found her way to Aachen thanks to rugs and sofas). But among the para-equestrian horses (Poesie), the dressage horses (Mauro Turfhorst), and the eventing horses (Erin), there are also quite a few that have left a lasting impression on us. This list is by no means exhaustive!

Let’s see how things turn out in today’s show jumping final. A (yet another) German world champion would certainly be the icing on the cake. But in the end, may the best rider win. Or the best rider…

The competition kicks off at 2:20 p.m. with the top 25 pairs. If time permits, we’ll go over the course. Just a reminder: Daniel Deußer and Steve Guerdat (SUI) are tied for the lead with 0.86 points. A knockdown—which we wouldn’t wish on either of them—would send them tumbling down to ninth place. That’s how close the competition is. And just as a reminder: Marcus Ehning is fourth (1.78), Sophie Hinner is fifth (1.84), and Richard Vogel is twelfth (5.38). Here is the starting list.

Starting at 4:20 p.m., the B final featuring the top ten competitors will determine who gets to raise the gold medal toward the—hopefully dry—Aachen sky from the podium.

With that in mind, here’s my request one last time: Keep your fingers crossed! And …

… until Monday (that is, tomorrow),

Jan Tönjes

jan.toenjes@equi-pages.de

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

This text was first published on August 23, 2026.

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