A Battle of the Nations: One Pair Held at CHIO Aachen First Horse Inspection

2021 Aachen champions Will Coleman and Off The Record. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There are certain competitions that we find ourselves counting down to each year, and CHIO Aachen — northern Germany’s ‘World Equestrian Festival’ — is absolutely one of them. This brilliant, buzzy celebration of horse sport – and the people who love to watch it – feels a bit like Disneyland for the horse-obsessed, and we really can’t get enough of it, nor of the serious battle of the titans it puts on for us eventing folk.

So what’s the big deal with Aachen, anyway? Simply put, it’s the closest approximation to a major championship that we get in this sport, without actually being a major championship. There’s tonnes of atmosphere, a huge amount of buzz, and a Nations Cup-style team competition (though it’s not, crucially, a part of the FEI Nations Cup series, so any successes earned here won’t count towards the efforts being made by unqualified countries to earn a spot at Paris next year). Plus, now that the World Equestrian Games of old no longer exists, it’s also the only show in which the very best of all the FEI disciplines is showcased in one venue, which lends it a uniquely special feeling, if you’re into the idea of, say, grabbing a coffee next to Steve Guerdat or following Jessica von Bredow-Werndl into a spinny door, which we very much are. More pertinently, though, all these factors combine to create a great, pressurised litmus test for horses and riders who may go on to fight for medals at the real deal championships, and so each invited country’s selectors tend to put forward their creme-de-la-creme, and we get the chance to see, for example, the likes of fischerChipmunk go head to head with Banzai du Loir. It’s a seriously cool teaser – and performance indicator – ahead of this summer’s European Championships, and it’s also a great way to see which horses are being developed on the Paris pipeline with a year to go.

World Champions Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This week’s ground jury is made up of Judy Hancock of Great Britain, President Christian Steiner of Austria, and Edith Schless-Störtenbecker of Germany, who’ll pick up a gamut of vital roles: most immediately, they’ll be our judges for tomorrow’s dressage, which begins at the bright and early hour of 8.30 a.m. local time (that’s 7.30 a.m. BST or – prepare yourself, folks – 2.30 a.m. EST time). Then, it’s on to showjumping in the capacious, floodlight main arena with its 40,000 seats for the showjumping tomorrow evening, starting at 17.45 local time (16.45 BST/11.45 a.m. EST) – and that’ll set us up nicely for Saturday morning’s cross-country from 10.00 (9.00 a.m. BST/4.00 a.m. EST), which that busy ground jury will have signed off and approved earlier in the week, and in which we’ll crown our Aachen SAP Cup Champions of 2023.

But all of that is still yet to come: today, our ground jury had another, very important matter at hand — that of the first horse inspection, in which 44 horses were presented for ten assembled nations, plus a further six for Saturday night’s Jump & Drive relay competition, which pits teams of eventers, show jumpers, and carriage drivers against one another under the lights of the main arena.

Arthur Marx and Church’Ile. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though all the presented horses were accepted into the competition — eventually — there were two tense moments: firstly when Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier was asked to immediately re-present Ducati d’Arville, and secondly, when France’s Arthur Marx was asked the same while trotting up his Church’Ile. Though the former was then accepted into the competition, the latter was sent to the holding box; after a closer inspection by the resident vet, and a further re-presentation, he was then given the go-ahead.

The day will begin with a batch of twelve individual riders, before moving onto the eight teams. The first rider in the ring will be young German rising star Libussa Lübbeke, who rides Caramia 34, while US individuals Dan Krietl and Carmango will be seventh to go at 9.12 (8.12 a.m. BST/3.12 a.m. EST).

Ireland is first in that team draw, and their pathfinder will be a seriously reliable combo in Cathal Daniels and Rioghan Rua, who come down the centreline at 10.09 a.m. (9.09 a.m. BST/4.09 a.m. EST). They’ll be followed by a seriously competitive German team, and then by the on-form young Swiss team, before it’s the turn of the USA and their own pathfinders, Phillip Dutton and Z, who start at 10.30 (9.30 a.m. BST/4.30 a.m. EST). Our last pair in the ring will be Kiwi anchors Tim Price and Falco, who start at 14.19 (13.19 p.m. BST/8.19 a.m. EST). The US is seriously well-represented this week: as well as individual Dan and pathfinder Phillip, we’ve also got Liz Halliday-Sharp and Ocala Horse Properties and Debbie Palmer’s Miks Master C, who were third at Kentucky this spring; Tamie Smith and the Ahearn family’s Mai Baum, who were victorious there, and 2021 Aachen champions Will Coleman and Off The Record. Plus, there’s a more-than-honorary American on the Aussie squad: Cali girl Rebecca Braitling steps up for the team with Caravaggio. You can meet all the teams and their riders in our comprehensive form guide, and check out the full times for tomorrow here.

We’ll be bringing you full reports and galleries at the culmination of both phases tomorrow – plus lots of behind-the-scenes action and glimpses at the other world-class sport on show at this extraordinary show throughout the days to come, so keep it locked on EN to scratch all your Aachen itches. Plus, you can tune in to ClipMyHorse.TV to follow all the action – in eventing and elsewhere! – live. Go Eventing!

EN’s Coverage of CHIO Aachen is brought to you with support from Kentucky Performance Products and Ocala Horse Properties.

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