Classic Eventing Nation

Follow Along with the Action from Aachen: Live Blog from the Cross Country at CHIO Aachen

By on Jul 5, 2025 3:49 am -

The finish flags beckon. Photo by Sally Spickard.

The eventing competition over in Aachen is well underway with both dressage and show jumping having taken place yesterday, meaning we’re in for one heck of a finale this morning as the international field take on course designer Giuseppe della Chiesa’s inaugural cross country offering.

Not only are the competitors duking it out for individual glory, but there’s team standings at stake too.

Here’s a look at how the leaderboards are looking as we head into the final phase of the competition:

1️⃣ 🇳🇿 Top of the class *with a clear show jumping round* is none other than will-he-won’t-he-oh-boy-how-many Vitali, who proved what Tim Price has been telling us along along when he left all the poles in the cups to hold onto his lead after dressage. They’re on a score of 27.3, just 1.8 penalties (4 seconds) ahead of the rest of the field.

2️⃣ 🇬🇧 Hot on their heels in second is Bubby Upton with her 18-year-old pal Cannavaro, who came back to the big time with a bang, posting a sub-30 dressage score and adding nothing over the colored poles to sit on 29.1.

3️⃣ 🇬🇧 A two-second smidge behind Bubby is teammate Tom McEwen and this year’s Kentucky 5* fifth-placer Brookfield Quality. They remain on their dressage score of 28.9.

🇺🇸 Best of the US is Boyd Martin, who’s going Commando 3 in Aachen with his exciting Kentucky 5* runner-up. They’re in 10th, still on their dressage score of 33.8.

You’ll find the full individual leaderboard right here.

As far as the team competition stands, this is how things are looking:

1️⃣ 🇬🇧 Great Britain 91.2

2️⃣ 🇳🇿 New Zealand 94.4

3️⃣ 🇩🇪 Germany 101.1

4️⃣ 🇺🇲 USA 107.6

You’ll find the full team leaderboard right here.

It all kicks off today at 9:55am CEST / 3:55am ET when the US team will get their cross country campaign underway with pathfinders Caroline Pamukcu and HSS Blake. Huge shout out to any US eventing superfans who’ve peeled themselves from their slumber to follow along this morning – we salute you 🫡

While we’re waiting for the first countdown of the day, here are some links for your perusal:

▶️ [Dressage Report]
▶️ [Show Jumping Report]
▶️ [Cross Country Preview]

Before get down to business, a little ‘refresher’ on the no. 1 rule of following EN’s classic live blog: refresh, refresh, refresh – and all will be revealed.

If you’re catching up with this later and are the type to like things in order, scroll ⬇️ and read ⬆️. If going backwards is more your jam, have at it.

We’re double-booted over in Germany, with both Tilly and Sally living it large at Aachen and bringing you all the inside info. You’ll find all of EN’s Aachen crazy right here. Want even more eventing? Sally’s all over our Instagram channel @goeventing – check out her backstage antics here.

Will Tim take the title from the front or can the Kiwi be toppled? We’ll know in approximately 3 hours’ time when the current leader takes to the course as last to go.

Have a great ride and go eventing!

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CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

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And that’s over and out from Aachen.

Excitement at the end, bad luck for Britain, but really popular winners in Tim Price and Vitali, who looks delighted with himself, looking round at his fans as he’s led away and cooled down. It’s a Kiwi win all round 🥝

It was success for the States too with a silver in the team competition 🥈

Here’s a look at the leaderboard following what’s been a fab day of sport:

1️⃣ 🇳🇿 Leading the pack is Tim Price and Vitali who stormed round the track landing on a score of 30.5 and taking the win for himself and his team.

2️⃣ 🇬🇧 Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality sure showed their quality and finish on a score of 33.8.

3️⃣ 🇬🇧 Rounding out the top 3 is Gemma Stevens and Flash Cooley who had a great round to end up on a score of 36.

4️⃣ 🇺🇸 Best of the US and just off the podium is Will Coleman and Off The Record who delivered the second-fastest round of the day to cross the line just 2 seconds over and finish up just a squeak off third on a score of 36.4.

You’ll find the full leaderboard right here.

In terms of the team competition:

1️⃣ 🇳🇿 New Zealand – 108.5

2️⃣ 🇺🇸 USA – 117.2

3️⃣ 🇬🇧 Great Britain – 134.1

You’ll find the full leaderboard right here.

Keep it locked onto the website for EN’s classic full report – coming soon.

Thanks for coming along for the live blog ride ENers, until next time, go eventing!

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🇳🇿 Tim Price and Vitali (Team)

OK, Tim’s going for the win, both individually and for the Kiwi team.

He’s down on the clock as we catch up with him coming towards the corners at 18ab. He takes not a single chance there, clearly making the line happen. The crowd is really loud as he comes into the stadium with the clock still green. It’s green as he steps out of the water and goes red over the penultimate fence. He drives through the keyhole and he’s done it. 8 seconds over, 3.2 time.

TIM PRICE AND VITALI HAVE WON AACHEN.

NEW ZEALAND HAS WON AACHEN.

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🇳🇿 FINAL COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Tim Price and Vitali (Team)

Score: 27.3
Place: 1

Here we go… Will Tim hang on to his lead and win the whole dang thing? We’ll know very soon…

I’ll pick up with Tim once we see him…

We’re back with Bubby and seeing a problem. She scoots out of the side of the skinny at 13c. That’s a 20. Britain are out of the mix. They continue on to complete their round and jump well through the corners at 18ab. She comes into the stadium and the clock is racking up. The horse is jumping really well at the end of the course. Bubby must be so disappointed. She shakes her head as she crosses the line, but is clearly delighted with her horse’s efforts and points to him for the applause from the crowd. 20 jumping penalties, 15.2 time.

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🇬🇧 PENULTIMATE COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Bubby Upton and Cannavaro (Team)

Score: 29.1
Place: 2

We’re down to the penultimate combination of the day.

We see Bubby set out of the start box looking to mean business. This lovely 18-year-old has got his ears pricked and looks up for this. We see them make nothing of the hollow at 7ab.

We catch up with Tom as he comes to the SAP combination at 16abc. Tom works hard through there, leaving nothing to chance and holding his line clearly with his right rein, but there’s no question about it. Very smooth. He’s great through the corners at 18ab. He’s got 30 seconds left on the clock as he drives with his elbows on his way into the stadium. He flies the steeplechase at 19 and get a great step out of the water. He pushes for the last and stops the clock 9 seconds over, 3.6 time penalties. They go into the lead as things stand.

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🇬🇧 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality (Team)

Score: 30.2
Place: 3

Tom is very neat and tidy through the hollow combination at 7ab. The horse looks well up for this and it all seems very easy. He’s quick as he comes for the water at 9abc. No worries there for them.

J flies over the SAP House at 15 and looks to be in a great rhythm. He’s careful down the hill after 16a and so very, very straight through the tractors at b and c. Beautiful. We rejoin him in a very noisy and excited stadium. He clears the fences in there to the German cheers and they cross the line 20 seconds over, 8 time penalties.

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🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice (Team)

Score: 31.3
Place: 4

Oh! Laura’s had a 20 at 9b, the Rolex corner in the water. They just slid out to the side there. They’ll become the drop score for Britain now and Gemma Steven’s score will count. That’s a shame. The live stream isn’t showing them, sadly, but there’s a question mark on the live scoreboard at 12c, back in the water. It’s gone pink showing a missed flag. I’ll update you as things are confirmed. They finish up with 20 jumping penalties, 15 for the flag and 20 time.

The live stream’s focusing on the German rider on course, Jérôme, who I’m going to refer to a ‘J’ as I just can’t type those accents quick enough, sorry. He’s having a great round and is clear through the coffin comination at 13abc.

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🇬🇧 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Laura Collett and Dacapo (Team)

Score: 31.9
Place: 5

We’re into the top 5 now.

We’re not seeing Laura at the start of her round, sorry.

Libussa seems to have got things back together as we see her through the combination at 13abc. No worries with the skinny there. She comes round to the combination at 16abc and take the straight route through there. Really balanced and accurate, very nice. They’re good over the corner combination at 18ab and the stadium is already applauding as they come in. They splash through the water and scramble up the step slightly. They’re through the keyhole to a big cheer. 20 to add for that early run out and 22.4 time.

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🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Libussa Lübbeke and Caramia 34 (Team)

Score: 32.3
Place: 6

Oops, we see Libussa picking up an early 20 at 7b. They just don’t have the stride there and the horse stops. That’ll have an impact on the team competition, which I’ll update you on as soon as humanly possible.

Clarke’s got a question mark over the flag at 18a but really, they look fine and yes, it’s now been taken off. He finishes up with 8.4 time penalties in what seems to have been a great round, although we didn’t really see a whole lot of it.

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🇳🇿 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Clarke Johnstone and Rocket Man (Team)

Score: 32.4
Place: 7

We see Clarke through the water at 9abc looking really good.

We join Padraig over the house at 15. They look to be going really nicely. They’re good over the log at 16a but then it all goes wrong through the tractors. The horse goes right towards the biggest part of the brush, Padraig steers left but it’s too much and they drive straight by the c element. That’s another 20 for them to add to the earlier one. They continue on. They finish up 1 minute 10 over, 28 time penalties and those two refusals adding another 40. That’s not really a true reflection of the round as a whole, to be honest. There was a lot to like with this horse and lots more to come from him, for sure.

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🇮🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Padraig McCarthy and MGH Zabaione (Team)

Score: 33
Place: 8

Oh dear, we pick up Padraig as he has a drive by at 7b. They have to navigate the driving obstacles as they come back round, but they’re clear the second time of asking and continue on their way.

Gemma looks to be having a fab round as we briefly catch sight of her through the water at 12. She’s motoring on as she comes round to the SAP combination. They’re quick over the log and down the steep drop then straight as a die through the tractors at 16bc. She’s motoring on. She comes to the corners at 18ab and there’s no doubt there. Gemma’s crouching low as she comes into the stadium with 30 seconds still left on the clock. She’s pushing. She flies the steeplechase at 19 and then takes a little pull just to be safe. The clock’s still green as she jumps the penultimate fence. It’s red now, they’re through the last and over the line. 7 seconds over, 2.8 time penalties. She goes ahead of Will.

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🇬🇧 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Gemma Stevens and Flash Cooley (Team)

Score: 33.2
Place: 9

We see Gemma get off to a very quick start before we join Boyd out on course…

They’re absolutely flying. They hop the house at 15 and then come round for the tractor combination. They’re clean over the log at the a element but then things are a bit dicey through the tractors at b and c. The horse stays really close to the bigger brush part and Boyd is rubbed through it. He holds the line but he’s looking back and down. He’s lost a stirrup. It takes him a hot minute to get it back. Agh, that’ll have wasted some time. We see him come into the stadium with the clock still green. It’s green as he steps out of the water. Now it’s red. Through the keyhole, over the line, 8 seconds over, 3.2 time penalties. He goes into second as things stand, behind Will Coleman.

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🇺🇸 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Boyd Martin and Commando 3 (Team)

Score: 33.8
Place: 10

We don’t see Boyd start his round, sorry. I’ll pick up with him once we get eyes on.

Caroline has a better time through the SAP combination at 16abc, the horse has obviously lost no confidence after that mishap in the water. We see them come into the stadium and hop the steeplechase at 19. They’re still green on the clock as they splash through the water. It turns red just before the penultimate fence and they fly the last. 12 seconds over, 4.8 time penalties.

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🇬🇧 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Caroline Harris and D. Day (Individual)

Score: 34.3
Place: 11

D. Day’s poking his nose forward as he comes to the first couple of fences as if to say, let me at ’em. So cute. Yikes, we see a real moment in the water at 12c. The horse drops down on the fence and scrambles over. Caroline’s pitched out of the tack. What a brilliant recovery there. They continue on.

We rejoin Karin at the SAP fences at 16abc. They’re around 20 seconds down on the clock but go straight through there neatly enough. Karin powers on away from that fence, really opening the horse up to try and claim back some of that time. There’s a little wiggle through the corner combination at 18ab and then they push on for the stadium. She sets up for the table at 20 and then splash through the water. They’re careful over the penultimate and then through the keyhole and over the line. Karin’s delighted with her horse. She takes an unofficial lap of honor with this special horse. Eight major championships, multiple Aachen performances. What a star.

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🇧🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Karin Donckers and Fletcha van’t Verahof (Individual)

Score: 34.3
Place: 12

We’re going in reverse order now. Buckle up…

We see Karin go very neatly through the Turkish Airlines combination at 7ab and then get an absolute flier over the big CAMPUS ditch at 8. They navigate the first water at 9abc, taking the flag at b but no worries there for them. They’re brave over the two big logs at 10 and 11, navigating the ups and downs of the bumps there before coming back to go through the water for a second time. She sits back for the drop in and then takes a very smooth curving line through the b and c elements at 12. All good so far for them.

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🇨🇭 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Felix Vogg and Frieda (Team)

Score: 37.2
Place: 21

We see Felix have a real moment coming into the big log at 10. He obviously feels Frieda backing off and he pushes on. They make it over without issue but that was a bit heart in mouth. They continue on and we see them pop very neatly and easily through the tractor combination at 16bc. Things seem to have got back on track for them. We see them through the stadium at the end of their round and the horse looks confident and full of run. They finish 26 seconds over, 10.4 time penalties.

We catch up with Andrew at the tractor combination at 16abc. They’re very neat over the log and down the hill and then straight as you like through the tractors. They push on along the track. Andrew brings him back to set up for the corner combination at 18ab and all looks to be well but then the horse just dips out at the shoulder and they pick up a 20. They come back around and activate the frangible device. Andrew’s shaking his head as he gallops away and ends up going off route slightly before righting things and coming into the stadium. That’s a shame because the round was going really well. They finish with 20 jumping, 11 for the frangible device. We don’t have a time for them just yet, sorry.

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🇦🇺 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Andrew Cooper and Sharvalley Thunder (Team)

Score: 34.9
Place: 15

We see Andrew through the water at 9abc and they’re very neat and confident through there. He makes his way back around to go through again for 12abc and they’re equally neat the second time of asking.

Phillip’s a little down on the clock as he goes through the corners at 18ab on his way into the stadium. He’s neat and tidy through the stadium questions and completes 22 seconds over, 8.8 penalties.

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🇺🇸 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Phillip Dutton and Denim (Individual)

Score: 36
Place: 17

Phillip loses his shades as he sets off on track, throwing them off to the side. The sun does look to have gone in at Aachen. We see him through the hollow at 7ab and they look really good through there. Phillip’s riding as an individual this time around with Denim, having gone earlier for the team with Possante. Denim takes a look down the drop at 12a but there’s no trouble there and they’re quick through the b and c elements. They’re quick through the combination at 13, almost not even registering the ditch in the middle of there. They come round to the SAP combination at 16abc and are neat over the log at the top of the hill. It’s all very calm and smooth through the tractors, really straightforward through there for this pair.

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🇸🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Frida Anderson and Stonehavens Baby Blue (Individual)

Score: 55.3
Place: 43

Well sadly we’re not going to see much of Frida’s course. The horse doesn’t quite make the jump over the table at 7a and they take a tumble. The horse is straight up and Frida too. The vets and medics will be there checking them both out but all looked to be well.

Oh dear, we catch up with Ryuzo as he has a problem at the corner at 12c in the water. Ryuzo does really well to stay on as he’s tipped right out of the tack. He rights himself and they continue on, it came up as a 20 but has been changed to a flag question. They take on the straight route through the tractors at 16bc and look good as they continue on. We rejoin them as they finish with 18 time penalties and that 15 for the flag which will be under review.

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🇯🇵 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Ryuzo Kitajima and Be My Daisy (Individual)

Score: 43.8
Place: 35

We see Ryuzo get his round underway. The horse looks keen and is jumping well at the start of the course.

We join Sammi at the SAP combination at 16. They’re dead straight through there and very, very quickly away. They’re around 15 seconds down on the time at this point. Sam brings the horse back for the combination at 18ab, taking no chances there. They come into the stadium and hurdle the steeplechase at 19. Ah. The frangible device at 22 goes as they drop into the water. That’s so frustrating in what was a great round. They continue on to complete and finish with 6 time penalties and 11 for the frangible device.

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🇳🇿 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Samantha Lissington and Lord Seekönig (Team)

Score: 34.7
Place: 14

We catch up with Robin at the SAP House at 14 as he makes his way round to the combination at 16. Robin has to work hard for the line through the tractors at 16bc but the horse listens and gets a big pat as they gallop away. They come around to the corners at 18 and they look to be good but then the horse just ducks out of the b element. That’s a shame as they were looking to be a real challenge for the time. That was a shame for them. They continue on and clear the stadium fences really nicely. They cross the line 20 seconds over, 8 time penalties, and that 20 for the late refusal at 18b.

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🇨🇭 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Robin Godel and Global DHI (Team)

Score: 39.5
Place: 29

Stephane’s horse is really cute as he makes his way through the straight route at 16abc. His ears are flicking back and to as if to say, this one? OK. He’s really jumping nicely. They’re quite down on the clock as they come into the stadium but the horse jumps well through the questions in there and they cross the line with 12.4 time penalties. A nice round overall for them with lots of positives to take forward for the horse’s career. He looks pleased with himself as he trots off course.

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🇫🇷 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Stephane Landois and Gainsbourg de Bedon (Team)

Score: 43.7
Place: 34

We see Stephane fly over the CAMPUS Ditch at 8 before we head back to Kevin’s round. We rejoin them as they take a big jump over the log at 12a into the water, but the horse looks to be listening to Stephane and building confidence as he goes.

We catch up with Kevin as he gallops past the hospitality on his way to the the SAP House at 15. The horse has his ears pricked right through the flags as they easily go straight through the tractors at b and c. That was really nice through there. There’s a question mark on the live scoreboard at the first of the corners at 18, which we didn’t see, but we do see them cross the line 22 seconds over, 8.8 time penalties.

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🇦🇺 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Kevin McNabb and Faro Imp (Team)

Score: 52.1
Place: 40

Sarah’s really quick as she clears the SAP House at 15 before the tractor combination. She’s neat over the log at 16a and steady down the hill. She goes straight through the tractors at b and c, making nothing of that straight route. The clock turns red for them just before they enter the stadium. Sarah hunts the steeplechase at 19, sitting well back, and they they’re quick through the water. They take a flier over the table and then they’re through the keyhole and over the line 41 seconds over the time, 16.4 time penalites.

Update to Jonelle Price’s score – the flag penalties have been taken away.

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🇮🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Sarah Ennis and Dourough Ferro Class Act (Team)

Score: 48.8
Place: 39

We catch up with Sarah at the water for the second time for 12abc. She’s tipped forward a little down the drop but is quickly back up and sailing through the b and c elements.

Will’s just a couple of seconds down on the time as we join him on his way to the corner combinations at 18ab. No worries at all for them there. They’re quick and smooth and galloping towards home. He might just make it. He’s got 25 seconds as he clears the steeplechase at 19 and then comes through the water and over the step. They’re close. They clear the last as the clock turns red. A superb showing from them. 2 seconds over, 0.8 penalties. So close, but so, so good.

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🇺🇸 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Will Coleman and Off The Record (Team)

Score: 35.6
Place: 16

‘Timmy’ powers out of the start box and towards the first fence before the live stream cuts back to Lara.

Lara’s looking quick and confident as she comes through the water for the second time. The horse drifts a little over the corner at 12c and takes the flag. We see them come round to the SAP combination a 16abc and oh no. They were going really well and Lara had a good go at the straight route but there’s a fair bit of squirrelling back and to between the two tractors and they pick up a 20 at the b element. They continue on but there’s more trouble at the corner combination at 18ab. They activate the frangible device at the a element and then pick up a 20 at the b element. It looks like she puts her hand up but then we see her in the stadium and crossing the finish line. That’s disappointing for Lara but there will have been a lot of learning going on for the horse and he didn’t seem to have lost any confidence despite having some troubles. Education for the future, that’s what it’s all about. That’s 40 jumping, plus 11 for the frangible device and 20.8 time penalties.

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🇧🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Kiarado d’Arville (Individual)

Score: 37.7
Place: 24

We seem them go very neatly through the hollow at 7ab. The horse looks to be up for the test today. They get a lovely curving line through the first water at 9 in front of the big German crowd.

We catch up with Jessie as she comes to the SAP complex at 15 and 16abc. They get a flier over the house at 15 and then pop the hanging log for 16a. Jessie holds the line through the two tractors and they’re neat through there. They look to be a bit down on the time at this point. We rejoin them as they come through the stadium and cross the line 27 seconds over, 10.8 time penalties.

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🇨🇦 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Jessica Phoenix and Freedom GS (Individual)

Score: 39
Place: 27

Jessie is very neat and confident through the hollow at 7ab. The horse has a big look at the ditch at 8 but takes it on. They gallop on along the track.

Jonelle’s still quick as she comes round to the SAP combination at 16abc. She brings Hiarado back but they’re still fast and straight through there. Very impressive. They are great through the arena but there’s a flag question showing on the live scoreboard for the corner at 18a. They cross the line 17 seconds over, 6.8 time.

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🇳🇿 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Jonelle Price and Hiarado (Individual)

Score: 34.5
Place: 13

We see Jonelle over the big log at 10. Hiarado is really keen and quick as she gallops on round to go back through the water at 12abc. She drops in and then makes nothing of the duck at b. They get a smooth curving line round to the corner at c and continue on their way. They look to be going really well.

We catch up with Nicolai and Timmo on their way to the corners at 18ab. They’re showing as clear on the live scoreboard but we sadly haven’t seen much of this lovely horse. There’s a cheer as he gallops into the stadium. Timmo’s running on nicely and is really jumping well at the end of the track. He gets a great show through the keyhole. 19 seconds over, 7.6 time penalties. Timmo looks very well as he trots off course.

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🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Nicolai Aldinger and Timmo (Individual)

Score: 39.6
Place: 30

Calvin’s showing as having a question mark on the live scoreboard at 7b. We see him take the longer route at 16abc and they’re actually neat and tidy through there. He made the loopy line look quite economical and smooth. Things have calmed down as they come through the corner combination at 18ab very nicely and then they come into the stadium. The horse looks to have grown in confidence as he’s continued round the course. They’re good over the table at the penultimate fence and then through the keyhole. A better finish to the round for them, which is good to see. They finish 40 seconds over, 16 time penalties.

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🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Calvin Böckmann and Altir de la Cense (Team)

Score: 36.5
Place: 18

Eek, Calvin has a moment at 7ab. The horse has a look at the table at a, they make it over and have a bit of an untidy jump at the b element. They continue on and then we pick them up banking the duck in the water at 9c. A little breath needed for this pair, perhaps.

Artist is bar far the quickest of the day as we see him and Monica make a fab job of the tractor combination at 16. He’s flying and jumping and loving it all. He flies through the finish the fastest of the day, just 1 second over. What a delight to see a Thoroughbred galloping like he does. Just 0.4 of a penalty to add for them.

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🇳🇿 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Monica Spencer and Artist (Team)

Score: 36.8
Place: 19

Monica’s fast as she sets off on her round. We see her make a great job through the water at 9abc. They gallop away quickly and make the loop round over the two logs at 10 and 11 before coming back to the water. Artist has got his thoroughbred on and looks really quick.

Meanwhile Philip’s flown through the finish line 16 seconds over, 6.4 time penalties. He looks to have had a great round although we didn’t really get to see a lot of it, sorry.

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🇨🇭 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Philip Ryan and Amansara (Team)

Score: 37.5
Place: 23

We see Philip through the Rolex complex at 9 through the first water. They’re neat and tidy through there and gallop away really quick.

We join Morgane as she flies over the SAP house at 15 and then comes round for the straight route through the combination at 16. The horse looks to lean through his shoulder between the tractors but Morgane’s got her eye on the ball and they glide on through. She takes on the steeplechase at 19 from her stride and they’re actually quick on the clock. The cross the line 21 seconds over, 8.4 time penalties.

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🇫🇷 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Morgane Euriat and Fixin de Conde (Team)

Score: 44.9
Place: 36

We see Morgane through the fist water at 9. They don’t look to be super quick but all’s good through there for them.

Bill’s still quick when we pick him back up at the water at 14 and they come into the combination at 16 very confidently. Straight through there for them, no questions at all. Super. They’re still flying and they head on to the final stages of the course. The clock goes red just as they’re in the stadium. They waste not a second over the questions in there at the end of what’s been a really great round and finish 19 seconds over, 7.4 time penalties.

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🇦🇺 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Bill Levett and Sligo Candy Cane (Team)

Score: 41
Place: 33

Bill’s gelding looks very keen as we see him through the water at 9abc. He’s fast and light on his feet and is really taking this track on. He was speedy in the show jumping yesterday and looks to be delivering more of the same today.

We catch up with Georgie as she splashes through the water before galloping on along to the SAP combination at 16. She’s straight and smooth through the tractors, really good through there. We see her come into the stadium and cross the line 41 seconds over the time, 16.2 time penalties.

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🇮🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Georgie Goss and Kojak (Team)

Score: 45.7
Place: 38

Phillip doesn’t look to be motoring when we pick him up on his way to the water at 9abc. He gets a good shot through the combination there and heads on his way round the loop before coming back to the same water. Will he go straight through the SAP complex? Yes. Smooth, straight and clear through 16abc. He’s actually looking good on the clock despite not looking to be chasing it. Possante is ears pricked and jumping really nicely. They get a great shot through the corners at 18ab and then Phillip does put his foot down. They gallop into the stadium and fly the steeplechase at 19. They’re the quickest so far. The water is neat. They’re round the corner to the keyhole. Phillip takes a long one. They’re over the line. 14 seconds over – fastest so far – 5.6 time penalties.

Antonia has crossed the finish line having added 18.4 time penalties to her score.

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🇺🇸 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Phillip Dutton and Possante (Team)

Score: 38.2
Place: 26

Phillip is the first of the counting scores for the US as things stand. We don’t get to see him at the start of his round though, sticking instead with the German rider…

Antonia looks to be having a great ride. There’s home crowd cheers for them as they head on round the track. They take the loopy long route at 16abc, adding quite a few seconds, but they’re smooth and clear through there.

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🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Antonia Baumgart and Ris de Talm (Individual)

Score: 45.1
Place: 37

Antonia gets off to a great start and the horse looks to be keen for the job. He’s jumping neatly at the start of the course and they’re wasting no time as they take on the first water at 9abc. They loop on back to go through the water again for 12abc. All good for them thus far.

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🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Pauline Knorr and Aevolet M-A-F (Individual)

Score: 52.6
Place: 41

The live scoreboard is showing Pauline as clear through 12abc. We catch up with her as she goes with the German route at the combination at 16abc, looping around to each fence rather than heading straight through there. They come around into the stadium and the horse looks to be getting strong. Pauline asks him to come back for the table but he just catches it and she’s propelled out of the plate. Oh, that’s so frustrating so very close to home. The horse trots off to the finish and Pauline is soon up on her feet.

We join Nina as she makes her way round the driving obstacles on her way to the SAP fences at 15 and 16. She opts for the same longer route as Anna through there. It is considerable longer but definitely a safer line, although the ones we’ve seen go straight through there have made a really good job of it.

Oh no. They have troubles at the corner at 18. The horse seems to leave a leg and Nina tumbles out the side door. The frangible device breaks for safety. Nina’s quickly up and walking off leading her horse. What a shame so close to home.

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🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Nina Schultes and Grand Prix iWest (Individual)

Score: 37.8
Place: 25

Nina is the first of the individuals we’ll see today. We’ll hopefully pick her back up later but she’s showing as clear through fence 12abc.

We stay with Anna and get to hear the German cheers as they motor around the track. Anna’s having a peach of a ride this morning. They’re up on the clock compared to the others we’ve seen but Anna chooses to take a longer route through the SAP combination at 16abc. It’s certainly a much safer line but takes up quite a few seconds. The clock’s still green as they come into the stadium and fly the steeplechase. The horse looks like he doesn’t want this to end just yet. They’re quick around the questions through the water and over the finale 20 seconds down on the clock, 9.6 time penalties.

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🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Anna Siemer and FRH Butts Avondale (Team)

Score: 37.2
Place: 22

We get to see home crowd favorite Anna at the start of the course. They horse is so good through the hollow at 7, really smooth. This is a really experienced pairing and it sure shows. He’s locked right onto the flags through the water at 9 and really shows us all how it’s done. He jumps really big over the log at 10. He looks fab.

Melody’s showing as clear through to fence 15 on the live scoreboard as we see her splash through the water and over the SAP House at 15. Sadly we only rejoin her at the very end of the course. They finish 21 seconds over, 8.4 time penalties.

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🇨🇭 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Melody Johner and Erin (Team)

Score: 54.3
Place: 42

We catch up with Luc at the SAP complex at 15 and 16abc. They’re showing as clear so far on the live scoreboard. They make a great job of the line through the two tractors at 16ab, really tight. Luc’s pushing on as he comes to the corner combination at 18 before coming into the stadium. Ooo, the horse is looking out and pointing his nose a little, but Luc’s on it and encourages him back on the line to the second of the corners. That was a bit chancy. They’re back together as they take on the fences in the stadium. They make nothing of the questions in there and complete with 14 time penalties.

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🇫🇷 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Luc Chateau and Cocorico de l’Ebat (Team)

Score: 40
Place: 31

It looks like we’re going to see the second half of each round so I’ll catch up with the new starter once we get to see them properly.

We join Sammi as she makes her way to the SAP complex at 15 and 16abc. The horse looks to be loving his time out there on course. He drifts a little into the first tractor at b but Sammi keeps him on his line and they make nothing of that line. She pushes on for the stadium and the last few fences. They steady up for the first corner at 18 and then curve round to the b element before racing into the stadium. They’re still green on the clock as they take the steeplechase at 19 and then it turns red right before the water. They come on round to the finale and finish 19 seconds over, 7.6 time penalties.

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🇦🇺 THIRD COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Samantha Birch and Finduss PFB (Team)

Score: 39.2
Place: 28

We don’t get to see the start of Sammi’s round but she’s showing as clear through to fence 14 on the live scoreboard.

Ian’s neat through the coffin complex at 13abc then gallops past the hospitality down to the water, splashing through before taking the SAP House at 15. The horse has really settled into this round and is looking very impressive. He’s straight as a die through the two tractors at 16 b and c – so good. He powers away from there trying to catch up a few seconds. He’s quicker than Caroline but doesn’t look like he’s going to make it. He’s going quick though. He gallops into the stadium and flies the steeplechase at 19. They’re giving it everything and are very fast through the water. He’s round to the keyhole finale and wastes no time. 23 seconds over, 9.2 time penalties. A superb round from them.

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🇮🇪 SECOND COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Ian Cassells and Millridge Atlantis (Team)

Score: 37.1
Place: 20

Hoping for the luck of the Irish, Ian’s round gets off to a quick start and they make nothing of the first few fences and fly through the first combination at 7ab and head on to the water at 9. The horse is fighting a little, really keen for the job, but he’s jumping brilliantly.

He gallops on back around to the water for the second time and looks to be having a great ride.

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🇺🇸 FIRST COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Caroline Pamukcu and HSS Blake (Team)

Score: 40.6
Place: 32

Caroline is away for the US! Blake looks up for it as he clears the first few fences and gallops off along the track.

She brings him back to set up for the Turkish Airlines complex at 7 and they make that look really simple. They get a flier over the CAMPUS Ditch at 8 and then come to the first water at 9. They get a great shot through the water, over the brush and then through the corner before taking on the duck for the c element. All good so far for this pair.

It’s a perfect day for cross country at Aachen and the course looks beautiful.

They come back round to the water for 12abc, dropping in neatly and then taking on another duck at b. They’re neat over the corner for c and then continue on. They’re tidy through the rail ditch skinny combination at 13 and then splash through another water before taking the SAP house out of their stride.

Blake does look to be enjoying his round, and looks a tad strong at times. Caroline’s getting him back for the fences though. They’re a bit squirrelly into the SAP combination at 16 and take the flag at the first tractor at b. She straightens him up though and they look to have been clear there. They are down on the clock at this point.

They gallop into the stadium to finish up their round. They have a great shot over the steeplechase fence at 19 and then set up for the gate into the water at 22 before stepping up out. They come around to the key hole for the finale and cross the finish line. 45 seconds over the time for 18 time penalties but a smooth round on the whole.

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CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Saturday Links from World Equestrian Brands

By on Jul 5, 2025 12:01 am -

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Major International Events

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

U.S. Weekend Preview

Summer Coconino H.T. I (AZ): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]

Bouckaert Equestrian H.T. (GA): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Mile High H.T. (CO): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Links & Reading

Emergency rule change bans unnatural mouth foam as it’s ‘clearly against horse welfare’

Book Excerpt: Goodbye, Pyramid…Hello, Spiral!

Understanding Hindgut Problems in Horses

Stars of the future shine at Project Pony Aston-le-Walls

Better Post-Exercise Cooling of Horses

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Video Break

Sorry, not sorry, but too funny not to share!

It’s the Plot Twist Olympics: Tim Price and Vitali Lead After Tough Aachen Showjumping

By on Jul 4, 2025 5:29 pm -

Tim Price and Vitali. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

When we last caught up with you, a scant few hours ago, we’d finished the dressage at the CHIO Aachen CCIO4*-S with a duo of leaders: Tim Price and Vitali found themselves head to head with 27-year-old German talent Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice after both men — and both little black horses — put a 27.3 on the board. But we knew a seriously influential showjumping course was to come this evening in the CHIO’s sprawling main stadium, and we knew the penalty margins were so tight that even a whisper of time could send competitors tailspinning down the leaderboard. We knew there’d be change. We knew there’d be poles. We knew there’d be heartbreaks and triumphs. We knew one of our leaders — sweet, frustrating Vitali — is prone to a succession of rails when the pressure (or the prize money) creeps upwards. So what would it be?

It would be, ultimately, Vitali’s gotcha moment. As the penultimate horse and rider in the ring, he and Tim followed 43 prior rounds, in which 33 rails had fallen down, sending the leaderboard into turmoil. But here, as Vitali has so often at much less atmospheric CCI4*-S competitions, he pricked his ears, lifted his toes, and made the whole exercise look like he was born to do it. Gratifying? Absolutely — for once, Tim will get to tackle the final phase of a major competition knowing that he’s in the lead and preparing to tackle the gelding’s strongest suit. But baffling? Totally — even, or perhaps especially, for Tim himself, who has spent years trying to figure out what exactly it is that makes showjumping such an uphill battle with the quirky little horse.

“He’s an athlete, and I know he’s a good jumper, and I don’t know what — I still haven’t worked out what it is at those big ones,” says a pleased but undeniably confused Tim. “This was, I thought, his biggest short format challenge to date, because of the atmosphere. I’ve always been concerned about the atmosphere at the big five-stars, but really, now, I have to maybe reconfigure it a little bit and really think about what it means to him: the way he tries around the big cross countries, and what it means to his body and everything for the next day. Because he’s a very sound horse, and he comes out feeling really good on a Sunday. But anyway, he jumped great today!”

Tim Price and Vitali. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I’ll work until the dying day of either of us, because he’s such a talented horse, and he’s a pleasure, and he can be so special. So I will happily — not happily — but I’ll go and try and try and try and try with him,” he continues.

Perhaps one of the game changers today has been a shift in the pair’s training for this phase: recently, they’ve been training with British-based Irish jumper Shane Breen, a previous winner of the Hickstead Derby among his many accolades.

“I think that the method of training, I’ve been improving and adapting it as time’s gone on. I’ve had a really useful bit of help over the years, but just recently with Shane Breen, who also we’re lucky enough to have him on the ground here. He’s a master at what he does. He kept me away from jumping too many fences today — he literally has a number, like eight fences [that I’m allowed to jump], and so we don’t use a single one that’s not required. There’s a plan every time and he just breathes some really good, nutritious stuff into me. It gives me the confidence to go and stick to the plan.”

Like any good athlete, Tim has also been interrogating whether he’s bringing something to the table that’s causing a hitch in the plan. But with so many successful showjumping rounds, both in eventing and pure showjumping under his belt, he’s certainly not short on valuable mileage.

“I’ve got a lot of good jumpers, but then you go through sort of ebbs and flows of all these different aspects of a horse and the talent and everything,” he says. “And so I think having good jumpers and going through the motions has got me in a really good place where I don’t focus on the wrong things. I know that I’m going to see a distance to number one. I’m not out here fretting; I just go around the corner and jump number one and ride on the line. That’s all through jumping lots and lots of rounds over the last eight years down in Sunshine Tour and everything else. It’s just time and experience.”

Tim Price and Vitali. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Today’s course, he explains, was built to challenge even the most capable horses and riders.

“It had quite a bit of variation in its height, which is maybe a little misleading to walk, because it can put you in a slight casual mindset, a little bit,” he explains. “But for the horse, it actually, I think, makes it more difficult in a way. Number four was quite small, but then the next one’s uphill, a decent oxer, and they have to try — and around the corner’s an even chunkier oxer to a short enough two strides, to a vertical that’s just sort of out of nowhere. A double to a double is very rare [for us]. We rolled down eight or nine strides downhill to another double that was this much longer. I don’t think I’ve done that before in the ring, and a few others have said that too. And then just a demanding last couple of lines. That big red oxer did jump well, but Shane was saying it’s caused quite a lot of problems in the other classes it’s been used in. It took a bit of leg, followed by a rail that’s three inches wide. And then the last line was the last line, it’s just a physically demanding last line. They’ve got to use themselves and try hard through there. The time, I thought, maybe could have been two seconds faster, even though I was only a second inside, but I knew I was flirting with that.”

Bubby Upton and Cannavaro. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The pair will stay on their first-phase score of 27.3 going into tomorrow morning’s tight, twisty, technical cross-country course, on which the time is always achingly tight — but now, they’re not sharing that top spot with anybody. Jérôme and Black Ice, last in the ring, just tipped one rail in an otherwise impressive round, which drops them to fourth individually, below now-second-placed debutant Bubby Upton and Cannavaro, who jumped a stylish clear as pathfinders, and Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality, who also added nothing to their scorecard. Previously third-placed Monica Spencer and Artist of New Zealand slid down to nineteenth after two expensive rails, further widening Tim’s leading margin to 1.8 penalties, or 4 seconds in hand tomorrow.

Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The shift around on the leaderboard also changes the state of play for the eight teams in the Nations Cup competition. Great Britain now leads the way by a margin of 3.2 penalties, thanks to those excellent rounds from Bubby and Tom, plus clears inside the time for Laura Collett and Dacapo, now fifth up from first-phase sixth, and Gemma Stevens and Flash Cooley, who stepped up to ninth from thirteenth.

“Obviously, we’ve come here to be competitive,” says Laura of the British contingent. “All of us as individual riders are very competitive riders, and put us together on a team, and it makes us even more competitive. So we’re all here to try and get the job done, to be honest. We’re on quite experienced horses, and most of us have been here as riders before, so we kind of know what to expect, and that it’s not going to be a nice, easy, comfortable ride tomorrow. It’s going to have to feel a bit like a bit of a helter skelter, but hopefully we can stay where we currently are. Every time you come here, it feels like a bit of a mini Championship in itself; it’s super competitive. Apart from the Olympics, and Europeans and stuff, we don’t have an atmosphere as big as in that arena, and just everything that’s going on here and the size of the arena and everything that goes with it just makes it feel extra special.”

Boyd Martin and Commando 3. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The New Zealand team is now in second place, having swapped places with the Brits, while the Germans sit third. Team USA are waiting in the wings in fourth place, helmed by Boyd Martin and Commando, who moved up to tenth from fifteenth after adding nothing to their score of 33.8.

“I’m just so lucky that Peter [Wylde] is here as my coach and mentor in the show jumping phase,” says Boyd. “And he’s brilliant — he’s ridden in this ring for so many years, and he knows exactly the warm up procedure and when to get up the gate and how the ring rides and what studs to use. He was very kind to me to come over a little bit early to Belgium and help me jump the horse a couple days ago. Connor is a fantastic jumper, and I wasn’t sure how he’d react to a big, spooky ring, but he was fantastic. I feel like [after] the run at Kentucky five-star, he’s really grown up and come on, like he’s a man now. He was like a little teenager up until this year and this year, now he’s a champ.”

The US is very much fronting an A-team here at Aachen, with Boyd joined by 2021 champions Will Coleman and Off The Record, who moved up from 24th to 16th with their faultless round, Phillip Dutton and Possante, who dropped from 16th to 26th with a solitary rail, and Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake, who had an expensive two rails to move from 11th to 32nd.

“I don’t think we’ve got a team strategy,” says Boyd. “It’s my first time here, and you know, I’ve never ridden this track before, and I’m on a good horse, though, and I’ll go as fast as I can without risking an injury. I don’t think I can win it, but I’ll go quick and give it a good shot and hopefully finish in the top group.”

Tomorrow’s cross-country finale gets underway at 9.55 a.m. local time (8.55 a.m. BST/3.55 a.m. EST), and will now run in a new and, if we’re honest, reasonably baffling order of go, which will see Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake act as the pathfinders for the day. From the top twelve onwards, we’ll be running in reverse order of merit — you can check out the times in full here, and you’ll be able to follow all the action via the livestream on ClipMyHorse.TV, and right here on EN, where we’ll be running live updates throughout. We’ve also got an in-depth look at tomorrow’s course, newly designed by 2022 World Championships designer Giuseppe della Chiesa, right here. Dig in, get comfortable, and let’s go eventing!

The individual top ten after showjumping at Aachen.

The team standings after showjumping at Aachen.

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

 

An Eye to the Future: Previewing Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s CHIO Aachen Cross Country

By on Jul 4, 2025 5:23 pm -

We came to CHIO Aachen this year with high anticipation. After all, this site will, for the first time in 20 years, see the return of *most* disciplines in a reunited World Championships next year that will harken back to the World Equestrian Games of 2006. With that in mind, it falls to newly-installed course designer Giuseppe Della Chiesa (ITA) — also the designer for our most recent World Championships held at Pratoni del Vivaro in 2022 — to put together a track that allows him to fact-find for 2026.

As a result, we’ve got quite a different look and feel to the track, which was designed by Germany’s Rüdiger Schwarz previously before he retired. Giuseppe and his team have taken on the workload to open up new areas of the property — which isn’t boundless to begin with. It’s a completely different piece of land in comparison to the expansive terrain in Pratoni, but Giuseppe sees a future for this course, and that’s what he’s designing for.

“This was the main thing — what can we do to produce the course for next year?” Giuseppe told me. “So we came with the idea to produce something for next year, but especially to produce a venue for the next 20 years. This was the thinking. I spoke with the organizer. [I asked] ‘What is your intention for the next 20 years — to go on with eventing or not?’ Yes? Okay, then we try to produce a venue that can give for the future a lot more possibilities of changing course, of getting, you know, an instance.”

British rider Tom McEwen describes Aachen as “an unofficial five-star Short.”

“[Giuseppe] has designed an awesome course,” he said. “It lets you flow into it, and then all of a sudden, the intensity really hits you. We all know that the time is the biggest problem and I’ve seen many the top rider on the top horse just have the odd thing because of speed, which makes it an exciting show.”

And so we look ahead to this new design, which has received largely favorable reviews from the riders coming in from their walks. Most prominent in terms of flow, the first six or so fences are set on a yawning loop that will allow the riders to get their horses up into the bridle before the intensive, twisting parts of the track come in to play.

[The first combination comes at 4AB, and while it shouldn’t cause much trouble, riders will want to be aware of their right aids to keep their horses on the line and ensure they’ve got the tools they need as the course progresses.]

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After a handful of single fences on a gentle uphill slope to get the horses up in the air, riders will tackle the first combination at 4AB, a set of brush arrowheads positioned on a related, left-handed distance down a double mound. This question shouldn’t really cause much trouble, but will be good information for riders to use as they move on — Giuseppe says he’s set this on a somewhat progressive tone, with similar-feeling questions at increasing technicality coming later on.

[The BC and D elements of the straight route here involve a rollercoaster of a terrain change in between.]


The first big question comes at fence 7ABCD. This is a famous heartbreaker type of fence, where many great riders have come to grief, what with the distraction of the combined driving obstacles and the undulating terrain that compels riders to have a horse that can maintain a line.

After getting up over a big table at 7A, the riders will tackle two arrowheads, set again on a left-handed related distance but with the additional challenge of a steep, rollercoaster-esque dip in the terrain. There is an option here that will send riders off to the right should they not wish to answer this question right away or have trouble at the BC element.

From there, the hits just keep coming. The time is wheeled tightly at 6:35 — shorter than the course’s recent counterparts — and riders will need to ensure they keep the RPMs up while maintaining the necessary control to execute the turning and technicality exercises well. The next challenge comes at 9ABC, where the horses will get their feet wet for the first time.

This is another newer, or at least significantly modified, addition to the track; you’ll recall there was once a bridge over this Rolex water that frankly was barely used as more than decoration, but that has been removed this year. For Giuseppe, the removal of the bridge (which was done because it needed redoing and the organizers opted to just remove it) actually gives him more options.

“So we don’t have a bridge anymore, and now the water is much more accessible,” he explained. “And now we actually can go twice in water, no problem. I made this new exit [and] entrance with the brush down the hill, and now for the future we have many different options.”

The brush down the hill comes after a mound to 9A, a brush vertical that feeds the horses down into the water and over a right-handed corner and then a duck in the water off a left-handed turn at C.

[This is another series of fences that look somewhat deceiving in photos, as it’s hard to capture the steep dip in terrain that occurs between 10 and 11.]

We’ll then have another rollercoaster, line-testing question at 10 and 11 that will test footwork and rideability over two inviting logs. They’ll then come back into the Rolex water at 12, jumping a hanging log with a nice, guiding ground line to feed them in, followed by another duck in the water, and a right-handed corner off a short related distance.

Need to take a breath? Think again! You’ve now only got a few seconds to prepare for the coffin — a very “classical coffin”, as Giuseppe puts it, at 13ABC that features a steep downhill after a MIM-pinned airy rail. A very narrow arrowhead awaits at C, and Bettina Hoy noted on our walk that the steepness of the hill and the ditch could throw an odd wiggle into some horses, which will of course make the C that much more difficult to attain.

The next combination — and one that could exert its fair share of influence — comes at 16 ABC. The A element of this, a brush vertical, comes at the top of another mound, this time off a relatively short left-handed turn. Riders will need to find their line immediately after the A, as they’ll get pulled downhill to a pair of offset hedges set at a standard two-stride distance.

The view through 16A to the offset brushes below.

“That’s a real five-star angle for me,” Irish rider Padraig McCarthy told me. “There’s no deviation of your line, and if your horse isn’t reading it, you’re going to have a mistake. I think we might see people going long, especially if it’s influential at the start of the competition.”

You’re almost home at 18, which is perennially an influential question as it’s the final one before riders enter into the stadium to finish. By now, most are chasing the time, and can get caught out with a silly mistake here. This year, the combination has been backed off of its previous location closer to the road, and it’s a pair of left-handed open corners set on three strides. It’s a fairly straightforward question, but again, the complexity factor should be added in when accounting for the desire to catch the time.

Fence 21 features a MIM-pinned gate into the water.

After this, riders will gallop into the festive, raucous main stadium, where a handful of fences and an eager crowd of spectators await them. Giuseppe’s done a steeplechase brush, a MIM oxer, a MIM gate into the water and a step out, as well as the traditional keyhole to finish on. While these are generally more of speed bump questions, we’ve seen more than a few riders get caught up in a flat jump trying to get home, so he’s done his due diligence here to try to slow them down as much as possible.

“This course here, the only place where you can really make time is the beginning,” Giuseppe said. “The risk is that, if you go out really as a bullet… you risk to come to [4AB] with a horse that is all very free, and then here you could run into trouble. If we have nobody in the time, I’m not worried. But then the time becomes the deciding factor. And so… you still put some pressure on them, and some little mistakes come and that becomes more exciting.”

Giuseppe’s design philosophy comes down to challenging the riders. To him, the general 4* horse can jump any question. It’s a matter of placing questions in a way that makes the riders think and make good decisions. This is his way of laying out a challenge that tests the best without crushing the rest; a philosophy he’ll be tested even further on next year at World Championships.

“You can design for the horses or for the riders,” he elaborated. “I will say, I like to design for the riders. If a rider rides well, he has a horse that is well prepared. [The horse] doesn’t need to be a star; the normal horse must be able to do things. Then the good ones are the ones that can do it more economically and be a bit quicker. Sometimes it’s more… you’re testing their brain. The adaptability of the horse that is under control. Sometimes you have horses that are very powerful, but no real control.”

“It definitely needs good riding,” echoed Belgian Olympic legend Karin Donckers, who’s brought the 20-years-young Fletcha van’t Verahof here and who also competed at WEG in 2006. “You have to be on the right line, the right angle, everything has to be right. You’re not going to finish the course by luck. And that’s what I think the future for the sport is, and what we like — it’s the schooling of the horses, the good education, the trust, the good building up to this highest level. And I think if you did all that well, then you have the benefit [here she used a Dutch phrase that she didn’t know the English version of, so consider this your eventing ad libs for the day] — you have the big result in competitions like this.”

And so we anxiously await the official christening of this new track, which for all intents and purposes feels very much like a sneak preview of World Championships next year. Giuseppe’s already built some other features that aren’t being used this weekend but will factor in next year, and of course there will be more ground to use to lengthen the track to 9 or 10 minutes for Worlds.

We’ll get a first taste of the track starting at 9:55 am local time / 3:55 am EST on Saturday, so be sure to tune in live on ClipMyHorse.TV and/or via Cheg Darlington’s live blog here on EN.

Want a better look at the course? See the post below to see our walkthrough:

Safe rides to all, and Go Eventing!

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Best for Last: Jérôme Robiné Takes Individual CHIO Aachen Lead; Kiwis Take Charge of Team Competition

By on Jul 4, 2025 12:05 pm -

Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s busy, and then there’s Friday at Aachen busy: a spectacular sort of day in which the alarm goes off at 5:45 in the morning and we have to pick our way through the smashed glasses and cigarette butts of last night’s party in the riders’ lounge to make the first test of the day bright and early. So bright and early, in fact, that we get through every single test by early afternoon, chase our tails for a couple of hours to make sense of it all, and then go straight into the showjumping. Nice and normal! Very sensible! We are not okay!

So it’s been a bit of a hefty morning of sport, you could say. Energy levels were dipping as we headed into the final session of the day. We were all dreaming about the Dubai chocolate more than we were deliberating on double-marked changes.

The last two tests of the 44 we’ve seen throughout the course of the day, though, proved the most pivotal (which is a thrilling culmination of tension and anticipation, no doubt, but also really bad news if you’re a hungry journalist or spectator hoping to sneak off to lunch ahead of the rush). 

One of those two key tests won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, while the other might still be something of a new name to the more casual fan of the sport. The former? New Zealand’s Tim Price and Vitali, who are well-known for their first-phase prowess – they, of course, hold the Burghley dressage record of 18.7, which is a score so low that it’s almost a bit obscene, really. The latter? The exceptional young German talent Jérôme Robiné and Dorothea von Zedtwitz’s Black Ice, who have also flirted with very low scores before, including a 22.8 at Blenheim last year en route to third place. The pair of competitors share the top spot on the leaderboard at the culmination of the first phase, each having produced a 27.3.

Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Jérôme is just 27, but already represents one of his country’s great next-gen hopes – an accolade he and the Federation alike have been working towards for a number of years as Jérôme has furthered his education within the Warendorf training system. 

As the last rider in the ring, Jérôme was following 43 horses and riders who had mostly left the arena feeling dejected about the numbers on the board – and just three thus far had managed to slip below 30. 

But, he admits, he was blissfully unaware of a whole morning’s worth of marks-based misery. 

“I don’t really look at any marks or other riders, to be honest,” he laughs. “I didn’t even know the standings! I just knew that they judged quite hard, as everyone said it. Of course, everyone I talked to in the stable said that to me, but I don’t really look at marks or at standings. [My philosophy is that] I will do it my way.”

That way, he continues, was simple: just keep ticking boxes. 

“I knew that if I just go around and it’s nothing spectacular, it will be [a] very low mark,” he says. “So I tried to remember my test in Blenheim last year, where I scored just under a 23: there, I had just a short warm up, and he’s quite fresh so he’s quite forward and in front of me. I wanted to try to get this at Aachen again, and it worked out pretty well.”

Five years of solid partnership building, he says, plays a big part in being able to make those plans, seek out success, and embrace productive pre-dressage minimalism with the now 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding. 

“I think we’ve known each other for quite a long time now, so there’s not that much preparation needed. Of course, as a rider, you always want to have everything perfect and do this again and do this again, but sometimes you think you have to take a little risk and say, ‘okay, we can both do it. We don’t have to train it three times before we go in.’ So I think it was the key today.”

That’s a lesson he learned at Badminton this year, where the pair finished a very respectable 20th after beginning the week on a 35.2.

“He really gets better and better. His bending, his energy — everything gets that bit better. At the end of last year, Blenheim was his peak. And then at Badminton, there was the five-star test, which I was not 100% sure about, and I think I tried to do too much [in the warm-up]. So I came back to my own plan today, trusted him more, and it really worked.”

Jérôme, who received a fairly deafening roar of support from his countrymen after his final halt and salute, is counting down the minutes until he and Black Ice can showjump in the main arena this evening – “he grows a bit in there, and it’s always special under the lights!” – but before he gets there, he’s taking a moment to enjoy exactly where he is: in the lead at the world’s greatest four-star, with his horse of a lifetime.

Tim Price and Vitali. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

While it might have seemed like a sure thing for Tim Price and Alexander and Joseph Giannamore’s and his own Vitali to take the lead today, horses often aren’t that easy to place a bet on – and the 15-year-old Holsteiner’s last FEI run, at Badminton in May, saw him post a surprising 30.6 on his way to tenth place. 

Today, though, he felt well on his way back to his very best.

“I thought Vitali was really good,” says Tim, “But they’ve been marking really tough, haven’t they? At least they’ve stayed consistent with it. We all know he can do a really nice test, but he’s recently been a little bit edgy – Badminton’s its own kind of beast, being earlier on in the season, and they’re so fit, and he was a bit fresh there.”

But, he continues, “he’s felt really good here this week, and it’s fun to have him here. He’s not had an opportunity to come here before – there’s always been other [events] that are maybe a bit more suited to the longer plan. So it’s fun that I’ve had an opportunity to bring him because he’s usually quite good at his shorts.”

Vitali, who’s a real two-phase specialist, has historically struggled in the showjumping – and has lost out on a couple of five-star titles as a result. But jumping tonight in the main stadium could suit him better, says Tim – or at the very least, it might offer some insight into the greatest mystery in his string. 

“He’s won the British Open twice, and he can go a whole season not having a rail down – except five down at Burghley,” laughs Tim with a grimace. “Only the ones that are worth a hundred grand. The ones that are worth £170, we go clear every time! I’m still figuring it out. I don’t think it’s all about the order of the showjumping – I think it’s that atmosphere, and we’re certainly going to get some atmosphere here. So I’ve got a job to do, and hopefully I can ride him in the way that gives him a chance of jumping a half decent round.”

Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tim’s teammates, Monica Spencer and Spencer Eventing’s ex-racehorse Artist, produced one of just four sub-30 tests today and go into showjumping in provisional third place on a score of 28.8. 

“He’s such a good boy,” grins Monica, who has been based in the US since early 2024. “He loves being at these amazing places with people watching him. He’s doing it for all those bay Thoroughbreds out there!”

We last saw Monica and Max run in an FEI class at Kentucky this spring, where they finished eighth in the CCI5* after starting on a score of 29.3 – but like Tim and Jérôme ahead of them, this is a pair that’s not averse to flirting with the very low 20s when the feeling’s right (and, presumably, when the judges are having a jollier day). 

On that point, Monica is pragmatic: “I never talk about the judging, really, because we’re all sitting in front of the same judges. So I’m just happy to have a score on the board, and I’m happy that it’s in the 20s.” 

The pair flew over ten days ago to allow Max plenty of time to settle in and freshen up after his flight, and since then, says Monica, her focus has been on “making him feel happy and good in his body – and treating him like the king that he is!”

Though she leaves the arena with no regrets, Monica has filed away some notes for improvement in her next test. 

“In my extended circle, I came back too early,” she says. “He was so rideable in there that I almost overdid it, so then I came back a bit early. I probably could have showed off the big stride a little longer. Then I just had a couple of little wobbles in the half-passes and shoulder-ins. But his overall way of going and the frame, I think I had good – it’s just making sure I stay accurate. It can always be better. I’ll be looking at every single little thing as a training thing for the future. Not so much beating myself up about today, because it’s done now, and we’re just happy that it went well. Could have gone better, could have gone worse! So we’re just onto the jumping now. Eyes always forward!”

Bubby Upton and Cola. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Fourth place is held at this early stage by Great Britain’s Bubby Upton, who, like Monica, is making her Aachen debut this week. She was the first rider in the ring achingly early this morning, and our first sub-30 score of the day, which might have given us all the false sense that this would be a very merry day of sport – a sense that was swiftly discarded, of course. 

If anyone’s a match for a tough day of judging, though, it’s 26-year-old Bramham champion Bubby, who left no marks on the table for accuracy. The pair posted a smart 29.1 that might not rank among their best scores of all time – they’ve hit the mid-20s at five-star previously – but serves them well today. 

More importantly for Bubby, it’s a poignant return to a major stage with her longtime partner and Bicton Under-25 Champion, who was sidelined for two years and returned to FEI competition at Kelsall Hill CCI3*-S in April. 

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” says Bubby. “Mark aside, he was just fantastic. He’s a horse that I’ve had a long time – he’s like a dear old friend of mine, just like putting on an old pair of slippers. He tries his heart out every time and this was no different. Having him back is so special; he’s 18 now, and so he’s an older boy, but definitely doesn’t feel it or look it — he feels incredible, and it’s a huge credit to my team at home for getting him back. It’s my first time ever here, and to be here on him is extra special.”

Bubby has spent the spring quietly training Rachel Upton’s Cannavaro back to his former peak – something that she says was a case of slow and steady winning the race after so much time off. 

“He obviously came back a bit slower after his break, and didn’t feel like he did when we left off, but we just gave it time and patience, and I feel like he’s really peaked here today,” she says. “We were absolutely thrilled with him. The judge at H gave him a 25.8 and we feel like that was [indicative of] the work that he produced in there.”

Even before his time off, this phase was a long-term project and labour of love for Bubby and her horse, to whom it didn’t always come naturally.

“With him, he obviously knows all the tricks and everything, but he was a show jumper before I got him, so he found the dressage really difficult and very, very stressful early on in his career. So although he’s 18, it’s always about giving him confidence. When he trusts you and has that confidence, he’ll do anything for you – and he went in there today and he was just amazing. So rideable. I could really show him off and genuinely, apart from [a wobble in the] reinback, I wouldn’t have changed anything. He was absolutely beautiful.”

So how do you build confidence in a phase that’s less about balls-to-the-wall bravery, and more about subtleties of communication?

“It’s just repetition for me, and just a lot of reward and reassurance with him,” explains Bubby. “He’s not a horse that you’d ever want to kind of over correct, because he does panic. For me, with my horses and my system, it’s about knowing each horse and making sure that I adapt to their needs and to get the best out of them. And for him, it’s definitely always a pat and a reassurance to let him know that it’s okay even if he did it wrong, we’ll just repeat it and go again. And he’s thrived off that over the years.”

Bubby relished the chance to get the competition underway – a role that takes a certain sort of nerve. 

“I feel that pressure is a privilege, and I just feel like it’s a real honour to be given the responsibility to be first for the team, and obviously first in the whole competition as well then adds to that even more,” she smiles. “So, yeah, I’m really excited for the challenge. He’s an amazing horse to be sat on for it.”

Tom McEwn and Brookfield Quality. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The fifth place at this early stage is the domain of her teammates Tom McEwen andohn and Chloe Perry’s and Alison Swinburn’s Brookfield Quality, who start their weekend on a 30.2. 

“It’s tough out there, really having to earn your marks,” says Tom moments after his test with the sixteen-year-old gelding. “I thought Bubby this morning did a lovely, flawless, lovely test – and I mean, she’s in a great position still, but you’d love to see her earn a few more points ahead of other people.”

In his case, though, he says, “obviously, you can never judge your own test. You can only go on what you feel. For ‘Norris’, he felt absolutely fantastic – I’m really pleased with him. He gave me some lovely changes for the double marks, and for me, he was really cool, because he’s a horse who spooks at flowers, and you have to slightly feel your way around [the ring]. It’s a little bit like everything Norris does – like, he’ll pick up on things other horses don’t. We thought at the grand old age of sixteen, that might have been out the system by now, but definitely not! And that makes him who he is. But I couldn’t be happier with his test today. It’s a very good start for him.”

Tom, who finished fifth with the Irish Sport Horse at Kentucky, reckons this is an event that will suit him for similar reasons. 

“Kentucky’s an incredible event, with a surface a little bit like here and a great atmosphere. So for me, it’s a great setup for here,” he says. “Since then, he’s had a little bit of a break, and Norris is famous for doing his Open Novices before he comes to the big shows, so I’ve been out and smashed out an Open Novice ’round Farley. Even though it’s only 1.10m, it was great for him, and the cross country had everything, a little coffin and skinnies everywhere, and different turning lines.”

Discovering that Norris likes to drop right back down before a big outing has been the work of years – and several riders. He was previously campaigned by Piggy March, who made the call to hand the ride over to Tom and has remained a crucial sounding-board as he’s gotten to know the gelding over the last couple of years.

“We’re great friends, and she gave me a lot of advice,” says Tom. One of those salient pieces of advice: “Before we came here, he had a little jumping round – he jumps quite consistently, but we would jump quite small, because for Norris, it’s all about confidence. The more confidence he gets, the better it is. It’s a little bit like outside [in warm-up], you want a little bit more medium, but you don’t want to make him break, because then that will make him tense, and he’ll take that in there.”

Laura Collett and Dacapo sit sixth at this stage on 31.9, while Ireland’s Padraig McCarthy and his 2024 Blenheim eight- and nine-year-old champion MGH Zabaione are seventh on 32.2. Eighth place is in the hands of Germany’s Libussa Lübbeke and her Kentucky partner Caramia 34 on 32.3, ninth is held by New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone and his Luhmühlen CCI4*-S fourth-place finisher Rocket Man on 32.4, and the top ten is rounded out by Germany’s Nina Schultes and the eighteen-year-old Grand Prix iWest on 32.6 – which means that this evening’s perennially influential showjumping phase could make some real changes to our tightly-bunched leaderboard. 

Will Coleman and Off the Record. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The team standings experienced a bit of a shake-up with the competitive marks earned by Jérôme Robiné, who squeezed the home team into bronze medal position on a collective score of 96.1. In the process, the Americans got booted from the podium with two phases to go, taking a team score of 100.6 forward to show jumping.

New Zealand, hanging their hats on the banner performances by Tim Price and Monica Spencer in particular, will take charge ahead of show jumping on a score of 88.5. This leaves them without a pole in hand over the silver-placed Brits, who sit on a score of 91.2

Unlike the Olympics, the team format here works as it used to in the Games, with a four-person team and a dropped score. After each phase, the highest penalty mark from each team is discarded. For the U.S. Will Coleman and the Off the Record Syndicate’s Off the Record — winners here in 2021 — are the drop after earning a frustrating 35.6 today.

After coming into the weekend off a personal best in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S at Kentucky — a 21.8 — and even despite the tough judging, Will was understandably bummed about the result from this morning, noting that he felt “Timmy” had gone a bit flat on him during the test.

“You know, he just kind didn’t have it today,” he said. “We didn’t have it today. He just felt a bit flat, I couldn’t really tell you why. He’s been pretty good all week, but I went in there and just got a bit quiet on me, and we just had mistakes [in the] halt rein-back, early in a change, and just little things.”

“That test doesn’t look like much, but it is a bit tricky to ride,” Will continued. “You’ve got to have a really supple and very available horse, and we kind of today just didn’t quite have that. But we’ve got two more phases and we’ll focus on that now, and you know, we’ve got nothing bad to say about Timmy. He’s been a great horse for a long time, and maybe this is not his best test, but I know he’s going to go and try. He obviously knows he’s here — this is his fourth time here — and he’s been a little excited, but he went in there today and he’s kind of like, been there, done that. So, maybe a little too relaxed. I’m not sure, but that’s alright.”

Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We’ve got two Paris Olympic riders with us for the U.S. this week, and Caroline Pamukcu and Sherrie Martin and Mollie Hoff’s HSH Blake were the first to see and are the top-placed for the red, white and blue following dressage. They will take 11th place forward to show jumping on a score of 32.6. This is another pair that’s typically scored more in the 20s, and while Caroline said she did ride a bit conservatively in there given her position as the first rider in for the team, the trend of stringent judging nonetheless made its mark on her score as well.

“Oh, he’s perfect, you know — he’s such a workman,” Caroline told us. “And then he went in and did a really good test. I was the first to go, so I’m a little bit conservative in my test, because I want to have clean tests. And yeah, I was proud of him. He had two clean changes, which was good. I can’t fault him for anything.”

Caroline’s very much on the championship track with this horse, electing to target events that will feed him into future Olympic and World Championship berths rather than stepping him to the 5* level. “He’s 10 this year, and I want him to last, you know, at least, possibly two more championships. I mean, he could potentially go to LA and Australia.”

Caroline is also juggling mom duties this week as baby Blake has also made the trip along with her husband, Deniz. This year, Caroline’s been vocal about the change a new (and especially a first!) baby brings, so she’s taken to the season with an eye to getting herself back into the swing of things, learning how to balance all the things and not pushing herself or her horses too much. “With that said, though, you’re still at a championship,” she said. “Which is great, but that’s the good thing about him and I. We know each other so well, so we don’t get wound up too much, you know, like at the end of the day, I want to be a reliable teammate for team USA, so hopefully I can keep showing them [that it] doesn’t matter what happens in my life or what’s going on, I can always show up and perform.”

Boyd Martin and Commando 3. Photo by Izzy McSwain.

Boyd Martin is the anchor for the USA this week, riding Yankee Creek Ranch LLC’s Commando 3 in his Aachen debut (yes, I had to do a double take too! This is, indeed, Boyd’s first time competing at CHIO Aachen). They scored a 33.5 to sit 15th ahead of show jumping.

Like his fellow competitors, Boyd echoed some frustration with the scoring. “To be honest, I was very, very pleased with the horse,” he said. “Obviously, the score was very disappointing. I was shocked at the score, but it’s been the theme of the day. This horse is consistently in the 20s. On paper, it looks like something went badly wrong. But I was very, very pleased with him.”

Similarly to a few other horses in the field, Commando 3 is on a bit of a short turnaround after running the Kentucky 5* in April. Boyd admits the timing is a bit less than ideal, but he made the most of it, running an easy Intermediate at New Jersey and having jumping coach Peter Wylde take the horse to HITS Saugerties for some extra practice.

Phillip Dutton and Possante. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Phillip Dutton and The Possante Group’s Possante are currently placed just behind Boyd in 16th on a score of 34.2. Importantly, we’re happy to report Phillip is absolutely fine — albeit perhaps with a hit to the ego — after taking a tumble on the jog strip yesterday. And like his compatriots, Phillip felt his test was stronger than his score suggests. He noted that his ongoing mission is to work on lengthening “Impy’s” neck out as a horse that naturally goes in a higher frame.

“I thought he was good,” Phillip said. “I mean, they didn’t get too carried away with him as far as scoring, but he didn’t do anything wrong and mistake free test. Probably got to find a way to be able to lengthen that frame, and confirmation wise, he’s got quite a high neck head carriage, so I could try to stretch him out a bit.”

“I think they’re really tough, actually,” Phillip continued on the topic of the judging. “I think a lot of times that test would have been well into the 20s. But as long as it stays the same for everybody, it doesn’t really matter.”

Our Canadian individual representative, Olympic rider Jessie Phoenix with Charlotte Shickedanz’s Freedom GS, also have some climbing to do, scoring a 39.0 to sit 38th overall. Freedom GS has etched out a bit of a reputation as a climber, being the gritty and quick jumper that she is, so we won’t be surprised to see this pair jump their way well up in the standings over the next two phases.

We now hustle over to show jumping, which kicks off at 6 pm local time / 12 pm EST, and then to cross country tomorrow starting at 9:55 am local time / 3:55 am EST. We’ll have a quick report ready for you after the jumping tonight, and then Cheg will have her live blog running for cross country tomorrow ahead of our full recap.

Stay tuned for a full look at Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s newly-refreshed track coming your way tonight, and don’t forget to tune in live for all phases on ClipMyHorse.TV.

Sally Spickard contributed to this report.

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Friday News & Notes from Stable View

By on Jul 4, 2025 12:01 am -

Who’s excited for this year’s Event at Rebecca Farm? This year, one of our favorite events will be that much more special, as the one and only Mai Baum will be running his final event before retiring in full party fashion after show jumping at the competition. Make sure you get your travel plans in order to visit Big Sky Country!

Major International Events

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

U.S. Weekend Preview

Summer Coconino H.T. I (AZ): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]

Bouckaert Equestrian H.T. (GA): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Mile High H.T. (CO): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

News & Reading

If you’re a listener of The Go Eventing Podcast, we’d love your help! We’re running a giveaway to celebrate our 10th episode (newly released, featuring Bettina Hoy!) and you could be a winner! To enter, fill out this form and/or rate/review our show on your favorite podcast platform and send it to us at [email protected]. You can also screenshot and share to your socials and tag us for an extra entry!

Take a look at some moments and snapshots from the USEF Eventing Young Rider Championships, which took place at Maryland International this past weekend. The full gallery can be found here.

What do you do in that awkward situation when your horse’s former owner isn’t super keen to let go? In the latest edition of The Chronicle of the Horse‘s Stable Sage column, this topic is tackled with some, well, sage advice on establishing a sometimes much-needed boundary. Read it here.

It’s national firecracker day (aka the 4th of July) and many horse and dog owners are taking measures to make sure their animals stay safe. If you’re not quite sure where to start, Horse Nation has some advice for you here.

Want to jump better? It’s common knowledge that this starts on the flat, and Practical Horseman has some tips for you to help you establish a better connection that can be carried forward to jumping work here.

Sponsor Corner: Stable View

It’s time to play This or That with the Stable View Summer H.T. competitiors!

Video Break

The U.S. is off to a strong start at CHIO Aachen, taking home the Nations Cup victory last night!

One Horse Withdrawn at Aachen First Inspection

By on Jul 3, 2025 1:51 pm -

Germany’s Jérôme Robiné and Thorsten 3, his Jump & Drive partner this weekend. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“Manage your expectations with this first horse inspection,” I told EN Managing Editor Sally Spickard, who has made her first trip over to CHIO Aachen this year, and, as such, has to deal with me, an Aachen stalwart, explaining every little detail to her. (“This is an arena,” I tell her, helpfully. “This is a selfie zone. This is a piece of wall art illustrating that this year’s partner country is Spain. Spain, in case you didn’t know, is a country in Europe. Ah, brilliant, here’s what I wanted to show you — this is a horse!”)

So Sally’s had a nice first day, I think, walking the buzzy, twisty, relentlessly intense cross-country course; exploring the unrivalled shopping areas (“I found a stand that sells lingerie and halters, in case you need both right now,” she tells me, which, like, maybe, actually); setting eyes on the 40,000 seat main stadium for the first time; taking baby steps along the equine Walk of Fame. We’ve eaten in the Champions Circle, where we queued for a salad with Christian Kukuk (backwards baseball cap; hot, despite that) and watched Marcus Ehning hopefully eye up the dessert bar and then leave, disappointed and empty-handed. We’ve visited the VIP Lindt installation and eaten free Dubai chocolate (irritatingly, it is very good and we have to concede that TikTok was right). We’ve lived like slightly sweaty queens at equestrian sport’s greatest court. Everything is opulence. If you cut us we will bleed Veuve Cliquot and gold bars. We are money.

Yeah no I actually love being in a hedge thanks for asking. Luckily Will Coleman and Off The Record don’t mind me lurking. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

But then we come swiftly back down to earth when we arrive at the first horse inspection for the eventing competition. This bit’s not really intended for public consumption, and so you have to sherpa your way through a shelving system full of toy horse bridles to get stables-side, swapping the luxury for a much more workmanlike set-up. And that’s fine! I always quite enjoy hiding in a hedge like the village pervert, having a minor crisis that I don’t know how to do anything because I can’t expose for both the horses and the glaring white stable wall. It’s fine! We’re fine. You can’t have it all, and that’s okay.

After all, a horse inspection is meant to do a job, and that’s exactly what this one did. We saw 45 horses and riders present for the CCIO4*-S competition, and a further handful present for Saturday night’s novelty relay Jump & Drive class, in front of ground jury members Katrin Eichinger-Kniely of Austria, who’ll serve as President this week, Sandy Phillips of Great Britain, and Joachim Dimmek of Germany.

Emma Brüssau and Dark Desire GS. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Now, though, we’ll go into tomorrow’s busy day of dressage and showjumping with just 44 horses and riders in our main class. That follows a withdrawal from young German talent Emma Brüssau and her longtime partner Dark Desire GS, who were set to make their Aachen debut after a second place finish in the German National Championships CCI4*-S at Luhmühlen last month — but after the sixteen year-old mare was sent to the holding box, Emma opted to withdraw her without representing and save her for another day.

Phillip Dutton and confirmed bad boi Denim, in happier and more upright times. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

That was our only hold of the entire inspection, but not quite our only drama: Phillip Dutton fell victim to a bit of sideways spookery while presenting his first horse, Denim, and took a tumble into the border hedge — but we’re pleased to report he looked no worse for wear, and about as sound as we can expect an event rider to, when returning to trot up Possante a moment later.

Felix Vogg and Frieda. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

With the trot up behind us, and arena familiarisation in the Deutsche Bank Stadium also now complete, it’s time to look ahead to tomorrow’s competition — and what a day of sport it is. We’ll start strong with the dressage phase beginning at 8.30 a.m. local time (7.30 a.m. BST/2.30 a.m. EST), which will carry us on until a late lunch break at 14.30 local/13.30 BST/8.30 a.m. EST. Then, we’ll head to Aachen’s famous main stadium, the Turkish Airlines Stadium, for an evening of showjumping from 18.00 local time/17.00 BST/12.00 p.m. EST. All of it will be live-streamed via ClipMyHorse.TV, and we’ll be bringing you full reports after each phase, plus a jam-packed cross-country preview ahead of Saturday’s fast-paced finale.

In case this is all too confusing for you: a hint.

You can deep-dive into the main players and plot intrigues of this week’s entry list in our preview here, and make sure you tune in to our Instagram stories, too, where Sally’s been sharing some of the best bits of the competition so far. Will she share the lingerie and halter stand? Is there something worse and weirder available in the shopping village? How will Christian Kukuk wear his hat tomorrow? There’s only one way to find out!

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Inside the Dress Rehearsal: Preview CHIO Aachen’s Stacked Entry List

By on Jul 3, 2025 9:00 am -

Will Coleman’s 2021 winner, Off The Record, adds another Aachen rosette to his collection, finishing tenth on his return. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Welcome to CHIO Aachen week, one of the most exciting rosters of equestrian sport in the year’s calendar — a competition that merges the very best of eventing, showjumping, dressage, combined driving, and vaulting all within one enormously impressive venue, and all under the banner of the World Equestrian Festival. Next year, it’ll also play host to the World Championships across the major disciplines, a task it last undertook with aplomb back in 2006.

This week, though, the CCIO4*-S, which is a Championship-style course running through the parkland of the venue, and which will be designed for the first time this year by Italy’s Giuseppe della Chiesa — a man you might remember from the 2022 World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro — who takes over after a long and successful stint by Rüdiger Schwarz.

Aachen’s CCIO4*-S is a Nations Cup style competition, but not a part of the FEI Nations Cup series — instead, it’s a standalone event, but one that’s arguably even more prestigious than its yearlong compatriot. In many ways, it functions as a kind of annual mid-season championship: nations have to earn spaces, so you’ll see some countries with teams and others with smaller individual allowances, and then, riders have to apply to their national governing bodies for selection.

So in practical terms, what does any of this mean and why should you care? Well, first of all, we can always safely assume that we’ll be looking at a top-class field and at give or take 45 horses and riders, one that’s only marginally smaller than, say, an Olympic field. Think small, but perfectly formed. From there, it’s interesting to see how each country strategises and makes best use of their allocation, and how that can change year on year. The event’s positioning in the calendar — and the fact that it’s a CCI4*-S — means it’s early enough to be used as a selection opportunity or preparation run ahead of each year’s major Championship (this year, that’ll be the FEI European Championships at Blenheim in September), but it’s also often used as a way to prepare less experienced horses or riders for the world stage.

Of course, this year’s renewal has an extra layer of intrigue: because of next year’s World Championships, many countries will be hoping to give some of their prime candidates a feeler run this year as part of their longer-term selection and preparation process.

Nowhere does this feel more true than in the ranks of the seriously hot US team. It’s clear that chef d’équipe Leslie Law is putting his A-team to work this week and aiming to take the team title that has closely eluded the nation previously — we’ve seen the US contingent hold down the fort in the bridesmaid position for the last couple of years, and they’re certainly ready to seal the deal. Their team will be helmed by Will Coleman and Off The Record, who are the only US pair to win the individual title at Aachen — an achievement they added to their resume in 2021. They’ll be joined by Phillip Dutton and Possante, Boyd Martin and Commando 3, runners up at Kentucky this spring, and Caroline Pamukcu and her Olympic partner HSH Blake. Phillip’s double-handed this week, actually — after the sad withdrawal of individual competitor James Alliston, whose 11-year-old Karma didn’t make the journey over after a minor setback in training. That means that the ten-year-old Denim, who was initially named as a direct reserve for Possante, will get the chance to run for the individual honours this week.

Boyd Martin and Commando 3. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s a US roster that wouldn’t look at all out of place at next year’s World Championships, but even so, these things take some winning — and there are some teams that just don’t quit. Chief among them, of course, is the Great British effort, which brings together a strong line-up of developing horses and podium pathway riders. Five horses and riders are making the trip over, from which a team of four and one individual will be chosen by chef d’équipe Sarah Verney — and good luck to her, frankly, in making the call. Her roster of talent includes Laura Collett and Dacapo, who’s a strange duck of a horse who thrives at Aachen and Boekelo above all other events; Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality, who were third at Pau last year and fifth at Kentucky this spring; Gemma Stevens and her 13-year-old Millstreet CCI4*-L champion Flash Cooley; Caroline Harris and her 2024 Pau champion D. Day; and Bramham winner Bubby Upton and her stalwart partner Cannavaro, who will be gaining valuable experience ahead of a bid for her senior team debut this autumn.

New Zealand’s line-up features both members of the Price family: Tim will be quietly hoping that showjumping in Aachen’s capacious main stadium suits Vitali, who has so often been hoodwinked by this phase, while Jonelle will be riding her Olympic partner, Hiarado, for a redemptive run after an up-and-down Kentucky this spring. If that sounds like we’re launching a pity party for the Prices, rest assured we’re not, because they don’t need it — these two ride immensely well on a redemption arc. They’re joined by an in-form Clarke Johnstone and Rocket Man, who haven’t finished outside the top ten at four-star this season; Samantha Lissington, who’s currently busy having the year of dreams, and will ride the charismatic Lord Seekonig this week; and now-US-based Monica Spencer and the excellent Thoroughbred campaigner Artist.

Samantha Lissington and Lord Seekonig. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

At Luhmühlen a couple of weeks ago we were all happily blown away by Australia’s Andrew Cooper and Sharvalley Thunder, who made the trip up from the southern hemisphere and duly finished third in the CCI4*-S — and now, we’re looking forward to seeing how that form translates to this championship-style occasion. They’ll be teamed up with British-based Kevin McNab and Faro Imp, Sammi Birch and the quirky but gritty Finduss PFB, and Bill Levett and Sligo Candy Cane, who step in following the withdrawal of Shane Rose and Easy Turn. It’s a team that’s emblematic of a sort of rebuilding of Australian coffers, after the re-retirement of Chris Burton, and the stepping down of former team stalwarts like Scuderia 1918 Don Quidam. Also previously successful at Aachen, and omnipresent on the Australian team in recent years, was Andrew Hoy’s Vassily de Lassos — and while we will see Andrew this week, it won’t be on team duties. He’s made the trip over from the UK with Gulliver des Lones to take part in Saturday night’s novelty Jump & Drive challenge, which pits teams comprising a showjumper, an eventer, and a combined driving team in a madcap relay under the lights, mostly set to aggressive Europop remixes. We’d make the trip just for that, too, so we get it.

We can’t talk about Germany without mentioning the home front, which is both strong and very evidently chosen with development in mind. Such is the nation’s strength that they’ve opted to leave the big guns — the Michis, the Christophs, the Julias, all of whom have already had big runs this spring — on the sidelines, while bringing their next-gen talent to the forefront for a valuable crack. They’ll be helmed by the uber-experienced Anna Siemer and FRH Butts Avondale, who are making their Aachen team debut, while we’ll also see runs from Libussa Lübekke and Caramia 34, who finished in the top ten at Kentucky this spring; Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice, who finished in the top twenty at Badminton; Calvin Böckmann and Altair de la Cense, with whom he finished fifth in the CCI4*-S at Luhmühlen; five-star partners Nicolai Aldinger and Timmo; and talented young up-and-comers in Emma Brussau and Dark Desire GS, Antonia Baumgart and Ris de Talm, Pauline Knorr and Aevolet M-A-F and Nina Schultes and Grand Prix iWest.

We’ll also see solid team efforts from Ireland, led by last year’s Blenheim eight- and nine-year-old champion MHS Zabaione, piloted by Padraig McCarthy, and Switzerland, who are using this opportunity to produce some of their fresher-faced horses. We’re mostly charmed by the persistence of single-human-named mares in the latter camp (Felix Vogg’s Frieda, or Mélody Johner’s Erin. Girls’ girls!). France rounds out the team line-up of eight, with a line-up featuring the consistent Luc Chateau, who’s been knocking on the door of a big French team debut, as well as Paris Olympian Stephane Landois, who will be hoping that Gainsbourg de Bedon can fill the huge hole left in his string by the sale of his medal-winning partner Ride For Thaïs Chaman Dumontceau.

Karin Donckers and Fletcher Van’t Verahof. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Beyond the eight teams, there are another four nations fielding individual riders: these are Japan, single-handedly represented by Olympian Ryuzo Kitajima and Be My Daisy; Canada, who have a fighting chance in Jessica Phoenix and Freedom GS; Sweden, whose very experienced Frida Anderson is using this as a foundational educational run for the up-and-coming Stonehavens Baby Blue; and Belgium, who send forward on-form (what else is new?!) Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Kiarado d’Arville, and stalwart partnership Karin Donckers and the exceptional Fletcha van’t Verahof, evergreen at twenty years old.

Phew. It’s some line-up, really, isn’t it? And all this alongside the upper echelon of each of the major disciplines, all in a hay-and-currywurst tinged utopia of equestrian sport. We can’t wait to dive in, nor to bring all the action to you — starting with tomorrow’s first horse inspection, which will take place from 5.00 p.m. local time (4.00 p.m. BST/11.00 a.m. EST). All the sport from across the show will be broadcast via ClipMyHorse.TV, but we know you want all the nitty gritty about what’s happening, why it matters, and what you need to know ahead of next year, so keep it locked on EN for our full reports, and don’t miss our Instagram stories, either, which will take you behind the scenes across each day, too. You can bookmark our Ultimate Guide to get easy access to all our coverage as it’s published. Auf wedersehen, and Go Eventing!

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Thursday News & Notes from Virginia Horse Center Foundation

By on Jul 3, 2025 12:01 am -

Mark your calendars for the inaugural Youth Equestrian Festival, coming to the Virginia Horse Center July 17–20! 🎉 This all-discipline celebration welcomes riders 25 and under for a weekend packed with competition, clinics, and community. From eventing to western and everything in between, this Open Show is your chance to try something new, strut your stuff, and make friends across the sport. Don’t miss Thursday’s Opening Ceremony (barn colors encouraged!), a Friday night Prom (yes, with a DJ and dance facilitators), and much more. Full details and entry info at vahorsecenter.org.

Major International Events

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

U.S. Weekend Preview

Summer Coconino H.T. I (AZ): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]

Bouckaert Equestrian H.T. (GA): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Mile High H.T. (CO): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

News & Reading

If you’re a listener of The Go Eventing Podcast, we’d love your help! We’re running a giveaway to celebrate our 10th episode (newly released, featuring Bettina Hoy!) and you could be a winner! To enter, fill out this form and/or rate/review our show on your favorite podcast platform and send it to us at [email protected]. You can also screenshot and share to your socials and tag us for an extra entry!

Athletux will return to provide commentary for the Preliminary through Advanced levels at this year’s USEA American Eventing Championships at Galway Downs. Helmed by Frankie Thieriot Stutes, who will be joined in the booth by a roster of top riders, the live feed on Equine Network will be your home for all things AEC. And for levels below Preliminary, never fear! All divisions will have a part in the live stream. Learn more here.

A very cool story out of last weekend’s USEF Eventing Young Rider Championships, held at Maryland International at Loch Moy Farm: Raelyn Snyder is an international level vaulter who’s had a shorter tenure in eventing. In fact, before last weekend, she’d never competed in an FEI event. She made her dual sport debut in style, winning the CCI1*J-S division for individual gold. Read more about Raelyn’s background here.

Want to keep a thumb on the general health of the international governing body (FEI) and the broader world of equestrian sports? The FEI Annual Report is now available for public viewing. Inside, you’ll get a look at the impact of the 2024 Olympics and Para Olympics, key developments in welfare and safety as well as commercial growth, education and development and more. Download the report here.

Video Break

A cute throwback Thursday to Team USA’s Aachen podium finish in 2023:

EN’s Ultimate Guide to CHIO Aachen CCIO4*-S

By on Jul 2, 2025 12:30 pm -
Team USA waits for their turn in the prizegiving ceremony. Photo by Tilly Berendt. Team USA waits for their turn in the prizegiving ceremony. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We are just a couple of days away from kicking off eventing at CHIO Aachen, a prestigious 10-day festival that takes place in west Germany, just over the Dutch border. Eventing is just one of several disciplines represented throughout this spectator-heavy event (Aachen attracts something like 350,000 spectators each year), and we’ll see things get underway on Thursday with the horse inspection, followed by two days of competition. Dressage and show jumping will take place on Friday, with the eventers getting a chance to jump under the lights in the main stadium, followed by cross country as the final phase on Saturday.

The Players

CHIO Aachen always attracts a star-studded list of entries, and this year is no different. The U.S. has sent an A-team of Olympians and 2021 Aachen individual winners Will Coleman and Off the Record, but they’ll nonetheless have a run for their money with heavy-hitter nations like Great Britain and New Zealand also sending strong contingents. You can also view Tilly’s full entry preview here and the entry list here.

How to Watch

ClipMyHorse.TV has the live feed for the entirety of CHIO Aachen, and while you do need a subscription to watch, you’ll also have access to the full line-up of live streams and original content. The live feeds can also be viewed on-demand if you don’t feel like waking up at an odd hour to watch. Click here to view the live stream.

Social Media Channels and Hashtags

To keep up with CHIO Aachen’s coverage, you can follow their Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X and YouTube pages.

You can also follow along on EN’s Instagram, where we’ll be posting daily recap galleries, a venue tour and more.

For hashtags, your best bet is #CHIOAachen to find all of the latest on socials.

EN’s Coverage

Keep this page bookmarked and refreshed to see our coverage articles throughout the week.

Friday, July 4

It’s the Plot Twist Olympics: Tim Price and Vitali Lead After Tough Aachen Showjumping

An Eye to the Future: Previewing Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s CHIO Aachen Cross Country

Best for Last: Jérôme Robiné Takes Individual CHIO Aachen Lead; Kiwis Take Charge of Team Competition

Thursday July 3

One Horse Withdrawn at Aachen First Inspection

Inside the Dress Rehearsal: Preview CHIO Aachen’s Stacked Entry List

CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program/Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]