Tim Price and Vitali — your 2025 Aachen winners (and prizegiving chaos agents). Photo by Tilly Berendt.
As a seasoned Aachenite – this is my sixth time at the German high temple of horse sport – there are a few things I know to be true every year. The time will always, reliably, be nearly impossible to catch; the cumulative intensity of the track’s technical questions will make it even more of a challenge than most championships; and the STAWAG combination, just before horses and riders enter the main stadium to finish the course, will always be the heartbreaker of the day.
But when I got my first little glimpse of the course the other day, I began to second-guess myself. The STAWAG combination now sat tens of meters further from the arena, giving it significantly less visual intensity – would that translate into how it rode? Would riders see the space and feel less boxed in, less weighed down by the proximity of the finish line? Would it create some kind of strange and as-yet-undiscovered psychological pressure relief, making it just another pair of corners in just another field? And because this is the first course under the auspices of Italy’s Giuseppe della Chiesa, who took over from longtime designer Rüdiger Schwarz after last year’s competition, was this early glimpse indicative of a soft first year as he learned his way around the park?
Of course not. While this might be Giuseppe’s first Aachen, it’s certainly not his first rodeo – in recent years alone, he’s been at the helm of the World Championships at Pratoni in 2022 and was responsible for four iterations of Badminton, too, a decade ago. He knows how to design a track that’s both hard and fair on the day, but crucially, he also has a track record of creating courses that help to lay the landscape of the sport more broadly.
“We came with the idea to produce something for next year, but especially to produce a venue for the next 20 years,” he told EN on Thursday. “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 an instance.”
So he didn’t come into his debut here buckling under the pressure, nor did he worry that the eyes of the world would be on his track to see how next year’s World Championships, set to be held here at Aachen, might stack up. He just set to designing.
The result? A course that does feel wholly new-look in a lot of ways, but in all the ways that count, continues to be all Aachen: intense, nippy, clever and tricksy in ways that aren’t always immediately obvious. It’s a track that’s always been more about architecting expensive time penalties or expensive, but non-injurious, drive-bys, because one of the primary goals at the venue – other than creating that annual unofficial CCI4*-S championship scenario – is to keep horses happy, healthy, and get them home with ears pricked, hungry for more.
43 starters, 40 finishers, and no horse falls later, it feels like a job well done.
If a completion rate of 93% feels like a dull day of sport to you, let’s recalibrate that notion. We might have seen most of our field through the finish flags (just rider falls for Germany’s Nina Schultes and Pauline Knorr, and for Sweden’s Frida Anderson, precluded a clean sheet), but that’s not to say that today’s cross-country finale didn’t make its mark on the leaderboard. And yes, even the clear rate was higher than average here: ten of the 40 finishers picked up jumping penalties, giving us a 75% clear rate, but – as is often the case at pressure-cooker Aachen – many of those penalties came from highly-placed riders, which saw half our overnight top ten plummet from the business end of the leaderboard.
The real story of the day, though, was the time. There’s been much discussion this week about the broad discrepancies in yesterday’s dressage judging, and the sometimes frustratingly harsh marking – but one notable thing that it did do was create incredibly tight margins, which first played their card in last night’s showjumping. Then, as today, the clear rounds were higher than normal – but the time was tight, and even a second over was enormously costly.
And then there was today. The optimum time was set at 6:35 for the 24 fence track, and not a single competitor would manage to catch it. Some would come close: New Zealand’s Monica Spencer added just one second to the clock with Artist, propelling the pair from 19th after showjumping to sixth in the final standings, and 2021 champions Will Coleman and Off The Record added just two seconds to move from 16th to fourth.
Beyond that, though? The clock kept on ticking and ticking and ticking away.
Tim Price and Vitali. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Fortunately for overnight leaders Tim Price and Vitali, who had jointly held the top spot after dressage and then took it over solely after co-leaders Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice had two rails last night, there was a little bit of a margin for them to fill – which they did, only barely, with 3.2 time penalties. That was 3.2 penalties that they certainly hadn’t had in hand at the start of the day, but a surprise mid-course 20 for second-placed Bubby Upton and Cannavaro, who faulted at the final element of the coffin complex, left them a snifter of breathing room to secure the win as the final pair on course.
“We’re going to take some time to let it soak in, because you’re just focused and there’s the team aspect, which is a primary thing, and so you’re just working away with getting through the competition,” says Tim, who also led the New Zealand team to its first Aachen victory since 2018. “I still wasn’t sure that I won when I came through — these people clap, whether you come second or whatever’s happened!”
Tim Price and Vitali. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
There’s something special about seeing 15-year-old Vitali (Contender – Heraldik) take a major victory with Tim, because it’s something they’ve come so close to so many times since winning their FEI debut together in the CCI4*-L at Strzegom in 2021. Sure, they’d won the British Open Championship a couple of years ago, taking the top honours in that Advanced-level class, but time and time again we’ve seen them come out dominant at the top level, only to relinquish their win on the final day when scattering poles (an average of three each time, if you’re counting). That meant that yesterday was a considerable question mark, and a challenge that they – bafflingly but brilliantly – rose to with aplomb, and today, they could come out swinging and focus on the gelding’s considerable strengths.
“He’s a very good cross country horse, and always has been,” says Tim. “He’s got a few chinks in his armor, particularly the show jumping, so yesterday was like a victory – to have a nice round in the stadium here. But today – what an exciting course and a really fun horse to have a go at jumping around on.”
Still, no matter how good a cross-country horse you’re on, Aachen still presents considerable challenges – particularly where the buzz of the zealous crowd is concerned.
“You could definitely pick up on the atmosphere from number one, actually, going past the water with the big stadium. It was really fun just to gallop past and not actually have a jump to jump in that moment, but it gave the horses the feel of the atmosphere, and it was [consistent] all the way around the course. It was a great number of enthusiastic spectators.”
Though that buzzy atmosphere meant that Tim had to make a quick dismount and rejoin the lap of honour on foot, it’s a moment he won’t soon forget – and a heartening bit of proof that all the time and effort and faith he’s put in the horse has been worthwhile.
“It’s a great result for New Zealand, and quite fun for our manager, Jock Paget, to take back to the guys in New Zealand, sitting at the desks, that he’s had to justify to all the times that we don’t do so well,” he laughs.
Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Tom McEwen was riding to defend his place on the podium with his Kentucky partner Brookfield Quality, and although he had a hairy moment at the Rolex water at 12B when ‘Norris’ chipped in a stride, the pair motored on home to add just 3.6 time penalties, not just securing them their third place, but moving them through the newly opened door into second.
“I’m absolutely delighted with Norris – he couldn’t have done any more,” says Tom. “It’s been a great learning experience. You don’t often get to come and compete under this sort of pressure: the team environment, which is fantastic to always be in, and the pressure of these amazing crowds and people watching us. And today was just great fun, to go down and ride around with so many people from start to finish, and the noise at the end. Norris is quite a character in himself, so just to actually come out, lay everything down as well as we could, is all we can ask for. He was super — we’re definitely delighted with him.”
This isn’t Tom’s first trip around Aachen, and he, like so many great riders before him, has previously been the unlucky soul to lose a top placing with a surprise run-out – but today, the plan came off, and he was thrilled with what he found in Giuseppe’s new-look, time-tight course.
“The course was amazing,” he says. “It flowed really well, and I actually really enjoyed riding around today, which is always quite good fun. The time was really quick, and honestly, sometimes you go back and think, ‘oh, I could take a bit more off.’ But I really don’t think I could have shaved too much more off there.”
Gemma Stevens and Flash Cooley. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Teammate Gemma Stevens had a frustrating start to her competition with a 33.2 dressage aboard the smart Flash Cooley, who has consistently been a mid-to-high 20s scorer on the flat but was left languishing in 13th yesterday morning. They made their intention to climb clear in the evening, though, delivering a faultless clear round that showed off the skills picked up in Gemma’s side hustle as a pure showjumper – and today, they were the third-fastest pair of the day to move up to a final third place after adding just 2.8 time penalties.
“He was absolutely amazing – he really gave his absolute best,” beams Gemma. “I couldn’t ask for more from him; he went as fast and as quick over the jumps as he can. He’s a super, super careful jumper, and sometimes he goes really high over the jumps, so we waste half a second here and there just being so wonderfully careful. I prefer that, though, than too low!”
Their quest to make the time was impeded by an odd incident as they approached the main water complex for the second time, where they had to face down the biggest drop on course.
“I actually lost a couple of seconds between the logs at the top [10 and 11] and the Rolex water [12ABC] because my air vest got stuck to my saddle,” she says. “So I was stuck [in the galloping position] in the saddle, and I had to slow down and rip it with all my strength before jumping into the huge drop into water. So I reckon I lost maybe three seconds there. But what a fantastic horse, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Their efforts saw them climb from overnight ninth, not just on the strength of their performance – and Gemma’s impressive vest destruction skills – but due to further high profile dropouts from the top ten. Laura Collett’s Dacapo is well known for fluctuating between heartbreaker and hunk, and while Aachen is usually one of his venues of choice for maximum hunkiness, he channeled the man who ghosted you after a really great Tinder date and had a sudden, surprise stop in the Rolex water, dropping them from fifth down to 35th. Germany’s Libussa Lübbeke and her Kentucky top-ten finisher Caramia 34 also ran into trouble, though earlier on at the skinny at fence 7D, to relinquish sixth place. Eighth-placed Irishman Padraig McCarthy and his Blenheim eight- and nine-year-old champion MHS Zabaoine picked up 20 penalties at the second element of the Turkish Airlines complex at 7B, and another at the second SAP Tractor angled hedge at 16C, to further broaden the availability of the top ten.
Will Coleman and Off The Record. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
And so we saw the inexorable rise of Will Coleman and Off The Record, the 2021 champions, who – like Gemma and Flash Cooley – had had a particularly frustrating start to the week. Their 35.6 had them 24th at the start of the competition, and even a fault-free round last night could only push them as far as 16th.
But today, they were nearly unbeatable on speed, adding just two seconds and 0.8 time penalties – and that was enough to catapult them right up to fourth place.
“He was Timmy!” says Will with a grin. “He was his usual self — enthusiastic — but he’s just a machine, and he loved it, and we loved it, and we just felt like we were having fun out there.”
But do those two seconds rankle? Not really, says Will.
“I was pretty pleased. I gave him a few strides after the coffin to kind of get a little bit of a breath, so I probably had a second there, and then at the second last water [14], he sort of went a little bit of wooden on me, turning in there, so I probably got an extra stride there than I wanted. So that’s two seconds. You have to be pretty perfect to get the time, or be on an extraordinarily fast horse, and we were close, so I’m pleased. He gave me everything he had, and I can’t be disappointed in two seconds.”
Boyd Martin and Commando 3. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
His teammates Boyd Martin and Commando 3 also delivered a speedy round, though not quite on Timmy time, to add 3.2 time penalties and chase Will up the leaderboard into fifth place.
But, admits Boyd, “It wasn’t my best round, to be honest. He was very brave and bold, and he was taking on the jumps a little bit too much, and I lost my stirrup for about three jumps. I couldn’t find it, and I had to jump the jump in the water without a stirrup, and the double hedges. Luckily, I got it back, [but] it cost me time and energy – but he’s such a good horse. He’s very brave and honest, and it was good experience for him.”
It’s another exciting achievement to add to a CV that includes second place at Kentucky this spring, and helps to cement the former Louise Romeike ride as a serious team contender for the championships to come – particularly once Boyd can apply the nuanced bits of learning they’ve done together this week.
“It sort of just confirmed my belief,” says Boyd. “He’s a brave, gutsy horse, and these sort of twisty turny tracks are a little harder for him than the five-stars – I find it a bit easier at the five-stars, where you can get him to settle down a bit. But it was a good experience, and I think we finished in a respectable place, and so we’re heading back to America, still with a bit of work to do.”
Monica Spencer and Artist (and a bit of clever footwork!). Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The fastest pair of the day, Monica Spencer and Artist, demonstrated exactly what you need to do to challenge the clock at Aachen: you need to get up on your time as early as possible. When they raced past the crowds en route to fence two, they did so so quickly that they left a sea of Germans gasping in their wake, and all the way around, they were able to maintain their high cruising speed – even with a moment of seriously catlike footwork in the final water.
“He was amazing,” says Monica, who took sixth place. “It’s definitely the right day to be on a Thoroughbred. I felt more like a race car driver today than a show hunter, so good on me!”
Her plan of action before she headed out on course was simple, she continues.
“Just keep kicking! It’s my nature to get too sympathetic and be like, ‘Oh, he needs a rest,’ but I just needed to rely on that fitness that I know he has and trust that he’s got the stamina to gallop the whole way.”
Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
2024 Pau champions Caroline Harris and D. Day made good on their Aachen debut – a competition that Caroline has been hoping to tackle all year for the young horse’s ongoing education – and added 4.8 time penalties to complete a two-day climb from first-phase 18th place. They finished in seventh place, one ahead of first-phase joint leaders Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice, who cruised home with 8 time penalties and the roar of German goodwill behind them.
“I thought I could be a bit faster, but I didn’t find the right forward distance on fence two,” reflects Jérôme, who had to manage the fine line between his horse’s enthusiasm and his carefulness as the course progressed. “Fence four, he jumped quite high up in the air, so I thought, ‘Okay, onto the next,’ and at fence 7ABCD, I wanted to just get it fluid, as he’s quite brave and quite honest for just going forward. But as I felt he was quite up in the air, [I thought] maybe I should not just always go for it! So there was a decision I had to take in the course. Then it felt better and better and better through the course. He still was amazing, and I think he’s probably the most honest horse.”
27-year-old Jérôme finishes the week as the best of the home nation, and the helmsman of the team of mostly up-and-coming riders, who slotted into fourth place in the nations standings behind Great Britain. It’s another result that makes it very clear that the Warendorf student is one of the keys to the future of German eventing on the world stage.
“It’s always incredible to ride here, so I will always come here and give my very best,” he says.
“I think over the years we produced a lot of good results, and I would say that now I’m part of team Germany. Of course, we are a lot of young athletes, but I think we already made our way a bit as a team and settled a bit. So I hope for the Europeans, and I hope for the World Equestrian Games here next year, so that’s the next aim.”
Clarke Johnstone and Rocket Man. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone followed up his fourth place finish in the CCI4*-S at Luhmühlen with ninth place with ten-year-old Rocket Man, who added 8.4 time penalties while learning the ropes of this championship trial-run.
“He was incredible, and it’s a step up again for him,” says Clarke. “He’s ten years old and this is a big atmosphere – I think there’s more spectators here than normal, because it felt like there was a huge crowd. But he just gave me everything, and I didn’t leave really a second out on course. He’s not the fastest; [he’s got] a little bit one pace. But he really tried all the way home for me, and I’m delighted with how he went.”
“The only thing I changed [from my plan] was he jumped very steeply into the water crossing at the second water. He just did a very neat pop in, so I actually ended up doing five strides to the duck [at 12B]. It just seemed like the right thing after he popped in quite carefully.”
And so, as the pair crossed the finish line, Rocket Man had leveled up again in his experience and confidence – and Clarke’s own relatively newfound confidence in him was further solidified.
“He showed me he’s got a lot of heart. It’s always a big ask, and he didn’t question anything. He just looked for the way through the flags and just went. He’s becoming very clever, I think, on the cross country, which probably would be not something I would have said about him a year ago. He was never looking to do anything wrong, but he was not looking where he was going and analyzing things quickly. So I think he feels now like he’s got his ears pricked and he’s really thinking and looking and I’m very proud of him.”
Jonelle Price and Hiarado. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The top ten was rounded out by his teammate Jonelle Price and her Paris partner Hiarado, who cruised home with 6.8 time penalties to move up from 13th – and to seal the deal on the Kiwi team victory, which they took by a nearly ten-point margin.
Kiwis Crowned for First Aachen Victory Since 2018
You’d have to go back seven years in the results to find the last time New Zealand took home the team honors at Aachen, though they’ve certainly been figures here in Germany nearly every year. They also finished on the podium in second the following year, in 2019, but they’ve waited in the wings since then for another chance at the victory gallop.
It’s a team that’s been built around stalwarts Tim Price (who was also a member of the previous podium teams) and Jonelle Price as well as riders such as Clarke Johnstone and Blyth Tait. Despite their small acreage as a nation, the country continues to produce strong horses and up-and-coming riders to the mix. For team chef d’equipe Jock Paget, who understands well the pressures of team competition, the result this week is an important building block toward next year’s World Championships. Without the ability to participate in something like the FEI European Championships, Aachen becomes a close replacement.
“Aachen, to us, is European Championships, if you will, because we don’t have one,” Jock said. “So we treat it like that. It’s the biggest target for us this year. There’s Nations Cups and then there’s Aachen. This was a pin in the map for us this year, to come here with next year in mind.”
Jock, who has helmed the team through a variety of positions since he retired from active competition and took over as high performance manager for the Kiwis in time for the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, it’s been a building process toward the major championships; the efforts paid off with a team bronze at FEI World Championships in 2022, and the groundwork feels very much laid for a big run back to Aachen in just over a year’s time.
“With this group, we always look at what can be better next time, but we’ve had a lot of bad days,” Jock said. “This is a hard place to come and do well. Obviously, we were trying to be as competitive as we could be. So knowing that it’s very hard to have a plan go to plan when you get here, it went about as close as it could, I think, and we’re very happy. The effort that riders put in was awesome, very competitive, and very grateful to the owners to develop horses to be here.”
The U.S. took home another silver medal thanks to four clear cross country rounds today from Will Coleman, Boyd Martin, Phillip Dutton and Caroline Pamukcu. The team is newly-helmed by chef d’equipe Leslie Law and Eventing High Performance Advisor Karyn Shuter, who took their positions earlier this year. Christina Vaughn also took the role of Director of the Eventing Elite Program for USEF, a move Leslie expressed much gratitude for, as the pair had worked together closely when he was the development coach for the Americans.
“Christina has been developing under 25 for, I think, 10 years,” Leslie said. “And so the fact that she was able to join as team leader, that was definitely a huge asset for me, because we’ve worked together for so long. I believe we put a great program together there in the under-25 and the developing program. And I think the fact that Caroline [Pamukcu] has come through that, stepping up as a team rider, I think it shows that that program is in good shape. Like I said, to have Christina come along with me, I think that made the transition so much easier than for me to have somebody I knew. And then again, obviously having you know, somebody like Karyn, with her experience to come in and be able to bounce things off. It’s, quite honestly, made the transition pretty damn easy!”
In terms of the U.S. performance this week, Leslie’s feeling positive. “We felt it was an important competition for us, obviously, with the World Championships being here next year,” he said. “I think we’ve had a good run. I can’t thank the riders enough. They’ve really taken us on board and they wanted information and we’re trying to give them what we can. But I can’t thank them enough, because when they have your back it makes the job so much easier. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with these professional riders. Every aspect of their horsemanship – we go to their farms, the professionalism is 100%, we all know it. It takes a village. They people they’ve got behind them, the girls that have been here this week looking after the horses, they’re 100% professional. We couldn’t have asked for a better team as far as looking after the horses. It takes a ton of people and we feel like we’ve gotten off to a really strong, positive start, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Leslie expressed hope that the riders aiming for World Championships will earn their qualifications by the end of the this year, making the task of culling down and selection that much better next year. “I think it allows us to then make individual plans for horses and riders and hopefully not trying to get having to get qualified next year with those individuals,” he explained. “There will be some exceptions to that, obviously, but I think that going forward for the rest of the year, that will be a priority.”
The Brits notched third position as a group, falling a couple of positions from their original lead at the start of the day but nonetheless looking ahead to September’s European Championships in addition to Worlds next year. The Brits are always bursting with talent — they could have fielded a completely different team this year at Aachen and likely had a similar result — and they’re a team to beat as they vie for the European title in just a couple months’ time.
And thus we’re off after a grand weekend at CHIO Aachen, already looking forward to returning next August. You can catch up on all of our coverage from the week here as well as on our Instagram here for more fun content.
Until next time, we’re off to see the Ride & Drive and perhaps a birthday cocktail or two. Go Eventing!
Sally Spickard contributed to this report.
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