Germany Wins Dressage World Championships Gold, Britain Silver, Denmark Bronze; 3 Combinations Above 80%

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on Mount St. John Freestyle posting a personal best 82.376% and the highest of the 91 riders from around the globe to compete in the World Championships team competition. © 2026 Ken Braddick/DRESSAGE-NEWS.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

AACHEN, Germany, Aug. 12, 2026–In one of the most exciting dressage competitions, Germany won World Championships team gold Wednesday for the 13th of the 16 events since the team contest founding 60 years ago.

Great Britain took silver and Denmark bronze after results that remained close until the end of two days of Grand Prix for the team title staged once every four years and this year at the magnificently prepared Aachen that hosts the immensely Festival of Champions regarded as the most competitive horse show in the world.

Justin Verboomen of Belgium on his 10-year-old Zonik Plus who emerged as a superstar combination at this same show grounds a year ago, was the highest placed individual on ??? and a possible successor to Britain’s Charlotte “Lottie” on Glamourdale, the individual world champion from 2022.

The top six teams that will earn a start at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics were: 1. Germany 235.063; 2. Great Britain 231.445; 3. Denmark 239.426; 4. Belgium 233.044; 5. Netherlands 221.428; 6. Sweden 216.552.

The USA placed 8th on210.621 with Cabada 9th on 210.559. However, the USA as the host nation is already qualified for the Olympics.

Top results showed: Germany, Isabell Werth on Wendy de Fontaine on 79.876%; Katharina Hemmer on Denoix PCH 79.224% and Frederic Wandres on Bluetooth OLD 75.963%; Great Britain, Charlotte “Lottie” Fry on Glamourdale 80.311% and Carl Hester on Fame 77.314%; Denmark, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on Mount St. John Freestyle a personal best 82.376%; Belgium’s Justin Verboomen on Zonik Plus 80.885% and Marieke van der Putten of the Netherlands on Zantana RS2 OLD 77.764%.

This was the 16th time the event has been staged since the first one in 1966 with 13 victories by Germany and one each by Russia, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The top 30 move on to the Grand Prix Special that includes Christian Simonson on Fleau de Baian.Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu of Canada on Jaccardo and Julio Mendoza Loor of Ecuador on Jewel’s Goldstrike.

Isabell Werth was the highest scoring German on her Paris Olympic and 2025 European Championship mount that brought her the 10th World Championship gold medal.

“This rates a lot because it’s not so normal to come back after 20 years and to be in the team again and to really go back again,” she said. “So that makes me really proud, especially when I think about what happens in between and how many different kind of horses I had in between and also the world championships. That’s something very special, and of course, especially on this showground–I think there is no bigger, no nicer, no greater showground than Aachen.”

Many spectators and in the media rated Katharina Hemmer and the U.S.-owned Denoix PCH as under-scored and some others over-scored.

She explained later that the success of Frederic Wandres and Raphael Netz in the first round Tuesday “took off a lot of pressure. And when you know Isabel is coming behind you, she can also handle pressure very good, so that was a very comfortable place for me today. I was already quite self confident in the warm up because the last days he felt really good, and I really feel that he is really listening and trusting me.

“He (Denoix) was focused on me and tried his heart out and did his very best. And that’s just the best feeling. And I’m very, very grateful for this connection I have with this horse.

Full results are available at:

For teams HERE

Individual scores: HERE

Germany Wins Dressage World Championships Gold, Britain Silver, Denmark Bronze; 3 Combinations Above 80%

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