Team champions USA added three more gold medals to their remarkable haul as the FEI Para Dressage World Championship Aachen 2026 concluded with all five Grades taking centre stage on Freestyle day.
Fiona Howard, Marie Vonderheyden and Kate Shoemaker were crowned Freestyle World champions for the USA, while the Netherlands’ Rixt van der Horst and Sweden’s Lena Malmström completed the line-up of gold medallists on the final day.
For Vonderheyden and Shoemaker, victory completed a remarkable clean sweep of Individual, Team and Freestyle honours, while Howard added Freestyle gold to the Team title she helped the USA secure on Saturday.
Van der Horst adds World champion title to her accolades
Rixt van der Horst completed a golden double in Aachen as the Netherlands Athlete and Eisma’s Royal Fonq N.O.P. claimed Grade III Freestyle gold with an outstanding score of 83.120%.
The result repeated the top three from the Individual competition earlier in the week, with Tobias Thorning Joergensen (DEN) taking silver and Francesca Salvadè (ITA) bronze.
“I love my Freestyle and I’m so proud of Fonq and my whole team here and at home making it possible for me to win this second gold,” van der Horst commented on her success.
“This week couldn’t have been any better, it’s like a fairytale. I was hoping for this result, but I could never dream of it,” she said through tears of joy.
Tobias Thorning Joergensen claimed his second silver medal of the competition, scoring 79.940% with Championship debutant Blue Hors Zackorado, who will have grown in confidence as a result of his positive experiences with Joergensen inside the white boards this week.
“He felt really good today and maybe the score didn’t reflect what I had hoped, but I’m not disappointed in him at all. He’s a young horse with so much more to give,” Joergensen said of the 10-year-old Oldenburg stallion’s performance.
“It’s been a fantastic competition and an amazing feeling to compete in such an arena, and I look forward to the future with him.”
Italy’s Francesca Salvadè and Escari were just a hair’s breadth behind Joergensen to take bronze on a score of 79.587%, ending their week with a second Championship personal best score for the pair.
“I’m really happy with another medal at the FEI Para Dressage World Championship – you can hope for a result like this but I never expected to go back home with two Individual medals and the qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, it is like a dream come true,” Salvadè said of their results throughout the Championship.
Howard tops the podium
After narrowly missing the Individual podium earlier in the week, USA’s Fiona Howard ended her Championship on a high by securing Grade II Freestyle gold with Diamond Dunes, laying down an unbeatable score of 81.866% with a rhythmical and flowing performance.
“He went in there today and really gave me everything. He’s just such a special horse. I’m so proud of how he’s handled this week. My muscles are a little bit tighter today, but Dunes just took such good care of me,” Howard said of the 13-year-old Hanoverian stallion.
“It’s been a phenomenal week, a big highlight was our Team competition and it’s just incredible to be here in Aachen, especially with such a phenomenal horse.”
To top off her week on a high, Great Britain’s Jemima Green clinched the silver medal with Fantabulous, smashing their personal best to score 80.933% at their first FEI Para Dressage World Championship.
“That’s a huge PB which is so, so exciting,” Green beamed when she heard her score.
“I came out of the arena not really knowing what to expect – I knew there would be some massive scores in the Grade today, but I didn’t necessarily think I would be one of them! So that is a truly incredible way to end my first World Championship.”
Bronze went to Grade II Individual World champion Heidemarie Dresing, who completed a memorable week on home soil with her third medal of the Championship aboard the expressive Poesie 143.
“It felt really great today, she felt like she was dancing and I had a smile on my face the whole time, it was delightful for me,” Dresing said of her score of 80.807% with the 11-year-old Oldenburg mare.
Fan Tastic week for Vonderheyden
USA’s Marie Vonderheyden was crowned World champion for the third time this week, scoring 80.540% with Fan Tastico H to add the Freestyle gold medal to her collection.
“The composer designed the music just for him and I love it; it suits him very well,” Vonderheyden said of her compilation of music in the style of show tunes.
“Today ended my week on a super note at an amazing and well organised event,” Vonderheyden remarked on her result and her Aachen experience.
Sara Morganti of Italy punched the air in delight after her final halt with Bond Girl 18, knowing they had put in a great performance for the judges. When their score of 78.767% was announced, and after finding out the score was enough to secure them the silver medal, Morganti was overcome with emotion.
“I am without words because I can’t believe this has happened or the improvement she has made day by day,” Morganti commented when reflecting on the seven-year-old mare’s achievements with her over the competition.
“To come here and win a medal and then two, wasn’t in my wildest dreams. It’s incredible for her to perform how she has done. For me, just that alone is my personal gold medal.”
For the first time this week, reigning Paris 2024 Paralympic champion Latvia’s Rihards Snikus achieved a podium place with a bronze medal performance on his new ride, and the youngest horse in the competition, the six-year-old Rise and Shine.
“We didn’t expect this at all this morning,” Snikus’ sister, Elina Brigmane, said on behalf of Snikus of their 75.420% score.
“This week is just the second time he’s been to an international competition, so all we wanted for them was just to do their best and they have massively exceeded all expectations.”
Snikus’ trainer, Agnese Rozite, spotted the horse earlier in the year, identifying him as a new ride for Snikus, and is incredibly excited about the future for this new partnership.
“The horse actually only started competing this spring, but Rihards is the master of Freestyle dressage so he could guide the horse, and Rise and Shine really is an exciting prospect for the future,” she said of what lies ahead for the pair.
Victory for Vianne with Shoemaker
For the third time at this FEI Para Dressage World Championship, Kate Shoemaker of the USA claimed victory with the stunning grey Vianne, scoring 83.305%. The pair debuted a daring and extravagant floor plan, including a four-loop counter canter with a flying change in the middle section and an impromptu extended trot down the final centre line.
“There are no words, really. It’s just amazing to have the ride on a horse that feels like she enjoys it so much,” Shoemaker said, stunned, when reflecting on her performance with the 10-year-old Hanoverian mare.
“None of this has sunk in whatsoever. To be on the hallowed showground that is Aachen and to come away with three gold medals is beyond what I could have hoped for.”
Reigning FEI Para Dressage European Freestyle champion Alexia Pittier of France rose to the occasion with Sultan 768 to win the silver medal on a score of 78.645% on her FEI Para Dressage World Championship debut.
“I’m very happy with how he has grown in confidence throughout the three tests, and today he felt like he had wings,” Pittier commented on the 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding’s performance across the competition.
“The medal is a great bonus, but the principle is the connection with my horse and how he felt was more important to me.”
There was a new girl on the podium for Germany this afternoon when Helen Brandt stepped up to claim bronze after scoring a personal best of 78.005% with Vulkan Vegas IB.
“I have no words for all of this because I’m just so happy, I never thought my childhood dream of winning a medal at Aachen would come true,” Brandt remarked of her achievement on home soil.
“My horse is incredible, I love him with my whole heart. It felt like we were flying in the arena and I could feel the connection to him,” she said of her eight-year-old Westphalian gelding’s performance.
Historic gold for Sweden
In a historic win for Sweden, it was Lena Malmström with her homebred Fabulous Fidelie who took the gold medal on a personal best score of 79.675% in the last competition of the day.
“This feels amazing and in Sweden this is a fantastic result for Para Dressage riders, it will give us so much recognition,” Malmström said emotionally of her first ever gold medal.
“I almost can’t describe in words how I feel about my horse, she is like my everything. She gave me chills down my spine today, she was so good,” she remarked of the 14-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare who has improved continuously throughout the Championship.
Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp won her third medal of the competition in front of her home crowd, taking silver on a score of 78.185% with Highlander Delight’s.
“Oh he was so great today, he felt amazing,” Mispelkamp said proudly of the 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding.
“The motto of the FEI World Championships, ‘Welcome Home’, has been lived by us in the German team this week. We have loved competing in front of our home crowd, I am so proud to compete for my country.”
It took until the final rider of the day to decide the bronze medal for the Grade V competition, and when Britney de Jong of the Netherlands started on her final line towards the judges, she was already visibly emotional and knew she had given herself the best chance of a medal on her last competitive ride with Caramba N.O.P.
“It felt amazing today, we were really enjoying the ride, and it was the best time we have ever had together,” de Jong said of her 77.440% score with the 19-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding who is now heading off to a happy retirement with de Jong.
“I want him to retire from the sport whilst he is still very fresh and fit, so it’s very special that I can do that having won three medals together this week.”
So the curtain closes on a phenomenal five days of competition at the FEI Para Dressage World Championship Aachen 2026, with 11 sets of medals awarded, seven 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic qualification places secured, and 93 happy horses heading home with their proud athletes.
(For Canada, Roberta Sheffield and Nardando (Grade II) and Jody Schloss and El Colorado (Grade I) both placed fifth in their respective Para Grand Prix Freestyle Individual Finals to wrap up their 2026 FEI World Championships journey in Aachen.)
All results here.
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