June 13, 2026 
And here we are at the crucial moment—Richie “Hands” Vogel enters the ring in La Baule, France on board his unmatchable mount United Touch S.
The Germans had it won. The first round was a clean sweep, three riders—Andre Thieme, Sophie Hinners, and Daniel Deusser—jumped clear, leaving Team Germany on a zero score and on top of the leaderboard.
And ok, yeah—Hands and United weren’t exactly a clear round in that fourth rider anchor position, but no one thought much of it, except a few in the crowd who had never seen the stallion go and wondered, as he knocked three rails, what the big deal was.
The rest of us just figured with the German team on zero, why not take a more casual approach and let United touch a rail or two (or three) if he wants to and remember what that feels like. For a careful horse allergic to wood, it’s usually rather irritating.
So we entered the second round of the La Baule Nations Cup with Germany on top on zero, followed by Great Britain, also on zero but with a slower time, followed by hometown team France on one pesky time fault. Fourth was Sweden on four, and fifth was Saudi Arabia putting in a valiant effort on eight, looking like they were putting something pretty good together for the Word Equestrian Games coming up in August.
In fact, rumor had it that more than one chef d’equipe was on the ground in La Baule evaluating riders and horses for this prestigious event.
Round one saw Team USA and Italy eliminated with scores of 12 and 30 respectively.
But round two was destined to shake things up. Ireland was in eighth place, but refused to go gentle into that good night, with Darragh Kenny, Bertram Allen, and Cian O’Connor all giving clear second rounds after bobbles in the first. They did so well, adding no additional faults to their score of 9, that anchor rider Shane Sweetnam didn’t bother taxing James Kann Cruz with a second go.
Meanwhile, scrappy Great Britain did the uncharacteristic opposite, adding faults where there previously were none and sinking down to fourth, just off the podium.
But let’s get to the meat of it: Here we are with the riders third to go. Nina went first and knocked a rail. She was followed by Olivier Perreau, who, after four faults in the first, improved to a clear. Now comes Antoine Ermann, whose pesky time fault had shunted France into the third position.
Well, he learned pace between round one and two and came in with a better time and another clear round.
At this point the crowd was beginning to suspect a comeback story for their hometown squad. But what to do about Germany, clicking along on their zero with double clears from Andre Thieme and Sophie Hinners?
When faults are needed by the other team to keep you in the game, all you want to see is best-in-the-world rider Daniel Deusser and last year’s La Baule Grand Prix winner Otello de Guldenboom enter the ring. Or not.
And there they are going around clearing every jump and then—what? Did God drop that last fence for the patriotic french crowd? Did his little finger give it a push? No, the horse knocked it fairly substantially and suddenly Germany has the chance of ending on four.
It gives France the opening they need. Not much of one, admittedly. They need Nina to be the drop score, they need a third clear round.
In comes Julien Epaillard with Fringan de Vesquerie. He delivers, becoming one of only four double clears that day (the others: Thieme, Hinners, and Belgian Pieter Devos).
The crowd is restive. France sits on one—one! And here he is—they are—Vogel and United, the current Rolex Grand Slam contenders, the most feared pairing in show jumping, recent winners of the Grand Prix of all Grand Prixs—the Aachen Grand Prix.
Maybe he feels like running the second round like the first?
No, it does not appear that he does. Vogel is putting in the ride and United is putting in the effort. They’re leaving the poles up all around the course, but wait—
There’s that tight double leading up to the last fence. The second vertical is a delicate planked-topped thing and—it comes down! The penultimate fence! Team Germany is on four and shunted into second!
The crowd is ecstatic. The french riders and their teams are ebullient, going each to the next with hugs and congratulations. Flags wave triumphantly in the packed stands. It’s been nearly a decade (2017) since Team France won the Nations Cup there in La Baule et la joie de la victoire est partout!
Chapeau!
