August 14, 2026 
The first hand has been thrown on the table as the dressage phase concluded at the 2026 FEI Eventing World Championships Aachen. The reveal may not come at a surprise: there is very little breathing room in both the team competition and the individual.
However, the ties of yesterday’s team results have been broken and Great Britain takes the clear lead with a cumulative score of 72.8 going into the cross country phase.
Team stalwarts in Laura Collett and London 52 (appearing in their seventh championship as a partnership) and Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo (record three-time Badminton winners) laid down the kind of tests we have come to expect of them: consistent, confident, and correct.
Collett and ‘Dan’ earned a 22.8 for their efforts.
“He loves it here,” she exclaimed. “He loves the atmosphere and he loves lots of people so he’s right at home and everyone’s clapping. You’re walking over here, you’ve got the vaulting arena, the main arena, and this arena and you can really hear all the crowds clapping. He just loves it!”
They sit in second individually.
Canter and Walter contributed a 23.4 to the team total and, as we’ve come to expect, Walter’s calm and attentive demeanor made them stand out.
“He’s just the most amazing partner to have. He naturally wants to be a little bit on his forehand,” she remarked.“It’s just taken time and lots of practice to start to really dance, to suck up. He loves to drop his tummy, which is what he does when he gallops and what makes him such a streamlined galloper. So lots of core work making him strong and I actually think there’s more in him yet.”
The partnership sit in fourth individually.
The odds took a hit for Team New Zealand with an uncharacteristic spook from Falco as Tim Price navigated a tricky counter canter depart at A and a break in the extended trot for Monica Spencer and Artist. They drop to fourth with a cumulative score of 84.8.
On the other hand, Germany continues a strong campaign for gold with Julia Krajewski and Uelezer’s Nickel throwing down the gauntlet with a 22.0 and taking the individual lead.
“Entering a big arena, especially a championship arena, obviously you’re excited because you get going and it’s a big atmosphere, but then you think, okay, what will my horse say?” she shared. “Nickel, by now, he really knows what this square means and even though he was a bit switched on just before he went in, and then he’s, okay, now I’m concentrated and he’s really supple and with me.
“The test is the steep half passes and half pass change, half pass. It requires quite a lot of collection and then to stay supple through the collection is something that you just build over the years. And some horses find it easier and some more difficult. [Today] I could really ride. I had time to enjoy my dressage, I was even smiling a bit!”
Teammate Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH were on track to be in the lead themselves until they too suffered uncharacteristic tension and wobbles in the flying changes. The quality of the rest of the test, however, was excellent enough to earn a 23.0 and take third overnight.
Jung was realistic about the mistake.
“Chipmunk is an amazing horse. He’s fantastic to train, to ride, every day is to enjoy [him],” he commented.
“Today we are not in the lead. Maybe not everyone is so happy about that, but I’m happy. I tried to push him a little bit more forward and uphill [for the flying change, and] we lost a bit the balance, a little maybe misunderstanding. I think that is the only change when I ever rode him which was not good.
“But this is horse and rider. This is the connection. Not everything is like we wish but I’m happy we still have a good result and hopefully that was our last mistake.”
Given the track record of this team, that’s not an unreasonable hope.
Despite having a light season, Jung and Chipmunk have only once finished outside the top five since the Paris Olympics. But there is little breathing room with Canter and Walter sitting 0.4 penalties behind—one second of time on cross country.
France rounds out the team podium, sitting in third overnight on a total of 84.5. Gaspard Maksud and Zaragoza along with teammate Nicolas Touzaint and Diabolo Menthe both broke the 30s barrier on a test that has proven over the last two days to be quite difficult to do.
Of the 87 competitors, only the top 20 sit below the 30 marker. That is 23% of a field in which many more could score in the 20s on any other day.
The track set for tomorrow’s cross country will truly be anyone’s game. With the twists and turns and enormous amount of options at every combination, time will be a serious factor despite the fact that this is a CCI4*-L and usually time is more achievable in a long.
Team instructions so far from the camps have been direct routes. But between the thousands of expected spectators, the heat of the day, and the questions ahead, the leaderboard tomorrow may look very different indeed.
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