August 19, 2026 
One hundred and forty-five show jumping combinations came forward in the first team and individual qualifier at the FEI World Championships.
The hopes of 31 nations riding on their shoulders.
Years worth of planning, sacrifice and ambition tested in the Hauptstadion at Aachen.
And for 14 of those pairs, including Brazil’s Marlon Zanotelli and Dorette OLD and Canada’s Erynn Ballard and Fave d’Authuit, the individual medal race came to a premature end. Frank Rothenberger’s course saw four pairs retire and 10 eliminated. Ballard fell. Zanotelli missed the flags on the wall and was rung out.
All team riders advance to tomorrow’s second qualifier. But their individual medal bids are over.
Championships write history. But most of those brave enough to ride into battle will leave with scars.
One man who emerged unscathed on Wednesday: the Flying Frenchman.
Julien Epaillard did what Julien Epaillard does—no matter what he’s on—and delivered the fastest round of the day, by a long shot. His blistering time of 70.60 seconds with Fringan de Vesquerie puts them atop the individual standings and was slower than the he had planned.
“I have to say the oxer before the wall, the five-stride was very long,” said Epaillard. “So I decided to change my plan and collect a little bit for the wall and for the oxers before the double of verticals. The rest of the round was good, I did exactly my plan.”
Harrie Smolders (NED) and Mr. Tac sit in second individually and were over a second slower in 71.96. Scott Brash (GBR) and Hello Mango slot into third. With scores converted into penalty points, the top 10 are separated by a mere 1.1 point.
Germany and Belgium are neck-in-neck on the team leaderboard, separated by just .21 points.
Germany’s team total is 3.48 with standout performances by Sophie Hinners and Daniel Deusser, who slot into fourth and tied-fifth positions, respectively, on the individual leaderboard.
The unexpected plot twist: favorites Richie Vogel and United Touch S were the drop score. The world number two and his super-stallion were the only German pair to drop a rail. The issue: “Bad riding,” conceded a disappointed Vogel.
“First of all, I have to say United felt fantastic. He didn’t jump very well, he jumped better than very well. He couldn’t have jumped better. He was with me everywhere too…I was simply far too tight and honestly gave him no chance at all.
“My ride today was very disappointing, there’s no other way to say that. We hope that we can learn from this and over the next few days. Be able to perform better and also offer the audience a bit more than we did today.”
Belgium is second on 3.69 points. The USA sits in third on 4.85.
Second team and individual qualifier takes place Thursday. Team medals will be decided Friday.
