August 14, 2026 
Less than a week away from the start of the Team & Individual Qualifier, the USA has announced a last-minute substitution on the 2026 World Championships Show Jumping squad.
On the advice of her veterinarian, Laura Kraut has withdrawn the 12-year-old Zangersheide mare, Bisquetta, and will now saddle Baloutinue in time for the first competition inside CHIO Aachen’s Hauptstadion on Wednesday, August 19.
Baloutinue, a 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding, has been on a tear of late, winning the 1.60m Kingsland Trophy GCL Grand Prix qualifier and finishing 7th in the LGCT Grand Prix in Riesenbeck in July, and jumping 4/0 for the U.S. team to win the Aga Khan Trophy in the Nations Cup of Ireland in August. Last summer, the pair also finished second in the Rolex Grand Prix at CHIO Aachen.
Together, Kraut and Baloutinue jump clear at 43% in 60 rounds at 1.60m, according to Jumpr (Kraut and Bisquetta are clear at 42% in 38 rounds at the same height). What’s more, the pair brings no shortage of championship experience to the table, having earned back-to-back team silver medals at the 2021 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Kraut and Baloutinue will join teammates Katie Dinan and Out of the Blue SCF, who took third place on podium in the FEI Jumping World Cup Final in April; 2022 World Championships competitor Lillie Keenan and Fasther, who were second in the LGCT Grand Prix of Paris in 2025; McLain Ward and High Star Hero, who won the 5* Grand Prix in Wellington in February and the FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier of Los Angeles in 2025; and Natalie Dean and Mr. Boombastic, who provided the only clear round for the USA in Round 1 of the CSIO5* Nations Cup of La Baule in June.
In late July, Dean was called up to replace Marilyn Little, whose mare, La Contessa, also needed to be replaced after suffering a minor injury.
The first combined team competition and individual qualifier kicks off August 19 in the FEI Jumping World Championship Turkish Airlines-Prize at 9:00 a.m. local time (3:00 a.m. EST).
