Para Postcards from Aachen 2026: Time Is Flying When You Are Having Fun

-- Text and photos © Silke Rottermann - no reproduction without permission
 (This article expresses Silke Rottermann’s eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  

It’s hard to believe how fast a week can fly by when you’re having fun. Unfortunately, on the last day of the World Championships in Aachen I wake up to a terrible headache before my alarm goes off, and it’s obvious that I first have to clear the thunderstorm in my head before I head out to Aachen. One painkiller and a few cups of coffee later, I’m finally sitting in the car and decide to take it easy and just enjoy the last day, instead of getting back behind the camera.

Although I arrive in Aachen three hours later than usual, I have no trouble finding a parking spot near the show grounds. That’s surely because the show jumping final, which is highly sought after by spectators, won’t start until after 2 p.m.

It feels wonderful to walk around without a camera slung over my shoulder, but at the same time also a bit strange and I’m sure I’ll regret it at some point today…to be that empty handed. Unlike the past few days, my first stop is the press center, where I turn in the key to my locker and my photo vest; neither is needed anymore, and what’s gone is gone.

Weaving Through the Crowds

Although the ease to find a parking spot suggested otherwise, the Soers is, as expected, extremely crowded today. Getting from A to B quickly becomes a challenge. You really have to spot gaps in the crowds and weave your way through, and sometimes there’s just no way through at all.

I’d actually made a firm resolution not to buy what felt like my 50th jacket during this Aachen Week, and I almost managed to stick to my plan. However at the Pikeur trade stand, I guess I turned into what the company’s advertising cleverly calls an “everyday hero.” Even my half-hearted hope that the coat  which caught my eye might be sold out in my size by the last day is dashed. So I do end up leaving the week with a purchase after all, but at least not three jackets like in 2006, when the cold, rainy weather provided every excuse for it.

At lunchtime, I meet up at the driving stadium with my Swiss friends of almost 30 years, who spent the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen with me and whose hearts have been devoted to the sport of driving for decades. My attempt to grab lunch at one of the food stands behind the show jumpers’ warm-up arena fails due to the sheer crowd of people, all trying to fill their stomachs at the same time, so I split from my friends and take lunch at the „Nations’ Club“, like the days before.

The World of Driving

With such a huge crowd, I suddenly find myself longing for the quieter dressage arena and am just about to head over to catch the Grade IV and V freestyle performances when Barbara Minneci from the Belgian para-equestrian team appears in the crowd. Having competed her new horse, Freiherr von Nymphenburg, who is still completely inexperienced in para-equestrian sports, she missed the Grade III freestyle final this time and now has the chance to enjoy some free time before her departure. Barbara wants to go to the driving arena to cheer on the Belgian drivers as they tackle the cone course, so we set off together.

It’s quite fascinating to watch this discipline up close for once, rather than just on TV. The intelligence of the lead horses is impressive as is the front leg action of some of them. And the stadium groans with every ball knocked off a a cone and cheers frenetically at the end of the course. Eventually, Barbara has to head to the show office to pick up the horse passport, and I begin the final act in the dressage arena.

Grade IV Freestyles

When I arrive, the freestyle performance by Germany’s Helen Brandt is in full swing. The impressive Vulkan Vegas is performing today just as I remember him from Mannheim in May: A powerhouse with plenty of expression and even more potential, which will surely continue to mature in the coming years. You can see the relief on the young German rider’s face as she can barely believe it at the end of her ride. The German Kiss & Cry area is cheering enthusiastically, as are the fans in the stands, of course. When the scores light up, an assumption becomes a certainty: high scores are pouring in and  Brandt takes the lead so far. Her face shows a mix of disbelief and joy. In the end, the newcomer of the season takes home the bronze medal, and everyone of the German team celebrates wildly with her as soon as the medal is secured.

No one in Grade IV, however, can match the incredible Vianne, who once again glides across the sand as if on rails, with barely noticeable aids from her partner, Kate Shoemaker. Three starts, three wins, three gold medals. A record matched only by Shoemaker’s Grade I colleague, U.S. team rookie Marie Vonderheyden, with her horse Fan Tastico. Last year’s European Freestyle Champion, the ever-smiling Frenchwoman Alexia Pittier, takes the silver medal with Sultan, thereby establishing herself as a true freestyle expert. 

Matching the Magic

During the short break before the Grade V Grand Finale begins, I head to the stands behind C. It feels really strange to just sit there and for once enjoy the show like any other spectator. I haven’t allowed myself to do that in years, especially since I love taking photos and can no longer imagine a show without my camera. Now I’m really trying to lean back and not pay too much attention to the technical details, but of course that’s hard to do.

Then it’s the turn of the Swedish pair Lena Malmström and her home-bred 14-year old liver chestnut mare Fabulous Fidelie (by Floricello x Don Romantic). For me attributes like harmony and quality of training are essential when it comes to dressage and this pair has always embodied them to me, ever since I’ve first seen them years ago at the CPEDI Waregem. Today, they surpass even themselves. The two are so perfectly in sync that it’s as if they were truly one. A chill runs down my spine, and the longer the ride goes on, the more I am wondering if they can maintain this breathtaking level of performance until the very end. Not only is there complete harmony, but Fabulous Fidelie moves  in a frame like written down in the rulebook. The performance is characterized by the suppleness and natural swing of this exceptionally well-muscled dressage horse’s body. 

By the end of the ride, it’s completely clear to me that I’ve just witnessed a finest hour in para dressage and I’m not ashamed of the tears rolling down my cheeks as the sheer beauty of it moved me to the core. I’m still completely lost in my own thoughts when the scores flash up on the scoreboard to my right. They’re high, Malmström takes the lead, and not even outstanding pairs like Germany’s stalwart Regine Mispelkamp and her athletic Highlander Delight’s, nor Britney de Jong and Caramba can truly match the magic of the Swedish duo on that day, despite their own impressive performances.
This is also reflected in the judges’ scores, which award silver to the German and bronze to the Dutch.

Swedish Triumph

Lena Malmström’s victory on her homebred and self-trained mare is the second major triumph for Swedish para-dressage, following last year’s European Championship title won by her colleague Louise Etzner Jakobsson (Grade IV), who is absent this time. It is also the recognition of a quieter style of riding that prioritizes great harmony and a horse that moves naturally - a very own way of being spectacular. 

Once the last medal was awarded, the last national anthem faded away, and the flags taken down, I bid Aachen farewell. The grounds, which before were extremely crowded with people, are now completely deserted. Everyone is seated in the main stadium, where the individual jumping competition is in full swing.

Once again, that incredible atmosphere — the one that defined my days in Aachen — washes over me as I walk by. I feel a little wistful to be leaving this behind, but also grateful to have experienced it. Aachen is a place where equestrian sport is loved and lived to the fullest. May para dressage riders get to experience this more often in the future.

By Silke Rottermann for eurodressage.com
Photos by Silke Rottermann and Rebecca Thamm / Rheinland’s Reiter und Pferde

Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2026 World Championships Dressage