Team rookie Marie Vonderheyden wins Grade I individual gold
By Kim MacMillan
Occasional heavy mist turned to moderately heavy rain today, August 19, at the Sportpark Soers in Aachen, Germany; but the gray skies did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowds or the determination of the athletes during the first day of competition at the 2026 FEI Para-Dressage World Championships. On the docket for the day was para-dressage Grand Prix Test A for Grades I, II and III, for a total of 51 rides down center line.
Luckily, the para-dressage venue, the Allianz Arena, is covered. The warm-up arenas and the “mixed zone,” where athletes give press interviews after their rides, were not under cover, however, so rainwear for horses and humans were necessary throughout the day.
The USA had a rider in each division of para-dressage today. First up was Grade III, with 19 competitors. The 2024 Paralympic Games para-dressage team and individual gold medalist Rebecca Hart piloted her Paris 2024 partner, Floratina, to a fourth-place finish on a score of 73.900%. Floratina is an 18-year-old Hanoverian mare (Fidertanz x Rubin Royal) owned by Rowan O’Riley and cared for by Mackenzie Young.
Taking the individual gold medal in Grade III was the Netherlands’ Rixt van der Horst on Eisma’s Royal Fonq N.O.P. Denmark’s Tobias Thorning Joergens on Blue Hors Zackorado won silver. Francesca Salvadé of Italy on Escari won bronze.
Next in the Allianz Arena was Grade I, with 20 starters. Marie Vonderheyden, a more recent addition to the USA international para-dressage roster, wasted no time putting herself on the map. She won the Grade I individual gold medal on a score of 76.709% riding US Paralympic medalist Roxanne Trunnell’s former mount Fan Tastico H, a nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Fürstenball OLD x Weltmeyer) owned by Karin Flint and cared for by Rafael Carrillo Herandez. Vonderheyden has been riding “Fanta” for a little over a year, but their partnership has obviously gelled quickly.
The Grade I individual silver medal went to Mari Durward-Akhurst of Great Britain on Athene Lindebjerg (74.542%). The individual bronze went to Italy’s Sara Morganti with Bond Girl 18.
The final para-dressage class of the day was Grade II, with Rebecca Hart’s Paris 2024 gold-medal-winning teammate Fiona Howard on her Paris 2024 partner, the 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding Diamond Dunes (De l’Or x Wolkentanz), owned by Hof Kasselmann and Terry Buchmiller and cared for by Helen Claire McNulty. Their score of 75.000% was good enough for fourth place and less than a percentage point out of the medals.
Germany’s Heidemarie Dresing on Poesie 143 won Grade II individual gold on 75.4833%. Denmark’s Katrina Kristensen on Goerklintgaards Quarter won silver on 75.310%. The bronze medalist was Jemima Greene of Great Britain on Fantabulous (75.2415%).
Para-dressage Grand Prix Test A continues tomorrow with the final two grades, IV and V, competing. The USA’s Kate Shoemaker will ride down center line with her 2024 Paris Paralympic mount, Vianne, at 9:24 a.m. Central Europe Time (3:24 a.m. EDT). Their ride can be viewed on ClipMyHorse TV (subscription required). No US rider is competing in Grade V.
For more news on the US contingent in Aachen, go to the US Equestrian Federation’s Aachen page at https://www.usef.org/events/world-champs-26. Find a schedule, orders of go, and results at https://www.longinestiming.com/equestrian/2026/fei-world-championships-aachen-aachen/.
