Their Grade IV gold-medal-winning score sets new world record
By Kim MacMillan
After last week’s very hot weather in Aachen, Germany—so extreme that it necessitated schedule changes to the 2026 FEI Dressage World Championships—this week is much cooler, with highs in the 60s to low 70s F, a welcome change for all here at the Aachen show grounds. Day 2 of the FEI Para-Dressage World Championships dawned partly sunny and breezy and brought more golden hardware for the US athletes.
Kate Shoemaker and Vianne bested the silver-medal pair by 4.25 percentage points in the Grade IV division. Their score of 78.889% was not only a personal best, but also a world record for Para Grand Prix Test A in an FEI Grade IV championship. Their scores from the five-judge panel included two over 80% from the judges at M (Kristi Wysocki, USA) and B (Marc Urban, BEL).
Vianne is a 10-year-old Hanoverian mare (Vitalis x Ramiro’s Bube) owned by Deena and Craig Shoemaker, US-bred by Catherine Haddad, and cared for by Jessica Martin-Legg. Shoemaker has been riding her for a little over two years, including as members of the gold-medal-winning US para-dressage team at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. They also earned a bronze medal in the Grade IV Freestyle in Paris. The pair is also currently the number-two-ranked para-dressage combination in the FEI World Rankings.
“The entire test felt harmonious, and that was the one thing I wanted,” Shoemaker said afterward. “I wasn’t thinking about points, or scores, or medals—I was thinking, ‘How can I show this very special horse to the best of our ability today?’”
This is the year, Shoemaker said, that she and Vianne have really gelled as partners. “It feels so easy. I can go in there and just think about it, and the ride’s going to happen. She gives me her whole heart. That’s what it felt like today; she was completely one with me. I was so happy, I was crying before the final halt.”
Twenty starters traversed the sandlot in Grade IV. The silver medal went to Anna-Lena Niehues of Germany on Vive l’Amour (74.639%). Great Britain’s Nicola Naylor on Humberto L won the bronze on 73.861%.
The USA did not have a combination in Grade V, which had 21 starters. Winning the Grade V individual gold was Great Britain’s Sophie Wells on MSJ Gold Standard (74.949%). The Netherlands’ Britney de Jong on Caramba N.O.P. took silver on 73.154%. Regine Mispelkamp of Germany on Highlander Delight’s (72.974%) won the bronze.
The next two days, August 21 and 22, will see competition in the FEI Para Grand Prix Test B. Grades I, II, and III ride Friday, and Grades IV and V go Saturday. After that, the para-dressage team medals will be announced. The Para Test B also serves as an individual qualifier for the Freestyle tests, which will run on Sunday, August 23, to close out the championships.
