Two years ago, the US para-dressage team won a historic first gold at the Paris Paralympics. Today Team USA repeated the feat at Aachen 2026.
By Kim MacMillan
Today the US para-dressage team earned its third consecutive championship medal over the last four years. The first was team bronze at the 2022 FEI Para-Dressage World Championships in Herning, Denmark, followed by the first para-dressage team gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. Today, August 22, they captured another gold at the FEI Para-Dressage World Championships Aachen 2026.
After her teammates Fiona Howard on Diamond Dunes, Marie Vonderheyden on Fan Tastico H, and Rebecca Hart on Floratina put in solid performances in their respective para grade classes yesterday, today Kate Shoemaker on Vianne floated around the arena, delivering a relaxed and harmonious Para Grand Prix Test B. Their performance earned the highest score in Test B across all five para grades: 80.460%.
Shoemaker’s winning score sealed the deal for gold, with a World Championships record-breaking team total score of 236.135. Team silver went to Germany (229.875), and team bronze to the Netherlands (227.639).
“It is just amazing,” said Shoemaker in the press conference that followed the award ceremony. “Going into the arena last for the team usually brings a certain amount of pressure. But my teammates had performed so brilliantly beforehand that I was able to ride with a sense of freedom and just see what was possible.”
All four US riders qualified to move on to their division freestyles tomorrow, Sunday, August 23, the final day of the Aachen World Championships. Each of the five para-equestrian grades will contest a separate freestyle. The competition runs from 8:15 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Central European Time (2:15 a.m.-9:00 a.m. US EDT).
Elsewhere around the showgrounds today were the combined-driving marathon phase (with four Americans competing) and an international show-jumping youth class (one US young rider). The Aachen 2026 closing ceremony is tomorrow evening, and then equestrians from around the globe will start to make their way home.
Find schedules, orders of go, and results at https://www.longinestiming.com/equestrian/2026/fei-world-championships-aachen-aachen/.
