EVENTING
Aachen, Germany – The first five days of competition at the FEI World Championships in Aachen, Germany have come to a close, with eventing, dressage and vaulting wrapping up and making way for show jumping, driving and para dressage to take centre stage.
Jessica Phoenix and Fluorescent Adolescent (Cannington, ON) were the sole Canadian combination in the eventing competition, and put in an exceptional show jumping round today with just the first fence down, crossing the finish line one second over the time allowed.
They completed on a three-day score of 51.5 penalties and ended up in 30th place overall out of 59 competitors who finished the competition.
“Lacey’s strength has traditionally not been show jumping at this level, it took her a second to acclimatize,” said Phoenix. “After we got over that first jump, she was locked in and ready to go, and everything that I asked her to do, she was right there with me. It was exhilarating to feel how hard she tried for that round. She came out all systems ‘GO’ after yesterday’s cross-country round.”
Phoenix said that the course was a very open, galloping track that eventers don’t often have a chance to practice. “It was really interesting to see how Lacey handled it – she just rose to the occasion, it was incredible. There were a few huge tests of focus, and variation in striding. (Lacey) was really able to play to her strengths, especially in the combinations.
“The group of people we’ve had around us this weekend has truly been spectacular. Being able to share this with Sharon and Makayla, Lacey’s owners, has been huge. We lost Sharon’s husband Brian this year, so that was always in our hearts, this entire weekend, and I really feel like Brian’s been with us throughout the competition. It was really amazing to share that with Sharon and Makayla, and just to have the support from everyone at home, I just feel really blessed.”
Rebecca Howard, Chef d’Equipe & Technical Advisor for Canadian Eventing, summed up the weekend thoughtfully: “This championship truly represented the height of our sport, and we saw that reflected in the results, with experienced, proven 5* combinations prevailing. For our program, our collective goal was very clear: with one individual representing Canada, we wanted to give Jessica and Fluorescent Adolescent every opportunity to achieve a personal best at this level, and they delivered on that goal. We’re incredibly pleased with what Jessica and Lacey accomplished, and impressed by the commitment, support and contributions of the entire team that helped make this result possible. There are certainly areas we can continue to build on, but this is a result we can take a great deal from. We’ll carry the lessons and momentum from this championship into the fall season as we continue building toward next year.”
Germany’s Michael Jung took the individual overall title with fischerChimpmunk FRH, finishing on an overall score of 23.0 penalties. Britain’s Ros Canter took the silver, with Lordship’s Graffalo, finishing on 23.4 and Laura Collett also of Britain took third with London 52 on 28.0.
VAULTING
In the vaulting pas de deux finals, Canada’s Megan Leeper (Strathmore, AB) and Katie Van Den Bosch scored 7.219 with Zorro, lunged by Angelique Vick and groomed by Jeanine Van Der Sluijs, who are the horse’s owners. This put them in a final 9th place, followed by compatriots Katelyn Foss (Langley, BC) and Jacynda Row (Edmonton, AB) with RVV Equus e.V.’s Gozer, lunged by Christina Ender and groomed by Paul Nehaus.
“We went into the ring a lot calmer than we did for the first round,” said Leeper and Van den Bosch following their second round. “There were a couple of little stumbles in there, but overall we felt really good. We normally try to get to the next position and regain our composure and continue on (when we have a mistake,) and try to not let it affect us for the rest of the freestyle. I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better at that. Previously, if it got messy in the beginning it would continue for the rest of the freestyle, but now we’ve learned how to let that go and continue on.
“Zorro is a very special horse. He’s been a vaulting horse for the past five years and he’s actually a rescue. He’s the most steady, calm horse ever. You can trust him and he’s just happy – that’s a big reason we brought him here from Canada, there’s never been a day when we didn’t feel confident on him. He’s the same horse every day of the week and you can always count on him giving one hundred per cent, in and out of the arena, so it’s a great peace of mind.”
The duo also gave credit to Vick for her lunging skills. “There is always a strong bond and trust between us and the lunger, we can trust that she’s going to keep Zorro going exactly as he needs to be. Angelique has a very strong background with vaulting horses, she’s developed several and you know that whatever happens, she’s going to handle it.”
Said Jacynda Row of their second round: “It wasn’t as clean as we had hoped, and it wasn’t as clean as our first round. We had a few mistakes, but all in all we ended on a nice note.”
Katelyn Foss said: “Our competition experience for this weekend started two weeks ago, when we arrived early to train and meet our horse we would use for the competition. That energy has carried through to this week where it’s been a really good time; a really positive experience.”
DRESSAGE
The Canadian Dressage Team finished in 9th place overall in the team standings, with standout individual performances led by Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu who scored 71.926% with Jaccardo in the Grand Prix. This was enough to advance to the Grand Prix Special.
They scored 69.271% in the Special, with an overall strong performance that included some costly mistakes in the tempi changes, preventing them from advancing to the Freestyle.
Camille Carier Bergeron and Finnlanderin also performed a very strong test, scoring 70.559% to finish 12th on the opening day. Denielle Gallagher-Legriffon, riding Come Back de Massa, scored 68.074% in her championship debut and Chris von Martels and Londoncrown scored 66.320% to round out the four-member squad under Team Technical Advisor Jordi Domingo-Coll.
This was the first time the Canadian Dressage Team has finished in the top-10 since the 2014 Worlds in Normandy, France. After these outstanding performances and top-10 finish, the Team will now focus on getting Olympic qualification next year at the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
About the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026
Aachen is continuing its tradition of hosting numerous World and European Championships: Following the FEI World Equestrian Games 2006 and the European Championships 2015, the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026 will once again be one of the biggest equestrian sport events of the coming years.
The World Championships will host six disciplines: Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Para Dressage, Driving and Vaulting.
Participants and horses:
Overall: 879 from just under 70 nations
Participants FEI World Championships: 814 with 814 horses
Participants in the youth competitions: 65 with 65 horses
Additional horses for the Opening Ceremony: 250