The CHIO Aachen, held in Aachen, Germany, is always a massive show with top international competitors, but this year’s lack of Olympic Games or world championships means the fields are even more stacked across the disciplines. And Aachen has all the disciplines: dressage, eventing, show jumping, driving and vaulting.
This year’s Aachen also features the additional excitement of a Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping on the line. McLain Ward won the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva (Switzerland) in December and the Rolex Grand Prix ‘s-Hertogenbosch (the Netherlands) in March, and he’ll vie for the big title—with its 1 million euro bonus—on July 2 in the two-round, 1.5 million euro Rolex Grand Prix CSIO5*.
Read on for everything you need to know about this year’s Aachen.
When: The competition began Friday, though the official opening ceremony isn’t until 8 p.m. today local time (2 p.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time). The Chronicle will be on site from June 27-July 2. (All times listed below are local. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time is six hours behind.)
You can see the full schedule here, but some key classes to watch each day are:
Wednesday, June 28
• Havens Horsefeed-Prize Grand Prix CDI4* 4:30 p.m.
• Turkish Airlines-Prize Of Europe CSIO5* 6:40 p.m.
Thursday, June 29
• Prize of Family Tesch Grand Prix CDIO5* 9 a.m.
• Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup CSIO5* 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 30
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• SAP-Cup eventing dressage test CCIO4*-S 8:30 a.m.
• RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia Grand Prix CSIO5* 12:50 p.m.
• SAP-Cup eventing show jumping CCIO4*-S 5:45 p.m.
• Lindt-Prize Grand Prix Special CDI4* 5:45 p.m.
Saturday, July 1
• Meggle-Prize Grand Prix Special CDIO5* 8:15 a.m.
• SAP-Cup eventing cross-country CCIO4*-S 10 a.m.
• Allianz-Prize Grand Prix CSIO5* 2 p.m.
• IWEST-Prize Grand Prix freestyle CDI4* 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 2
• Deutsche Bank Prize Grand Prix freestyle CDIO5* 10 a.m.
• Rolex Grand Prix CSIO5*, first round 2 p.m.
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• Rolex Grand Prix CSIO5*, second round 4:10 p.m.
Who’s Competing:
McLain Ward’s potential Rolex Grand Slam victory will be the storyline to watch in the show jumping, but there are plenty of top competitors who’ll be trying to thwart his attempt, including last year’s Aachen Rolex Grand Prix winner Gerrit Nieberg, top Swiss competitors Martin Fuchs and Steve Guerdat, 2021 Olympic gold medalist Ben Maher of Great Britain, and top German rider Daniel Deusser.
The NetJets U.S. Jumping Team of Ward, Natalie Dean, Bliss Heers, Laura Kraut and Devin Ryan will contest the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup.
On the dressage side, competition in the five-star will feature Germany’s double Olympic gold medalist and World No. 1 Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on TSF Dalera BB, and they’ll be facing British rivals Charlotte Fry on Everdale and Charlotte Dujardin on Imhotep. Germany’s Isabell Werth will be trying for a 15th Aachen five-star win on DSP Quantaz.
The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team for the CDIO5* is made up of Anna Buffini (FRH Davinia La Douce), Susie Dutta (Don Design DC), Alice Tarjan (Serenade MF) and Sarah Tubman (First Apple).
When it comes to eventing, the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Squad for the CCIO4*-S features recent Land Rover Kentucky CCI5*-L winner Tamie Smith on Mai Baum, in addition to Liz Halliday-Sharp (Miks Master C), Phillip Dutton (Z) and 2021 Aachen CCIO4*-S winner Will Coleman (Off The Record). Dan Kreitl will compete Carmango as an individual.
The U.S. riders will be challenged by top Germans Michael Jung (Fischerchipmunk FRH) and Sandra Auffarth (Viamant du Matz), British powerhouses Yasmin Ingham (Banzai du Loir) and Tom McEwen (JL Dublin), and then Tim (Falco) and Jonelle Price (McClaren) for New Zealand, alongside Clarke Johnstone (Menlo Park) and Caroline Powell (Greenacres Special Cavalier).
Other U.S.-based riders competing at Aachen include Shane Sweetnam (Ireland), Daniel Coyle (Ireland) and Daniel Bluman (Israel) in the CSI5*; Ansgar Holtgers Jr. in the CSI1*, Erin Nichols and Christian Simonson in the CDY; Bec Brailting (Australia) in the CCIO4*-S; Chester Weber in the CAIO; and vaulters Daniel Janes, Kimberly Palmer, Ana Schult, Persephone Brown and Danica Rinard.
How To Follow Along: The Chronicle will have stories about each day’s classes and so much more on www.coth.com. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to make sure you don’t miss a thing.
How To Watch: Livestreaming is offered for free via ClipMyHorse on the Aachen website, but to access any of the archived content you’ll need a subscription.
Important Links: CHIO Aachen website / Orders of go and results / Livestreaming / All of the Chronicle’s coverage / Full entry lists for all nations
