The Open Weekly: Team Announcements and US Combinations Around the World

Eventing Five Chosen for Aachen

The United States has named five combinations for the FEI World Championships in Aachen this August.

First up is Tamie Smith & Lillet 3, who lead the US Equestrian Open Eventing Series. The pair won the Carolina CCI4*-S in March, the highest-rated performance of the 2026 Series, then won the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S at Kentucky in April. Aachen will be the ten-year-old's first big stage.

Three squad members arrive with serious five-star form. Will Coleman & Diabolo won the Kentucky CCI5* in April, with Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Blake second at the same event, a gelding whose CV already includes the Paris Olympics. Boyd Martin & Cooley Nutcracker were third at Pau CCI5* in October. That horse also competed at Paris, under Liz Halliday, who produced him up to the highest level.

Phillip Dutton & Possante complete the five. Aachen will be Dutton's eighth World Championship, on top of seven Olympic Games, the deepest championship record of any active US eventer. His last ride under the Australian flag came at Aachen in 2006. Twenty years on, he returns to the same arena in US colours.

Jumping Spruce is Done, Falsterbo Next

Abdulrahman Alrajhi & Ventago won the ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup, the CSI5* 1.60m Grand Prix at the Spruce Meadows North American in Calgary. The Saudi pair were the only combination in a 40-strong field to jump two clear rounds. 

Lillie Keenan & Kick On led the Americans in a tie for fifth, with just one pole in the first round. Hallie Grimes & Jon Snow followed in seventh on five faults, and McLain Ward & Lestro VD Valckenborg rounded out the US contingent inside the top ten.

Attention turns to Sweden, where Kent Farrington, World No. 1 and the champion of $1 million Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix at Wellington in March, headlines the Falsterbo Horse Show. 

The field behind him is deep. World no. 2 Richard Vogel, third to Farrington at Wellington, is entered, along with Ben Maher, Shane Sweetnam, and Steve Guerdat, to name a few.

Falsterbo is one of seven Rolex Series events, and there is a Championship subtext. Course designer Frank Rothenberger builds both here and at the FEI World Championships in Aachen next month, giving riders a run on grass weeks before the sport's biggest test of the year. The Agria Falsterbo Nations Cup runs Friday, the Falsterbo Derby Saturday, and the Rolex Grand Prix closes the international programme on Sunday.

Dressage US Riders Compete Abroad

With the Series paused for the summer, several of its top riders took their form to Europe this weekend.

Series leader Ashley Holzer put together the standout campaign at Hartpury International in England. Aboard Hawtins San Floriana, she was third in the CDI3* Grand Prix on 71.957 percent, a combination best, behind Britain's Sadie Smith (72.652) and Charlotte Dujardin (74.804). She went one better in the Grand Prix Special, taking second on 72.574 percent, another combination best, with only Dujardin ahead. Holzer is spending the summer training at Carl Hester's yard as she chases a place on the US squad for the World Championships.

In Germany, a young US team finished third at the FEI Dressage Nations Cup CDIO4*, part of the Covalliero Dressage Days at Hof Kasselmann. Christian Simonson & Fleau de Baian opened with a combination best of 70.478 percent on their European team debut, while Jordan LaPlaca & Gold Play produced the day's best American score, a personal best of 70.631 percent. Meagan Davis & Toronto Lightfoot added 68.656 percent, and Geñay Vaughn anchored on 69.848 percent aboard Gino.

Simonson returned to take third in the CDIO4* Freestyle on 76.570 percent, LaPlaca posted another personal best for fourth in the Special on 71.745 percent, and Vaughn was fifth in the Special on 71.383 percent.

"We came here with a young team with minimal experience in international competition in Europe up to this point, and for them to step right into a Nations Cup and finish in third means we are moving in the right direction," said Chef d'Equipe Christine Traurig.

Vaughn sits fifth in the Series standings and Simonson tenth, both currently inside the eighteen who will contest the Final. Qualifiers resume at Dressage at Devon in late September.