THE show jumping FEI World Championships return to Aachen for the sixth time next week, where qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games will be the order of the day. The top seven teams, excluding the host nation USA, will get their ticket sorted at the first time of asking at the German venue.

Will Ireland finally win their first World Championship medal? Well they certainly have the man and horse-power to do so. It is a first championship for Jessica Kurten as team manager and she has selected Bertram Allen, Darragh Kenny, Cian O’Connor and Shane Sweetnam (see bios below) to go to battle.

They will face hefty challenges from some of the big guns. On home soil, Germany will be among the favourites to take victory and they have the talking horse of the moment, European champion United Touch S, ridden by Richard Vogel. Winners of the Aachen Grand Prix this year, they almost look unbeatable. Also on the team is Vogel’s partner Sophie Hinners, Marcus Ehning and Daniel Deusser. This has left the Olympic champions Christian Kukuk and Checker 47 - winners of the London GCT last weekend - as the travelling reserves.

British riders have an incredible ability to produce the goods at a championship and all three members of the 2024 Olympic gold medal-winning team - Scott Brash, Harry Charles and Ben Maher - are coming to Aachen, albeit Scott and Harry with more inexperienced horses. They are joined by Jack Whitaker and Adrian Whiteway.

Belgium won team gold at the 2025 European Championships, but their star combination, Gilles Thomas and Ermitage Kalone, have been ruled out due to an injury to the stunning stallion. Steve Guerdat and Martin Fuchs once again are the backbone of the team from Switzerland. Fresh from winning the Rolex Grand Prix in Dublin, Guerdat takes his former European champion and Olympic silver medallist Dynamix De Belheme to Aachen.

The USA come with high hopes and plenty of experience. McLain Ward and Laura Kraut are joined by Lillie Keenan, Katie Dinan and Natalie Dean with Mr Boombastic, who helped USA win the Aga Khan last Friday week.

Individuals

There are a few standout individual horses that it is hard to look past. Obviously, on form and performances at this venue, United Touch S just ticks all the boxes. He is likely to lead from the start, because his unbelievable length of stride makes him almost unbeatable against the clock. On the other end of the spectrum, James Kann Cruz is probably known as not being the fastest horse, but that theory was blown out of the water when he obliterated the field in the Falsterbo Grand Prix jump-off.

Dynamix De Belheme (Guerdat) and Ben Maher’s Point Break are two more who will be pushing close to the top of the leaderboard after day one. Laura Kraut has her 2025 Dublin Grand Prix winner Bisquetta and she is just a pro at managing these championships.

I am tipping Ireland for a definite and assured LA28 qualification here with every likelihood of winning their first World Championship medal, while Shane Sweetnam will be on the individual podium with the Connolly Stud Farm-bred James Kann Cruz.

Did you know?

  • Ireland has won three individual world championship medals: one gold (Dermott Lennon, 2002) and two silvers (Eddie Macken, 1974 and 1978).
  • France has the most world championship medals with 20 in total - 12 individual and eight team.
  • The youngest rider in the field is Hungary’s Gyula Szuhai Jr, aged 19, while the oldest is Norway’s Geir Gulliksen at 66 years old. It is Geir’s 17th championship and his first to be on the team with his son Johan-Sebastian.
  • Sweden won gold in 2022, but come with a building team to Aachen. Tipperary’s Thomas Ryan is part of the team after switching nationality to ride for the country of his wife in January 2026.
  • All competitors start in Wednesday’s opening speed competition, which is a team and individual qualifier. Each rider’s score is converted via a coefficient into points. Thursday sees the first round of team jumping with the top 10 progressing to Friday’s final for medals, where the top 60 individual riders also compete. Sunday’s individual final is for the top 25 in round one, before the top 12 go forward to the second round to decide the medals.

  • Meet the team - show jumping

    Bertram Allen \ Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

    Bertram Allen (31)

    Horse: Qonquest De Rigo (Fantomas De Muze x Indoctro)

    Breeder: Ulrik Goossens

    Owner: Aloga Stables

    Form: Aged just 31, Bertram is already a veteran of championships and this is his third World Championships and a second championship for Qonquest De Rigo, who helped Ireland to fourth place at last summer’s European Championships. Just a 10-year-old, his form in the last 12 months has been strong and his last team performance in La Baule was 1/0. He was also clear in the first round of the Longines League of Nations in Ocala earlier in the year and finished runner-up in a four-star Grand Prix. Will have fresh legs as his last international outing was mid-July.

    Darragh Kenny \ Sportfot

    Darragh Kenny (38)

    Horse: Eddy Blue (Eldorado van de Zeshoek TN x Chacco-Blue)

    Breeder: Gestüt Lewitz

    Owner: Carol A Sollak

    Form: Eddy Blue began the year under the saddle of Bertram Allen, before Darragh came back from suspension in spectacular style and won a five-star class on their first show back, before going on to win a five-star Grand Prix in Wellington. Their last international outing was CSIO5* Falsterbo, where they were double clear for the team and this will be a rider determined to deliver on a big championship stage in Aachen where they were clear in the first round of the Rolex Grand Prix back in July, eventually finishing 14th.

    Cian O'Connor \ Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

    Cian O’Connor (46)

    Horse: Chatolinue Ps

    Breeder: Gestüt Lewitz

    Owner: Karlswood Partners

    Form: Having just made his 20th Aga Khan team appearance, this is a remarkable 15th senior championship for Cian. This is a new partnership however; the 13-year-old gelding competed at the 2025 European Championships for Italy before joining Cian’s team in October. Since then, they have been on top form with a third place in the London World Cup, fourth in the five-star La Baule Grand Prix and a 1.60m in Riesenbeck, as well as a double clear for Ireland in the Longines League of Nations in Ocala. Cian is Ireland’s only equestrian Olympic medallist and has a European individual medal too from 2017.

    Shane Sweetnam \ Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

    Shane Sweetnam (45)

    Horse: James Kann Cruz (Kannan x Cruising)

    Breeder: Patrick Connolly

    Owner: Gizmo Partners LLC

    Form: This combination is one of the pre-competition favourites coming to Aachen in a rich vein of form. They won their first CSIO5* Grand Prix in Falsterbo last month; placed seventh in the massive Aachen Grand Prix with a clear second round and sixth in the Dinard Grand Prix on their final outing.

    The pair were double clear in the Longines League of Nations in Ocala. They were also on the last Irish team to win a medal at the 2023 European Championships. There are big Irish hopes laid on this combination.