SUNDAY’S Freestyle finals at the FEI Para Dressage World Championships in Aachen saw American riders claim further success, when Kate Shoemaker, Fiona Howard and Marie Vonderheyden each added another individual gold medal to the team title they had won together the previous day.

Aachen proved to be a truly fantastic show for Vonderheyden and Fan Tastico H, as they completed a clean sweep of the Grade I classes when they won their Freestyle on 80.540%. Incredibly, given that Grade I is for athletes most severely affected by their disabilities and takes place only in walk, two of the youngest horses in the competition claimed the remaining medals. Italy’s Sara Morganti took silver with the seven-year-old Bond Girl 18, while Paris Paralympic champion Latvia’s Rihards Snikus snatched bronze on his new ride, the appropriately-named six-year-old Rise and Shine.

Having already won an individual gold and team silver, the host nation’s Heidemarie Dresing had to settle for a bronze medal in the Grade II Freestyle when the American run of good form continued. After narrowly missing out on her first chance for individual glory when she finished fourth on Wednesday, the USA’s Fiona Howard fought back to top the podium on 75.483% aboard Diamond Dunes. Great Britain’s Jemima Green added a silver to her earlier bronze with Fantabulous H.

“He went in there today and really gave me everything,” said Howard after her test. “My muscles are a little bit tighter today, but Dunes just took such good care of me. It’s been a phenomenal week, a big highlight was our team competition and it’s just incredible to be here in Aachen, especially with such a phenomenal horse,” she concluded.

After some uncharacteristic mistakes lowered her score in the team test, Ireland’s Katie Reilly narrowly missed out on qualification for the Grade III Freestyle final, in which the podium proved to be an exact repetition of Wednesday’s individual results. The Netherlands’ Rixt van der Horst and Eisma’s Royal Fonq NOP were the clear victors on 83.120%, ahead of defending champions Tobias Thoerning Joergensen and Blu Hors Zackerado in silver and Francesca Salvade and Escari in bronze.

Kate Shoemaker continued the theme of American dominance in the Grade IV Freestyle when she claimed her third gold medal of the event by a margin of almost 5%, after an incredible test aboard the 10-year-old grey mare Vianne. Silver and bronze went to combinations who had finished only sixth and eighth in the individual test however, when Alexa Pittier with Sultan 768 and Helen Brandt with Vulkan Vegas IB rose to take their positions on the podium.

“There are no words, really,” said Shoemaker after her third victorious test. “It’s just amazing to have the ride on a horse that feels like she enjoys it so much. None of this has sunk in whatsoever. To be on the hallowed showground that is Aachen and to come away with three gold medals is beyond what I could have hoped for.”

Lena Malmstrom claimed her first-ever gold medal in the final competition of the FEI World Championships, when she won the Grave V Freestyle on her home-bred 14-year-old Fabulous Fidelie on a score of 79.675%. The host’s Regine Mispelkamp took her third medal of the event in second with Highlander Delight’s, while the very last combination to go down the centre line, Holland’s Britney de Jong with Caramba NOP, edged ahead of Sophie Wells to take bronze.

“This feels amazing and, in Sweden, this is a fantastic result for para dressage riders, because it will give us so much recognition,” Malmström said emotionally. “I almost can’t describe in words how I feel about my horse, she is like my everything. She gave me chills down my spine today, she was so good.”