Aachen 2026: Amazing partnerships, team fifth and LA28 qualification for the Para team

Sophie Wells and Nicola Naylor were the final two team members to ride today and their scores helped the team to finish in a fabulous fifth place and secure LA28 qualification!  

© Andrea Rodriguez 

Sophie Wells was the first of the British riders on day two of the team competition, and once again rode a beautiful test in the Grand Prix B Grade V. Sophie, riding MSJ Gold Standard received a great score of 73.763% from judges Marc Urban (E – BEL), Kristi Wysocki (H – USA), Marco Orsini (C – GER), Anne Prain (M – FRA) and Kjell Myhre (B – NOR).  

Reflecting on how ten-year-old Gracie felt today in the warmup and during their test Sophie shared, “I am proud of her, the feeling she gave me in the test today was better than a couple of days ago in the individual. She warmed up super outside; she was nice and energetic and felt lighter and more up for it today.” Although their score didn’t reflect the improvement that Sophie felt, it did not put a damper on what was another great test, “It is a little bit frustrating coming out of there with a score that was lower than two days ago, but it’s dressage, it’s sport, and my goal coming out here was to make sure she is a happy horse in the arena and she was happy today.” 

Sophie and the chestnut mare have a wonderful partnership and this has been showcased throughout this championship, when asked about how their new partnership going from strength to strength, Sophie commented, “Every test up until today we have gotten a slightly better score, we keep getting a little bit more out of her and it’s a long week for them, so yesterday we had a rest day and I didn’t sit on her and let her just be a horse and I feel like she came out better because of that.” 

Already looking ahead for the freestyle tomorrow Sophie shared, “Tomorrow is another day, we have some really fun music, which is a bit different for me, so we will go and have fun dancing.” Tomorrow is the last day of competition and Sophie will be looking to add to the incredible gold medal herself and Gracie have already achieved at the World Championships so far.  

Nicola Naylor and the lovely gelding Humberto L were the last of our team members to go, riding the Grand Prix B in the Grade IV competition. Nicola used all her skill today to support a very reactive Humberto around their test, despite some spooks at scary things around the arena impacting their mark the pair still received an impressive 70.162% from the judges.  

Talking us through her test Nicola said, “Well I felt as if I rode really well and should get extra marks for staying on! We went for a little more expression and a bit more power today and he got noise sensitive and a bit more reactive. He was reacting to everything, there were a few mistakes here and there that I had to ride him through, some tests are just like that.” 

The journey is always made up of experiences like this, sometimes things don’t go to plan but it allows the horse to gain experience in the environment they are in and Nicola shared how she knows there is more in him to give, “Sometimes they can just boil over too much when you ask for more, that was the risk we ran, there were some really lovely moments where I think he really came up in the trot and the canter, and he had the extra power we were asking for, but there was a bit too much extra that we didn’t want!” 

There were plenty of highlights during their test that earned them good marks from the judges, Nicola explained, “The medium canters were still lovely, even though we were down in his dangerous corner. I just thought let’s go for it, he was clearly ready to jump out of his skin, so we will just go for it anyway, as I had already sat it once [the spook], so I could sit it again. At that point we had nothing to lose, so we just really went for it.”  

Sophie and Nicola’s scores led to the whole team finishing in a great fifth place overall on a total score of 222.379. This means Great Britain have secured their qualification for the LA28 Paralympics! Congratulations to the whole team of riders, horses and support crews who have made all this possible and who have had another amazing day of world class competition.  

Tomorrow is the last day of the World Championships and a final contest for individual medals, where all four riders have secured their spot in the freestyle competition. Jemima Green and Fantabulous will be heading down the centre line first at 9:26 BST, Mari Durward Akhurst and Athene Lindebjerg at 10:38 BST, Nicola Naylor and Humberto L at 12:48 BST and Sophie Wells and MSJ Gold Standard at 14:31 BST. Good luck everyone, bring on the music!  

Results – Top five 

Grade V 

1. Regine Mispelkamp and Highlander Delight’s, 75.737% 

2. Britney de Jong and Caramba N.O.P, 74.605% 

3. Lena Malmstrom and Fabulous Fidelie, 73.974%  

4. Sophie Wells and MSJ Gold Standard, 73.763% 

5. Mira Antonsen Hjelle and Atterupgaards Dora, 71.237% 

Grade IV 

1. Kate Shoemaker and Vianne, 80.460% 

2. Anna-Lena Niehues and Vive l’Amour, 76.405% 

3. Vladimir Vinchon and Pegase Mayenne, 75,216% 

4. Helen Brandt and Vulkan Vegas IB, 73.297% 

5. Alexia Pitter and Sultan 768, 73.135% 

9. Nicola Naylor and Humberto L, 70.162%  

Team standings 

1. Untied States of America, 236.135 

2. Germany, 229.875 

3. Netherlands, 227.639 

4. Denmark, 225.867 

5. Great Britain, 222.379  

View the full results and tomorows start lists using the button below. 

AACHEN HUB