As the morning mist cleared, this first afternoon of dressage—reserved for the first part of the 7-year-old World Championship—unfolded under glorious sunshine.

Following the trail-blazing test by Matthieu Vanlandeghem and… Apero Z—just before 1:00 PM, you couldn’t make this up!—it didn’t take long to see a combination break through the 30-penalty-point barrier. Fifth to go before the judges, the 2025 6-year-old World Champion Tara van het Leliehof, ridden by Belgian champion and Mondial du Lion Crédit Mutuel stalwart Lara de Liedekerke-Meier, took the lead on a score of 28.6 (71.40%), holding onto top spot right through to the end of this first session. Club Class, ridden by 2022 World Champion Yasmin Ingham, and Alf PH, under Ben Leuwer, are hot on their heels. The French contenders are lying in ambush, with Juste Unétoile and Tom Carlile in fourth place, and Cambel and Héloïse Le Guern in fifth. Currently, less than four points (less than a single showjumping rail) separate the top seven, but half the field is still to come tomorrow afternoon. Archie CC and Caro Hoffrichter, the recently crowned German Amateur Champions (she is a lawyer by trade), will kick off the action starting at 3:00 PM.

Before that, the morning will be dedicated to the 6-year-old World Championship dressage test, starting at 8:45 AM with Belgium’s Jarno Verwimp aboard Diacontina C&T Z, and wrapping up at 2:09 PM… with the very same Jarno Verwimp riding Komment Donc AA.