In Photos: CHIO Aachen Highlights

Saturday, Sep. 7, 2024

PUBLISHED

July 8, 2024
3:48 pm

WORDS BY

Melissa Wright

In the nine-day celebration of horse sport that is the annual CHIO Aachen (Germany), U.S.-based dressage rider Julio Mendoza Loor of Ecuador took the top spot in the I-West Grand Prix freestyle CDI4* class, while the U.S. contingent highlighted the event with several second-place podiums.

The Defender U.S. Eventing Team finished second to Great Britain in the SAP-Cup CCIO4*-S on Saturday, July 6—the second year in a row it has finished in that spot—while McLain Ward took second Sunday, June 7, in the Rolex Grand Prix CSI5* with Ilex, the day after the pair were named to the team for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games. Ward also finished second Wednesday, July 3, in the Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe Grand Prix CSIO5* aboard Callas. In dressage, Steffen Peters was the best of the U.S. contingent with Suppenkasper, finishing third behind Mendoza Loor in Saturday’s CDI4* freestyle.

In team competition, the Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team finished fourth in the FEI Dressage Nations Cup of Aachen CDIO5* behind winner Germany on July 4 and the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team was ninth in the Mercedes-Benz Jumping Nations Cup CSIO5* the same day.

Photographer Shannon Brinkman was there capturing the highlights of the competition.

Columbus, North Carolina-based Julio Mendoza Loor and his own Jewel’s Goldstrike, who earned an individual spot representing Ecuador at the Paris Olympic Games by winning individual gold at last year’s Pan American Games (Chile) impressed the European crowd and judges alike with their winning freestyle performance (78.92%) in the CDI4*. Shannon Brinkman Photography Photos

“Overall, I’m really impressed with this team and how they handled the atmosphere, stepping up to the challenge of this event,” Chef d’Equipe Bobby Costello said of the Defender U.S. Eventing Team’s second-place finish in the SAP-Cup CCIO4*-S. “There’s a lot to take away from the results here, particularly that we have several athletes who have been a part of our development program and to me, that was the cool thing. Leslie Law’s vision and commitment to this program is working and we have athletes all the way to the top is producing results.” From left: Liz Halliday (Shanroe Cooley), James Alliston (Karma), Alyssa Phillips (Oskar), and Hallie Coon (Cute Girl).

A day after being named to the U.S. Olympic show jumping team for the Paris Games, McLain Ward and Ilex jumped to second place in the Rolex Grand Prix CSI5* with a clean, fast jump-off that left him 1.25 seconds adrift of winners Andre Thieme and DSP Chakaria of Germany.

Steffen Peters was the highest placed U.S. rider in the I-West Grand Prix freestyle CDI4*, finishing third (76.43%) with Suppenkasper, his partner for the upcoming Paris Olympics.

James Alliston and Karma worked their way up the leaderboard in the SAP-Cup CCIO4*-S with a clear show jumping round and fast cross-country trip to finish ninth, as the highest placed U.S. pair.

Laura Kraut and Baloutinue were the only U.S. pair to jump clear in the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup CSIO5* on July 4. The team failed to qualify for the second round and finished ninth.

Alyssa Phillips and Oskar finished 14^th individually, helping the U.S. team to second place in the SAP-Cup CCIO4*-S on July 6.

Updated
July 9, 2024
1:09 pm

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