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.
ADVERTISEMENT
Photographer Shannon Brinkman was there capturing the highlights of the competition.
![](https://res.cloudinary.com/desx6mium/images/w_700,h_467,c_scale/f_webp,q_auto/v1720691744/COTH/uploads/Julio-AA24brinkman7-6D8-7050/Julio-AA24brinkman7-6D8-7050-700x467.jpg?_i=AA)
![](https://res.cloudinary.com/desx6mium/images/w_700,h_467,c_scale/f_webp,q_auto/v1720691751/COTH/uploads/Eventing-team-AA24brinkman7-6EA2-02425/Eventing-team-AA24brinkman7-6EA2-02425-700x467.jpg?_i=AA)
![](https://res.cloudinary.com/desx6mium/images/w_700,h_467,c_scale/f_webp,q_auto/v1720691748/COTH/uploads/Mclain-Ilex-2-AA24brinkman7-7j3-4066/Mclain-Ilex-2-AA24brinkman7-7j3-4066-700x467.jpg?_i=AA)
![](https://res.cloudinary.com/desx6mium/images/w_700,h_467,c_scale/f_webp,q_auto/v1720691732/COTH/uploads/Steffen-AA24brinkman7-6D8-6259/Steffen-AA24brinkman7-6D8-6259-700x467.jpg?_i=AA)
![](https://res.cloudinary.com/desx6mium/images/w_700,h_467,c_scale/f_webp,q_auto/v1720691741/COTH/uploads/Alliston-1-AA24brinkman7-6xR1L-1379/Alliston-1-AA24brinkman7-6xR1L-1379-700x467.jpg?_i=AA)
![](https://res.cloudinary.com/desx6mium/images/w_700,h_467,c_scale/f_webp,q_auto/v1720691737/COTH/uploads/Kraut-AA24brinkman7-7jRL-4995/Kraut-AA24brinkman7-7jRL-4995-700x467.jpg?_i=AA)
![](https://res.cloudinary.com/desx6mium/images/w_700,h_467,c_scale/f_webp,q_auto/v1720691728/COTH/uploads/Phillips-AA24brinkman7-6xR1L-8538/Phillips-AA24brinkman7-6xR1L-8538-700x467.jpg?_i=AA)