The Deutsche Bank Stadium is their dance floor – the Lambertz Nations' Cup has been staged at the CHIO Aachen since 1977. In 2024, Germany’s dressage riders notched up their 42nd victory in the prestigious battle between the nations.

On the few occasions when the German national anthem wasn’t played during the prize-giving ceremony of the Lambertz Nations’ Cup, it was either that of the Dutch or the Danish team. And it was also these two nations, who came closest to the German quartet today.

The German flag was represented by Isabell Werth with Wendy de Fontaine (76.50), Ingrid Klimke with Franziskus (76.043), Frederic Wandres with Bluetooth (75.630) and Katharina Hemmer with Denoix (68.326), It was Hemmer’s debut appearance in Aachen and hers was the scratch result after Denoix was distracted by the noises of other horses outside the ring and wasn’t at all focused on the test. The three scores that counted totalled 228,173 points altogether.

The National Coach, Monica Theodorescu, summed up today’s performances as follows: “I am of course very happy with the first, second and third place,” referring to Werth, Klimke and Wandres, who also topped the rankings of the individual classification in that order. However, she said she was sorry for Katharina Hemmer. “She was simply unlucky because her horse was so stressed in the arena. But that can happen. Her horse is in super form, but she wasn’t able to show that here in the ring today. She could only try and manage the situation and she did as best she could. But of course the other horses were very close behind each other and there is hopefully still room for improvement in the future and for the Olympic Games. But, of course, I am very happy with the result.”

Ultimately, they had a comfortable lead over the Dutch team, which finished on a total score of 215.674. The “Oranje” team comprised of Devenda Dijkstra with Hero (69.848), Dinja van Liere with Vita di Lusso (74.696) and Marieke van der Putten with Torveslettens Titanium (71.130). Dinja van Liere was the best Dutch rider with her just nine-year-old, Vita de Lusso, and after achieving a new personal, best result she was equally delighted – although she had to hold her breath towards the end of the test, when the spectators started clapping before she had even saluted. “It is an honour to ride here in Aachen. I actually think it is the best show in the world. The atmosphere is fantastic. Even if the crowd was perhaps a little too enthusiastic today…”

Second and third place was even closer. The Danish team World Champions earned a collected score of 214.544, with just 1.13 points less than the “Oranje” team – although they didn’t even have a fourth team member. Nanna Skodborg Merrald and St. Schufro were awarded the best score of 73.674. The other two team members were Nadja Aaboe Sloth with Favour Gersdorf (72.348) and Anna Zibrandtsen with Quel Filou (68.522). Nanna Skodborg Merrald summed her team’s performance saying “The team did very well. It is a pretty green team, but we all performed very well and we can really be proud of coming third in Aachen.”