US Federation Announces “Consistency of Scores Over 74%” for Grand Prix or Special Set to Qualify for Team at 2026 World Championships
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Oct. 2, 2025
The US Federation announced Wednesday that “consistency of scores over 74%” for Grand Prix or Special will be required to qualify for the American team at the 2026 World Championships. Only four combinations have achieved that level and only once since the beginning of 2024 though several prospects have not yet competed.
Qualifying for the four-member team to compete at the championships in Aachen, Germany next Aug. 10-23 is at CDI3* and higher level events that began Sept. 1, 2025 and ends May 17, 2026.
The team competition at the world championships is usually at Grand Prix but a decision has not yet been announced by the FEI, the International Equestrian Federation.
The championships are a major qualifying event for the Olympics though as the host of the Games in Los Angeles the United States automatically qualifies a team so placing at Aachen will not effect selection of a squad for 2028.
Three of the four American riders out of 55 reviewed by Dressage-News.com to have scored at least 74% since the beginning of 2024 are:
–Marcus Orlob on Jane with 75.340% in a CDI4* Grand Prix Special in Kronberg, Germany in June 2024.
–Christian Simonson on Indian Rock with 74.277% in a CDI3* Grand Prix Special at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida in May this year, and
–Adrienne Lyle on Helix with 74.065% in a World Cup qualifier Grand Prix in Wellington, Florida Jan. 9 this year.
The fourth rider is Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper scoring 75.522% in a CDI3* Grand Prix at Del Mar, California in February 2024. Steffen, for health reasons, has not competed since the Paris Olympics last year.
A total of 27 competitions at CDI3* or higher are on the current schedule in the U.S. during the qualifying period–though events elsewhere in the world can count.
Qualifying began at Devon, Pennsylvania last month. Florida’s three primary show grounds, Wellington, Ocala and Myakka City near Sarasota will host 18 events; six will be staged in California, at Thermal, Del Mar and Temecula, and one at Tryon, North Carolina as well as the World Cup Final in Fort Worth, Texas.
The national Grand Prix championships will be held at Ocala May 13-17.
After the championships, as many as eight riders and their horses will be named to a short list to compete at observation events to be named later between May 17 and July 20 that may be in the U.S. and Europe.
