From home World Championships selection

Reigning double Olympic dressage champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl has withdrawn Times Kismet from Germany’s second selection trial for the 2026 World Championships in Aachen, ruling herself out of contention for a home Games she would have been favourite to make.

The German rider announced on 28 June that Kiss, an 11 year old mare in her first Grand Prix season, would not travel to the trial in Hagen, which is a significant call to make. Times Kismet is currently von Bredow-Werndl’s only ride at international Grand Prix level, so the decision effectively closes the door on her Aachen campaign for this year, whatever the mare’s form might otherwise have supported.

Von Bredow-Werndl was direct about the trade-off in her statement: “I would have loved to take part in the second selection trial for the World Championships in Aachen next week, which makes the decision not to travel to Hagen an especially difficult one.” She and the mare’s owners chose to prioritise Kismet’s long term development instead. “This is Kiss’s first Grand Prix season, and she has exceptional talent. Precisely because of that, it is important to us to develop her with patience and a long-term perspective.”

The point she made about competitive sport generally is also interesting: “In competitive sport, it is often tempting to seize every opportunity. But responsibility sometimes also means letting an opportunity pass when you are convinced it is the right decision for the future.”

Some context helps explain why this decision matters so much. Von Bredow-Werndl’s long-time top horse, TSF Dalera BB, with whom she won Olympic gold in both Tokyo and Paris, retired from competition in August 2024. Her rising star Diallo BB died suddenly of illness earlier this year. Times Kismet is her remaining horse at the top level, and Kismet and von Bredow-Werndl have had a bumpy run already this season: they finished 10th in the Grand Prix at the German Championships in early June, then had to withdraw from the Special and go into a precautionary quarantine after a stable neighbour was diagnosed with a fever (tests later came back negative, and the horse recovered).

Given all that, the decision to hold Kismet back from Hagen rather than push for a shot at Aachen reads less like a rider settling for less and more like someone unwilling to gamble a promising young horse’s development against a single season’s opportunity. This is a really useful example for anyone struggling to decide whether to enter another show or focus more on the horse’s progression.

Ingrid Klimke is also out of contention for the dressage world squad; her gelding Vayron NRW isn’t yet fit enough to compete following the pair’s absence from the German Championships trial last month.

Source: Horse & Hound (Lucy Elder), 2 July 2026,https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/dressage/jessica-von-bredow-werndl-times-kismet-ruled-out-contention-2026-world-championships-aachen-928482