Following the World Championships in Aachen in August, Danish Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour has held on to the number one slot on the FEI World Dressage Riders Ranking issued in September 2026.
The FEI oversees around 70 Rankings and Standings across all the disciplines, from World Rankings calculated on a monthly basis for Athletes, Horses and/or Combinations, to league, team and regional based standings for Series such as the Longines League of Nations™, FEI World Cup™ and FEI Nations Cup™. The FEI rankings also include a variety of youth categories.
Dufour Number One
Catherine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle, who led Denmark to world team bronze and also claimed a pair of individual silver medals at Aachen 2026, remain out in front in the athlete and horse rankings, where the top end still features all the same names in the same order. In the athletes’ rankings, the top six – all in the championship medals – mirror the end-July order although there are new points tallies for each of them, with the leading trio now all notching up over 2,000.
Laudrup-Dufour sits on 2,058, just 21 points clear of Belgium’s double European gold medallist Justin Verboomen, who left Aachen empty-handed, despite finishing second behind the Danish duo in the Grand Prix to lead Belgium to fourth (6.382% off a team medal), but at least that placing secured the Belgians their Olympic team quota place for Los Angeles 2028.
Charlotte (Lottie) Fry, who claimed historic back-to-back double world championship titles with Glamourdale and led GBR to team silver, notably posting a PB 91.907% to win the Freestyle, retains her hold on third with 2,014, while the first of Germany’s golden quartet – Isabell Werth – is fourth on 1,965. Fry’s team-mates Becky Moody (fifth, 1,783) and Carl Hester (sixth, 1,691) are next in line, followed by a new face in seventh – German team gold medallist Katharina Hemmer – up from 10th on 1,670. Winner of the biggest mover of the month title is Maria von Essen (1,455), up from 197th to 17th after partnering Invoice to ninth in the Grand Prix Special and helping earn Sweden its LA28 quota place.
FEI Dressage World Ranking – Horses: Freestyle still dancing ahead
Mount St John Freestyle, the mare partnered by Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour to her seventh win of the year when claiming the Aachen 2026 Grand Prix honours as well as three medals and an Olympic team quota place for Denmark, is still dancing ahead of the opposition in the dedicated Horses ranking. Posting a points tally of 2,058, Freestyle sits ahead of Belgian stallion Zonik Plus (Justin Verboomen) on 2,037, with double-double world champion Glamourdale (Lottie Fry, GBR) third on 2,014. Isabell Werth’s team gold and individual Freestyle bronze medal ride Wendy de Fontaine is fourth with 1,965, followed by British pair Jagerbomb (Becky Moody, 1,783) and Fame (Carl Hester, 1,691) in fifth and sixth. Highest of the climbers is Team Germany’s golden Bluetooth OLD (Frederic Wandres), up from 178th to 11th on 1,546.
FEI Para Dressage World Individual & Team: Shoemaker returns to number one
With a total of six Para Dressage golds overall – including those team honours in Aachen – the USA is now on 1,377 points at the head of the team rankings. Germany, which took world silver on home footing, has moved up into second on 1,342, five points ahead of Great Britain in third. Denmark remains fourth on 1,329, with the Netherlands up a place to fifth on 1,325 after taking world team bronze.
Photos © Astrid Appels - Digishots
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