Dressage riders gather at Okahandja from Thursday for the 2026 FEI Dressage World Challenge, the 7 Nations Challenge and the 2026 Namibian Dressage Championships.

The 2025 Namibian champions Svenja Späth and her stallion Equimaster Seeis Arian hope to excel on home ground, with their performance at the same venue a month ago indicating that Arian is back on form after his prolonged absence.

Also setting out to retain their title is the 2025 junior champion Leia-Mae van der Merwe on F.H.M. The talented and dedicated youngster from Windhoek has little to fear in serious local competition, but she will be hoping to improve on her performance at last year’s FEI Dressage World Challenge, where she came 18th out of about 100 riders competing at youth level in their respective countries.

Also out to score big in the FEI Challenge is Carolin Hoffmeister. She ranked eighth out of 117 competitors in the senior category on Batman in 2025. This year she will be concentrating on uplifting her performance with Heidi’s Mohinho in the Senior II Class.

The veterinary inspection, team announcements and FEI draw will take place at the Reitclub Okahandja premises tomorrow afternoon as of 16h00, while the FEI classes start at 11h00 on Friday, with the 7 Nations classes set for later in the afternoon.

The competitions counting towards the Namibian Championships begin at 08h00 on Saturday morning, while the best in musical freestyles will be showcased in the main arena at 09h00 on Sunday morning with, the final prize giving ceremony at 13h15.

Source: https://www.namibian.com.na/dressage-riders-converge-at-okahandja-for-championships/