It took until the very last cones for the Four-in-Hand Driving World Championship to deliver its verdict. In Aachen, Boyd Exell claimed an eighth consecutive individual world title, twenty years after he had been forced to miss the 2006 Aachen Worlds through injury. But behind the Australian, Belgium struck hard: Dries Degrieck took his first individual world medal with silver, while Glenn Geerts and Tom Stokmans joined him on the team podium for bronze. The king remains the king. Except that now, behind the throne, the knives are being sharpened very seriously.

Boyd Exell, the eighth of his name

There are men who win. And then there is Boyd Exell.

For a few years now, the Four-in-Hand Driving World Championship has looked like a monarchy for which nobody has yet found the user manual to organise the succession. At 54, the Australian has just claimed his eighth consecutive individual world title in Aachen. Final score: 142.64 penalty points, ahead of Dries Degrieck (148.85) and Chester Weber (156.77).

And yet, on Sunday in Stadium 2, there was still one last formality to complete. Well, a “formality” in the Boyd Exell sense: four horses, a carriage, narrow gates, balls perched on cones and a World Championship that can swing on three miserable points.

Exell summed it up himself afterwards: “ One cone is three points. A little time can make it five. That is huge to recover in marathon or dressage. So the cones are very important. »

Translation: even when you are king, you avoid stepping on mines.

So Boyd did Boyd. Speed, tight lines, but never that impression of panic that sometimes grips normally constituted human beings when a world title is being decided by a few centimetres. His grooms and navigator were calling his splits: one second ahead, one second behind. Everything under control.

« The horses were so supple, easy and forward. I didn’t need to take too many risks at the end because we knew we had points in hand. But you are never better than the power you have in front of you. And today, it was brilliant. »

Result: 0.30 penalty points for time exceeded. Nothing. A speck of dust on the king’s suit.

Then Exell crossed the line.

And there, the robot became human again.

He handed over the reins, jumped down from the carriage and headed straight for his horses.Daan, Hero, Mister Bono van ’t Hooge and especially Checkmate, 19 years old and veteran of the team, received pats and thanks. “A success like this is not possible without the horses. I am incredibly proud of them. ”, he would explain.

A few moments later, he was back on the carriage, carried by the applause of the stadium.

And among those who came to congratulate him, a familiar figure: Sarah “Granny” Garnett. Present alongside Exell at every competition since his international beginnings, a historic member of his entourage, both support and critical eye. Some champions collect trophies. The greatest also keep the same people around them as the years go by.

Aachen, twenty years later

This title also has a particular taste.

In 2006, when the World Equestrian Games had already set up camp in Aachen, Boyd Exell had not been able to compete. A few weeks earlier, a quad bike accident had broken his leg in five places. His team was ready. So was he. His body, much less so.

Vingt ans plus tard, la petite cicatrice dans l’histoire restait ouverte.

« It was only during this weekend that I said to myself: no, I have to win in Aachen. I won in Normandy, in Kentucky and in Tryon. I had to win here.. »

Done.

The circle is closed. And rather eight times than once.

Dries Degrieck, silver already worth much more

Except that behind Exell, the pressure is building.

And building very hard.

At 31, Dries Degrieck did not exactly arrive in Aachen as a tourist. The Belgian is world number two behind Exell and had already won his first World Cup Final this year, in Bordeaux.

But he was still missing an individual World Championship medal.

That is now sorted.

Second before the cones, Degrieck had a mission that was simple to explain and much less simple to execute: break nothing.

Result: 1.13 penalty points, the third-best performance of the day, and 148.85 points in total. Silver medal. First individual world medal.

So, disappointed to have left the gold to Boyd?

Not really.

« I am really, really happy. Personally, I feel like my horses are the real world champions. They have been excellent throughout the whole season. »

And Degrieck listed a 2026 campaign that is starting to look like a manifesto: victories in Windsor and Rastede, after a winter already crowned by his first World Cup Final title. He now sits only six points behind Exell in the world rankings.

Above all, his horses barely blinked in Aachen.

« From the first day, in dressage, they produced a superb performance. In the marathon, they gave everything and finished second. Today, they were third in the cones. They have been really consistent. I could not be happier. »

The kind of consistency that turns an outsider into a contender.

And a contender into a threat.

The American holding his breath

Then there’s Chester Weber, the man who had opened the ball.

The American had been the first to lay his cards on the table by taking the lead in the Championship after the dressage. For a few hours, he was the man to beat, before Boyd Exell took control again and the marathon reshuffled part of the deck.

On Sunday, Weber was no longer fighting for gold. But he still had a world podium to defend. And he chose a method not exactly recommended for those with fragile hearts.

One ball down. Time penalties. Then the wait.

Once he crossed the line, the American puffed out his cheeks while the maths was done. A few suspended seconds before the verdict: it was enough. Bronze was his.

At 48, Weber could finally drop his shoulders and head off on his lap of honour. “This medal belongs to the whole team and, of course, first and foremost to my horses,” he would explain afterwards.

To sum up the atmosphere in Aachen, he needed only one word: « Wow ! »

Belgium also takes bronze

Because Degrieck did not leave with just one medal around his neck.

With Glenn Geerts and Tom Stokmans, Belgium also claimed team world bronze, on 325.52 points. Ahead of them, the Netherlands snatched gold with 315.13 points, in front of Australia, second on 317.25. Less than one cone separated the top two nations.

For the Belgians, this medal was anything but automatic.

« It was really very difficult ”, Degrieck admitted. But we did it. Glenn and Tom did a fantastic job today in the cones. It was incredible. »

Three men, three very different stories.

Degrieck is arriving at the peak of his art. Geerts is already building the next version of his team. Stokmans, for his part, continues to climb the steps four at a time.

Glenn Geerts: one step back to take two forward

For Glenn Geerts, the first word is almost surprising: relief.

« The whole season was organised around this week. We really worked to arrive at this moment. »

Geerts finished in the world Top 15 after deeply renewing his team. Three horses replaced by younger ones. Not exactly the most comfortable recipe when preparing for a World Championship in Aachen.

But the Belgian had an idea behind it.

Long identified as a marathon specialist, he knew he had to gain points elsewhere. So he worked on dressage. Invested in horses more gifted for that phase. And also accepted that rather cruel paradox of top-level sport: buying talent does not allow you to buy experience.

« Today, I may have horses with more quality for dressage, but experience is also a talent. »

Good line. Good gamble too.

Because despite a marathon where Geerts feels he let valuable points slip away, “ a small mistake at the beginning, a big one at the end” , the medal is there.

And above all, his team is young.

Very young.

Three of his horses were still competing in their first competition last September.

« Some people in my team were saying to me: why not bring back the old ones? They are still fit, they have more experience, it would be safer. Yes, it might have been safer. But I explained to them: this is taking one step back today to take at least two forward in the future. »

With bronze around his neck, the future has already gained a few months.

Tom Stokmans, the third man

Tom Stokmans, for his part, was not trying to dress up his weekend.

The dressage? Disappointing.

The marathon? Excellent, but with an extra loop in the final obstacle that cost him dearly.

The horses? Very good.

And the cones? Solid enough to bring the points Belgium needed.

« I am really happy to have been able to bring my points to the team for this medal. This is only my sixth international season, so I have less experience than the others. »

Less experience, certainly. But already a third World Championship after Pratoni and Szilvásvárad.

And Aachen?

« Aachen is always special. The normal CHIO is already a small World Championship. But this was really incredible. »

As for whether this medal will stay with him in his career, Stokmans did not need long to think.

« Forever. »

The Oranje come back from nowhere

While Belgium secured its bronze, another battle was being fought ahead.

The Netherlands won the team world title with Bram Chardon, Ijsbrand Chardon and Koos de RondeBut they had to go and get it with their teeth.

Bram Chardon, deprived the day before of one of his marathon horses, who was not sufficiently fit, arrived on Sunday with a mix of frustration and pressure.

He had to produce a double clear in the cones to lock down Dutch gold.

He did it.

And with the best performance of the day.

« To secure team gold, I had to drive a double clear. With that pressure, and after a week that had not been perfect until then, managing to do that explains the emotion you saw after the finish. »

Emotion, but also a few regrets. Because Chardon came very close to the individual podium.

« Seeing today everything that was still possible, I am still a little disappointed about yesterday. I came very close to the individual podium, but it was just not enough »

The Dutchman nevertheless put it into perspective: given the circumstances, he felt he had got almost 100% out of what he could produce.

"The others were simply better. Congratulations to them."

No calculation, no ifs, no buts. Chardon leaves with team gold, individual fourth place and enough regrets to motivate him for the next two years.

The king reigns. For how long?

In the end, Aachen told two stories.

The first is that of a monument.

Boyd Exell wins again. Eighth consecutive world title. A streak that is starting to look less like a record than a military occupation of the top of the discipline. He is still world number one. Still capable of arriving on Sunday with the pressure of a World Championship and driving with the calm of someone going out to buy bread.

But the second story may be even more interesting.

Because behind him, the knives are being sharpened.

Dries Degrieck takes his first individual championship medal. Bram Chardon leaves frustrated but team world champion. Glenn Geerts is already building his next team. Tom Stokmans is gaining experience and a world medal.

Boyd Exell said he wanted to celebrate this eighth title “ for weeks, maybe even for the next two years. ».

He can. Because the king remains the king.

But not for too long all the same.

Because behind the throne, things are seriously starting to push.

Find the full individual results of the Four-in-Hand Driving World Championships here

Find the team results here