Twenty years after watching the Aachen World Championships on television and dreaming of competing there one day, Regine Mispelkamp is on the verge of turning that dream into reality. The German Para Dressage rider will represent her country in Grade V at the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026 alongside Highlander Delight’s, known at home as Lights, the horse she defines as her “horse of a lifetime”.
Horses have been part of Mispelkamp's life for as long as she can remember. For her, they have never been merely a sport, but companions, teachers and a fundamental part of her story.
“What fascinates me most is the relationship between the horse and the human being. A horse is not a machine. You can't simply turn it on and expect it to work. You have to build trust, listen, communicate and find a way to work together,” he explains to Chacco Marketing.
Her journey in Para Dressage began in 2018 and changed her life in many ways. This discipline allowed her to continue doing what she was most passionate about, riding and working alongside a horse at the highest level, but over time it took on a much deeper meaning.
“Para Dressage gave me the opportunity to keep doing what I love most: riding and working alongside a horse at a very high level. But it has become much more than a sport for me. It has helped me to rediscover myself.
Through Paralympic sport, Mispelkamp claims to have recovered an inner strength and self-confidence that she had lost along the way. An experience that has also shaped the message she wants to convey.
“We shouldn't always focus on what might no longer be possible. We should ask ourselves: what is possible? What can we achieve together? We shouldn't define people by their limitations. We should look at their possibilities.
Aachen now represents a new chapter in that story. In 2006, Mispelkamp watched the World Championship held there on television. Two decades later, she will be the one entering the arena representing Germany.
“The young woman who watched Aachen on television in 2006 would never have imagined that twenty years later it would be she herself entering that arena,” she acknowledges. “For me, it's like coming full circle.”.
Representing Germany at a World Championship is already an enormous honour, but doing so specifically in Aachen makes the experience even more special.
“Aachen is something very special within equestrian sport. There is so much history, tradition and emotion linked to this place. And I know I won’t enter that arena alone. I’ll be entering with Lights and an incredible team behind us.
Beside him will be Highlander Delight’s, or simply Lights, a horse whose personality is just as important to Mispelkamp as his sporting qualities.
“His nickname is Lights and he's the horse of my heart. He has an incredibly strong personality. On the one hand, he can be a real stallion and, on the other, he's extremely sensitive. He can be calm, he can be wild... basically he can be everything.
Lights also enjoys drawing attention and showing off what she can do, although she also has very clear opinions about certain things. Water, for example, is not exactly among her favourites.
Away from competition, he shows a completely different side. In his stable, he even has a peculiar way of relaxing: sometimes he positions himself with his head against the window, looking at the wall, and simply switches off. Mispelkamp affectionately describes this as his “meditation” time.
Brushing also has its own rules.
“He knows exactly which his favourite spots are. He makes it very clear to me where he wants me to scratch him, for how long I must do it and when he has decided that it is already enough. He is simply Lights. And I love him precisely for being just as he is.
The story of the two of them began in quite an unexpected way: with a Facebook advert. Mispelkamp saw Lights, there was something about him that caught her attention and she decided to fly to Dresden to meet him and try him out. She recorded videos so that her trainers could see him and, a week later, they carried out the vetting and she decided to buy him.
His initial impression upon riding it seems especially amusing now.
“I remember the first thing I thought was: ‘Phew… I wonder if he’ll have enough energy.’ Well… he certainly does!.
That energy has even appeared at an inopportune moment during a test, but it is also part of Lights' personality. Over time, the two of them have learned to understand each other, trust one another and communicate.
“Today he is not simply my competition horse. He is my horse of a lifetime, my partner and one of the most important horses of my life.
Among her main physical qualities, Mispelkamp particularly highlights the canter. Lights has an expressive and powerful canter which, combined with her presence in the arena, offers the partnership many possibilities. The walk and the contact are also two of her strengths, as well as her ability to sustain herself and remain connected with her rider when they find the right balance.
At the same time, they continue to work on different aspects of their development. General flexibility, responsiveness to aids, working through the body and bending currently occupy a significant part of their training.
“We are working to make everything smoother, more balanced and easier. For me, it is about bringing out his strengths while we continue improving the details. When all of that comes together, Lights can be a truly impressive horse.
Precisely these aspects have formed part of the final preparation for Aachen. Over recent weeks, the combination has paid special attention to flexibility, bend and communication, while also seeking an even better balance between the horse's energy and Mispelkamp's aids.
Contact also remains another fundamental piece. The female rider wants Lights to remain connected, light and secure, without losing the ability to show his natural qualities, especially his canter and his presence in the arena.
“At this moment I don't want to change everything. We want to consolidate what we have already built together and give it confidence and security.
The aim is for Lights to enter the Aachen arena knowing exactly what they can both do together.
“For me, the goal is for Lights to go onto the track thinking: ‘We can do this. We know what we're doing. And we're doing it together.’.
That sense of partnership runs through the whole way Mispelkamp approaches her relationship with the horse. She doesn't just want to tell him what to do, but to find the answers together with him.
In Aachen, moreover, the German crowd will add even more excitement to a World Championship that has been imagined for two decades.
“I watched it from the outside twenty years ago. Now I'm going to experience it from out on the court,” she notes. “I think I'll probably have to take a deep breath and remind myself: this is actually happening.”.
However, when her test is over, Mispelkamp is very clear about the feeling with which she wants to leave the arena.
“I want to come out knowing that Lights and I gave everything we had that day. I want to feel that we trusted each other, that we communicated and that we enjoyed being out there together.
Naturally, sporting ambition is also present, but for the German female rider the result is only one part of everything that competing in Aachen means.
“For me, the most important feeling would be: we did it together. If I can leave the track feeling that, I’ll be proud of us, regardless of the number that appears on the scoreboard.
His objectives for this World Championship also go beyond his own result. He wants to represent Germany with pride, give back some of all the support received along the way and use Aachen to show the public everything that Para Dressage has to offer.
“I would love it if people could look beyond the disability and the classification. That they see the female rider. That they see the horse. That they see the combination.
When thinking about the future, Mispelkamp has learned not to put limits on her dreams. She wants to continue representing Germany and competing in major international championships alongside Lights, but there is another objective that has become increasingly important to her: helping to raise the profile of Para Dressage and creating better opportunities for future generations.
“I want more young male and female riders to have the opportunity to discover everything this sport can give them. Because I know what it has given me.
Lights has been a fundamental part of that process.
“Lights has given me my career in disability sport. It has helped me to recover my confidence, my inner strength and, in many ways, to find myself again.
Therefore, when Mispelkamp looks ahead to what will come after Aachen, he is not thinking solely of medals or competitions. He is thinking of a path he hopes to keep travelling for many years alongside Lights and all those dreams that may still be to come.
“Aachen was a dream for twenty years. Perhaps the next dream is already waiting somewhere around the corner.
