Johannesburg, South Africa, 18 August 2026 – From Johannesburg to Aachen, the distance between South African fans and the world’s biggest equestrian stage just got a whole lot shorter. The world’s fast-growing sports streaming platform, Discover Sport, has secured the South African live broadcast rights for the FEI World Showjumping Championship 2026 in Aachen, Germany, giving local audiences free and live access to the Individual and Team Showjumping Qualifiers and Finals on www.discoversport.com.
While South Africa has remained represented at the highest level of the sport, this would mark the first time since 2006 that South Africa has fielded a team in this arena. Most recently, Oliver Lazarus competed individually for South Africa at the 2022 FEI World Championships in Herning, Denmark, on his horse, Butterfly Ennemal. This year, Charley Bays, Tamara Rueda and Ronnie Healy represent South Africa in Aachen. This marks the country’s return to the FEI World Showjumping Championship as a team, under one flag – and South African audiences are able to watch the moment unfold live.
Often described as the ‘Wimbledon of equestrian sport’, Aachen carries more than a century of history and remains one of the sport’s most revered arenas. For a showjumper, riding onto its turf represents one of the highest levels of competition imaginable.
Announcing their partnership with Western Shoppe and Callaho Warmblood Sport Horses, Discover Sport is bringing the action home to South African audiences, removing a significant access barrier for local showjumping fans who have historically needed an international paid subscription to follow this calibre of competition.
Three riders. Three horses. One South African flag.
Stephen Watson, Director of Discover Sport, says: “This partnership feels particularly special since a South African team has not qualified to compete at Aachen for over 20 years. To witness Charley Bays, Tamara Rueda and Ronnie Healy flying the South African flag right now feels absolutely awesome!”
For South Africa, simply getting there has been a journey unto itself. While Charley Bays is permanently based abroad and competes under the South African flag, Tamara Rueda and Ronnie Healy have had to take a far longer road to Aachen. Both are based in South Africa, and qualifying has demanded months of commitment, preparation and considerable personal sacrifice – including transporting their horses from South Africa to Europe well ahead of the Championships – to begin a demanding qualification process required for team selection.
Away from the international arenas, Ronnie is a father to two young boys and the owner and full-time coach at RH Equestrian in Kyalami, Johannesburg. This makes for a careful balancing act between his personal and professional commitments at home and the relentless training and horse management required to compete at this level.
Aachen may be where the world sees the results, but for Tamara and Ronnie, getting to those famous gates has been a championship effort, long before the first bell rings.
A Girl. A Horse. And a Dream come True.
Callaho Liantos, affectionately known as Lucy, or “Goose” to Tamara – marks the first time a Callaho-bred horse will compete in this arena at Aachen. Callaho Liantos was bred in South Africa by Callaho Warmblood Sport Horses and his appearance with Tamara only adds another proudly South African layer to an already remarkable championship.
“When Tamara Rueda and Callaho Liantos enter the Aachen arena, they carry a decade of shared history with them,” says Watson. “Rueda bought her spirited young Callaho-bred horse at the Callaho Auction in 2016 – back when there was no promise of a World Championship. Ten years later, here they are, together – at the pinnacle of this incredible sport!”
“Sporting stories like Tamara and Liantos are exactly why access matters. People should be able to see the years behind the moment; the qualification, the commitment, the partnerships and the people and brands who help athletes get there. When you make sport easier to watch, you make those stories easier to discover,” says Watson.
Both Rueda and Healy are sponsored by Western Shoppe, while Callaho Warmblood Sport Horses joins Western Shoppe as a broadcast advertising partner for Discover Sport’s Aachen coverage.
For Discover Sport this creates a fitting collaboration between South African athletes, homegrown equestrian brands and its platform committed, as always, to giving sport greater visibility.
Another Discover Sport first. Another door opened.
The Aachen announcement continues a deliberate pattern for Discover Sport. Following its broadcast partnerships across tennis, badminton and padel, Discover Sport is growing its involvement in South African equestrian sport too.
The sport-tech platform continues to position itself, not as another traditional broadcaster, but as an aggregator built around access: bringing sporting codes, rights-holders, athletes and audiences together in one digital sporting ecosystem, that makes sense.
“We don’t believe popularity should be determined only by what traditionally makes it onto television,” says Watson. “There are extraordinary sporting communities everywhere. Our job is to keep finding intelligent ways to connect them with the people who want to watch.”
As Aachen heads into its final weekend, Discover Sport members can tune in live and free, wherever they are in the world, for all the showjumping action.
For this and more livestreaming sport, log onto www.discoversport.com
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About Discover Sport
Founded in 2025, Discover Sport is a purpose-driven sport-tech platform designed to give every athlete, fan and federation a voice, visibility and opportunity. Through live streaming, social engagement tools and its ByteBucks rewards system, Discover Sport connects the world of sport – one play at a time. A platform where everyone can play.
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