With the top seven horses individually at last year’s Paris Olympics all at least 13 years old at the time, it’s fair to say that eventing is a sport where experience counts for horses as well as riders – and older equines do tend to dominate at championships. But we all love to pick out future eventing stars and this year’s European Eventing Championships at Blenheim Horse Trials (18-25 September) could be an opportunity for younger horses to come through.
Limiting our musings to horses aged 11 and under in 2025, let’s take a look at who could break through in Oxfordshire this autumn…
The Paris graduates
There were four 10-year-olds at the Paris Olympics who put up good performances and are ridden by European pilots.
Nickel 21 is the standout horse on the list – and the top-rated 11-year-old in the world according to data analytics experts EquiRatings. He has the benefit of having an experienced and successful championship rider on his back, in Germany’s Julia Krajewski – the 2021 Olympic champion and 2022 world individual silver medallist. The pair finished 11th in Paris last year, after a late call-up to the squad. He also won three times at four-star level in 2024, including in the hot CCI4*-S at Aachen.
Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier is a seasoned championship rider whose star continues to rise, following her first five-star win at Luhmühlen Horse Trials last year. She had three horses nominated for Paris and ended up riding the Indoctro son Origi, who went into the event relatively inexperienced but finished 13th. He doesn’t have the same consistency of results as Nickel 21, but is clearly capable.
Sweden’s Louise Romeike – daughter-in-law of 2008 Olympic champion Hinrich Romeike – piloted the grey Caspian 15 to 24th at Paris. His record suggests he slightly under-performed in the dressage at Paris compared to some of his other competitions, so that’s an obvious area for improvement. Again, Louise has plenty of championship experience under her belt.
Finally, the grey Diamant De Semilly mare Dia Van Het Lichterveld Z deserves a mention – she was originally categorised 28th at the Games, with eye-catching jumping performances, but was then disqualified following a positive drug test. The FEI Tribunal found rider Tine Magnus bore “no significant fault or negligence”. The pair were four-star winners at Strzegom last year and hopefully can put the disqualification behind them to build on their good on-the-ground performance in France.
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Does Britain have young stars?
The current top flight of British eventing stars are hugely experienced and impressive – it’s hard to see past the (now slightly older) horses who have delivered medals in recent years for selection. But if we were to look at Britain’s future eventing stars, this is where we’d go…
It’s hard to call her a breakthrough star when she’s already a five-star winner courtesy of last year’s Kentucky Three-Day Event, but Oliver Townend’s ride Cooley Rosalent, then 10, was the youngest British horses on the nominated entries for Paris last year and will surely be in contention for a run at Blenheim. Oliver of course brings the benefit of vast experience to the table.
Another grey, though a gelding this time, could be one to watch too – Izzy Taylor’s SBH Big Wall is the highest-rated British 10-year-old according to EquiRatings. The son of Puissance had a busy year in 2024, with a couple of blips on his record, but also won at Lisgarven CCI4*-S and finished second at Kronenberg CCI4*-S, as well as being in the top 10 in the CCI4*-S at Bramham Horse Trials and the eight- and nine-year-old class at Blenheim. Izzy has three previous Europeans on her CV and two top-10 individual finishes.
Wills Oakden’s ride Keep It Cooley won the final Blair Castle Horse Trials CCI4*-L last year as a nine-year-old – the Blair field wasn’t always the strongest, but the jumping test was always demanding so this is a worthy result. The Ramiro B son was also second at Burgham CCI4*-S on his dressage score of 26.9, the best four-star finishing score from a nine-year-old in 2024, according to EquiRatings. Wills is a rider on the up with good five-star results over the past few years.
Piggy March – another experienced championship rider – has two 10-year-olds who are quite low profile, but worth watching in Brookfield Future News (last year’s Blair CCI4*-S runner-up) and Dassett Arthalent (fourth in the eight- and nine-year-olds at Blenheim in 2024).
Looking to more up-and-coming riders, we should not forget Max Warburton and Deerpairc Revelry – an 11-year-old who was second in the CCI4*-L at Bramham and then 18th at Burghley Horse Trials.
Finally, it’s a wild card but we’re going to throw in a mention for Isa, an 11-year-old grey mare ridden by Tom McEwen (although we fully expect his Paris ride JL Dublin to be his chief Europeans contender). Riders count in this game – previous medal-winners are more likely to bring through the next equine championship contenders than less experienced riders – hence looking at Tom. This mare was produced in Europe by Germany’s Charlotte Whittaker, joining Tom in 2024. The pair’s results didn’t really catch the eye through the year, but they finished up the season with seventh at Blenheim.
Ireland’s impressive pair
The eight- and nine-year-old class at Blenheim last year, always such a hotbed of talent, was an Irish benefit when Padraig McCarthy and Georgie Goss took the top two spots. Winner MGH Zabaione is only nine this year so may be a year off championship contention, but it’s not out of reach and he has a consistent record, with a single fence down in his first event his only jumping fault on his international CV. Padraig is a double world silver medallist from the 2018 World Equestrian Games.
Georgie Goss’s Kojak is a year older, at 10, and led the dressage at Blenheim before a slightly steadier trip across country popped him behind his compatriot. A three-time under-21 medallist for Great Britain, Georgie changed nationality in 2023 and is bidding for a senior championship debut.
Which future eventing stars do you think could make the podium at the Europeans? Write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com for a chance to see your views published in Horse & Hound – please include your nearest town and county. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
