Not to be outdone by their victorious senior counterparts in the Hickstead Nations Cup on Friday (24 July), Great Britain’s children’s squad celebrated a glorious team gold in an unforgettable week at the 2026 FEI European Championships for young riders, juniors and children in Hagen, Germany (19-26 July).

Under the new format with a table C speed leg to start – mirroring that of senior championships – the heroic British quartet of Charlie Barker (Special Summer), Alexander Leggott (Blossom's Billy Heinz), Mia Breen (Crack 41) and Tabby Morgan-Evans (Catoki) kept cool under relentless pressure to seal gold with a full-house of clears in the third and final round.

The team finished on a score of 5.61 penalties, ahead of the Netherlands and Germany in silver and bronze respectively.

“It’s been an amazing 10 days all round,” said chef d’equipe Clare Whitaker, who was able to watch son Robert during the first round of the King George V Gold Cup via the livestream, but missed his historic winning jump-off, just days after her husband John won the Cock O’ The North title for a record seventh time.

“We weren’t sure how the new format would work out for these championships, but it was fine and the children all rode fantastically. The courses were built extremely well but they couldn’t afford to have any fences down, so they were thrilled to win gold – they all stuck together and were a really good team.

“They were given bottles of non-alcoholic prosecco to spray on the podium, so of course they went wild with that!”

Tabby then rocketed up the leaderboard with another double clear in Saturday’s individual final with Unex Competition Yard’s 14-year-old Catoki to claim silver behind the Netherlands’ Pedro Mansur riding Hotmail Des Forets.

“This was Tabby’s third and final year in childrens and she’s an amazing little jockey and such a lovely person,” assessed Clare.

Individual crown for Ireland at European Championships for young riders, juniors and children

Ireland’s Jack Kent was crowned junior European champion riding the 12-year-old Ollie Van De Klotputten, climbing from 14th place after his opening clear to top the podium in Sunday’s final with a succession of faultless performances.

“From start to finish it’s been kind of unbelievable really,” said Jack. “The teams didn’t end the way we wanted [finishing eighth], but I kept going on the individual score and I’m lucky that the horse jumped brilliantly all week and kept getting better and better – I’m absolutely over the moon!”

Junior team honours went to Germany, with Great Britain surging up the leaderboard from ninth to claim silver courtesy of Hollie Gerken with Joplin, Nellie Lock riding Diamantine Z, Cate Kerr with Petitfour VD Wareslage and Emily Gulliver riding Glamor De Vie, led by chef d’equipe Tracey Newman.

“After the first day, we said you just have to keep jumping clear rounds because anything can happen, and they did,” said Clare. “They’re such a young team as well.”

“Great team spirit"

Further fierce battles ensued for the young rider medals where Greta Leprattie became the first Italian to win the individual title, riding Mercy Van 't Ruytershof. Ireland’s Tom Wachman riding his London International grand prix winner Do It Easy and Great Britain’s Noora von Bülow – the youngest rider in the competition at just 17 – with the super Primavera joined Greta on the podium, claiming silver and bronze respectively.

This was Tom’s second podium finish of the week as he’d also helped Ireland secure team silver behind the Netherlands alongside team-mates Tabitha Kyle (Desterly), Ben Walsh on Zenith vd Donkhoeve Z and Coen Williams riding Dominante Z, led by chef d’equipe Denis Flannelly. Great Britain finished just off the podium in fourth.

“There’s been great team spirit all week, I’m so proud of them all,” said Clare Whitaker.

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Great Britain’s Rachel Proudley continued her meteoric success with a dazzling performance to win individual gold at the young rider European Showjumping Championships, in Germany (8-13 July).

She and the 14-year-old mare Quality Street, owned by HK Horses, came into Sunday’s final at Riesenbeck International in pole position and brushed off immense pressure as last to jump across the final two rounds to claim the European crown at her debut championship. The duo maintained a remarkable clean sheet throughout a week of fierce competition.

“What a great buzz – it was amazing just to be a part of it, but to win gold for Team GB is even better. It hasn’t really sunk in yet!” said Rachel, who followed in the footsteps of last year’s British young riders European champion, Olli Fletcher.

She topped the podium just days after celebrating her 20th birthday and had helped Great Britain win team bronze en route to the individual crown.

“That was amazing, too – we were down to three riders, but we all stuck together as a team and it was fantastic for GB to get bronze,” she said. “Thankfully it all paid off.”

Rachel Proudley on the European Championships: “I had no room for error!”

Just fractions of a penalty separated the leading riders coming into Sunday’s two-round decider but Rachel had complete faith in the phenomenal Quality Street, AKA “Sweetie”, who didn’t look like touching a pole across the championship’s five rounds.

“She was on top class form – she jumped so well,” said Rachel.”There was quite a bit of pressure coming into the final as the leader and I had to jump two clears in Sunday’s final. There was huge pressure in the second round, but she was phenomenal once again, she was so consistent in every round.”

Snapping at her heels were France’s Eden Leprevost Blinlebreton (Barbie De La Roque Z) – daughter of French Olympian Penelope Leprevost – and Belgium’s Mathieu Guery (Time-Breaker S Z), who is the son of Olympic rider Jerome Guery. When both maintained their clean sheets into the final leg of the contest, Rachel didn’t even have the cushion of a single time-fault.

“The course for the last round I thought was so technical and big, with a tough last line with the water tray underneath at the second last vertical,” she said. “It caught a lot of people out but thankfully Sweetie was still in flying form. It was so close at the top as well, I had no room for error!

“Before my round, I tried to keep myself to myself and not worry about what everyone else was doing – just concentrate on my own round. I had a plan and stuck with it and thankfully it all paid off.”

Rachel, who is based with and trains with Richard Howley and Morgan Kent of HK Horses in West Yorkshire, has been on an extraordinary journey over the past 12 months, winning the speed horse of the year final at Horse Of The Year Show and a brace of international puissance successes. She offered a “massive thank you” to the whole team at home.

“None of this would be possible without them,” she said.

A glorious medal haul for Great Britain and Ireland at European Championships

Also celebrating medal success on the final day was Great Britain’s Eleonora Ljungman, who secured individual silver in the children’s championships riding Jamaica EBH.

“I wasn’t expecting this result at all and was just taking it one round at a time,” she said. “Jamaica has been unbelievable and I couldn’t have asked for any more from her. She jumped foot-perfect all week and tried her heart out. I truly believe she loves it just as much as me.”

Ireland’s junior riders were also crowned European champions in both the team and individual finals, where they led home a superb one-two.

Emily Moloney took individual gold riding the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse Temple Alice, bred by Susan McDonald by the stallion Foxglen Cruise Control, with Tabitha Kyle sporting the green jacket to claim silver with BP Goodfellas (Stakkato Gold x OBOS Quality 004).

You can read the full report from the junior, young rider and children’s European Championships in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, in the shops Thursday 17 July.

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British Dressage has named the youth teams selected to represent Britain at the 2025 European Championships.

The children, pony, and junior teams will head to Le Mans, France (28 July- 3 August), and the young rider and under-25 teams will compete in Kronberg, Germany (10-13 July).

Annabella Pidgley – Britain’s most decorated youth rider with 10 medals across three age groups – will lead the under-25 squad with Vamos Amigos, having opted not to compete last year’s double gold medallist Gio.

Following Ella-Grace Dovey’s historic win in the children-on-horses division last year with Sheepcote Jackson, selectors will field a team in this class for the first time.

But there will be no British pony team this year. In 2023, Abigail Gray claimed freestyle gold and individual silver with George Clooney BS (Caesar 171 x Santano), and the team finished fourth. Abigail has since aged out of ponies, and George Clooney BS was sold to Sweden in December.

Selectors concluded that the remaining pony riders were not yet ready for championship level.

Selectors explain decision not to field a pony team this year

“Each age category is selected on its own merits,” BD international director Judy Harvey told H&H. “The selectors are under no obligation to select teams or individuals in any age category if the selection criteria have not been met.

“Based on the scores achieved at the FEI pony European Championships in 2024, an average score of 70.219% would have been required to be in the top six teams in the final classification. The scores achieved by our pony riders this year fell short of the required standard, and based on last year’s results, a reproduction of the average scores for the top four riders from this season would have resulted in a ninth-place finish overall in the team competition, out of 10 teams.”

Judy added that the panel carefully considered sending individuals instead, but agreed it was not the right step at this stage of their development.

“It was unanimously agreed that it was not in the best interests of any of the combinations to take part in the championships at this stage in their development, both in terms of their progression in the sport and international standing as individuals,” she said.

“We are aware of the stress and pressure that children can be put under at championship level, and it was concluded that this could be detrimental to their future progression, by undermining their confidence at a crucial stage.”

Riders’ parents self-funding the trip was therefore ruled out.

“We have a duty of care to our young people, and we agreed that it would not be in their best interests to send riders to the championships in the knowledge that they would not be competitive,” Judy explained. “Therefore, self-funding was not an option.”

Support will instead be directed toward training and experience at CDI level, with a view to selection in future seasons.

“I must emphasise that this was a performance-based decision, not a financial one, as the BD board is always very supportive in funding under-21 teams at championships where it is warranted on merit,” Judy said.

“While the combinations selected for the children-on-horses team also did not completely fulfil the selection criteria, three of them were part qualified, and the scores already achieved this season indicate that they should be good enough to be competitive, despite their relative inexperience.”

British Dressage European Championships 2025 youth teams

Under-25:

Harrison Ashton with his own and Henri Rouste’s 10-year-old Million Dreams (by Millenium, out of a mare by Sandro Hit)

Lilah Gibbs with her own 14-year-old Dude III (by Dancier, out of a mare by Rubinstein)

Charlotte Lutener with her own 15-year-old Full Fusion BS (by Blue Hors Zack)

Annabella Pidgley with Sarah Pidgley’s 13-year-old Vamos Amigos (by Vitalis, out of a mare by Hotline)

Young riders:

Teghan Cantrell-Bennett with Christine Cantrell’s 20-year-old Woodlander Donna Summer (by Woodlander Del Amitri).

Mette Dahl with Fiona Bigwood’s 16-year-old Fidelio Van Het Bloemenhof (by Fidertanz, out of a mare by Jazz)

India Durman-Mills with Verity Saul’s 16-year-old Escade (by Jazz).

Isobel Lickley with Rob and Nicola Lickley’s 10-year-old Katniss (by Galaxie, out of a mare by Charmeur)

First reserve

Sophie Wallace with Laura Tomlinson and Ursula Bechtolsheimer’s 15-year-old Fallatijn Van Kairos (by Vivaldi, out of a mare by Cabochon)

Juniors:

Myles Graham with Josephine Eley’s 13-year-old Nibeley Black Pearl (by Nibeley Union Jack, out of a mare by Conto)

Abigail Gray with Fenella Quinn’s 16-year-old Empire B (by Sting, out of a mare by OO Seven)

Demi Howard-Cartwright with Lorna Wilson’s nine-year-old Newton Astro Nascente (by Apache, out of a mare by Don Schufro)

Isla Sully with Cassandra Sully’s 16-year-old Vagabond de Massa (by Reito, out of a mare by Xaquiro)

First reserve

Madi Haerr with Morgan Haerr’s 19-year-old Floran (by Florestan, out of a mare by Rosenkoenig)

Children-on-horses:

Melissa Hargreaves with her own nine-year-old Lagerfeld W (by Daily Diamond, out of a mare by Albaran)

Oriana McNamara with Andrea McNamara’s nine-year-old Lafite (by Bordeaux, out of a mare by Vivaldi)

Rose Punchard with Samantha Bloor’s 16-year-old Elason (by Sorento)

Lily Waller McSweeney with Jacquie Waller’s 15-year-old Willinga Park Sky Diamond (by Sir Donnerhall, out of a mare by Don Schufro)

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Ruby Hughes has withdrawn from British team selection for the 2025 junior European Championships. She was short-listed with Claire Wyatt’s exciting eight-year-old stallion, Fire Kracka (Fidertanz x Diamond Hit).

The 17-year-old has been a regular on British dressage teams at the past four European Championships. She rode Hilkens Showgirl at pony level in 2021 and 2022, and helped Britain to junior team bronze in 2023 with Classic Goldstrike. She returned to the team last year with Carl Hester’s Brioso.

Fire Kracka was bred in Germany by Philipp von Thaden and arrived in the UK in 2019. He was produced by Henry Boswell and Virginie de Senneville before Ruby took over the ride in September 2023.

The pair had a strong start to the season, placing third in the advanced medium gold at the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships. They made their international debut at Aachen Festival 4 Dressage in April, scoring over 69% in the team and individual tests, and 74.65% in the freestyle.

A win followed in the team test at Addington CDI (70.96%), but their next outing at Wellington CDI ended with a retirement from the team test.

Ruby Hughes: “A shock to all of us”

“I’m absolutely devastated to say that I’ve had to withdraw from the 2025 European team selection after Fire Kracka picked up a suspensory injury at the selection trials at Wellington CDI,” Ruby said.

“He warmed up incredibly and felt amazing, truly highlighting his talent for the future. Then, upon entering the arena, he suddenly became very lame – it was such a shock to all of us… it was so unexpected.

“Kracka is honestly the most special stallion with the heart of a lion, and I love him more than words can say. He’s been my partner, my teammate, my best friend, and we’ve had the most incredible journey so far.

“He’ll now be getting all the time, care and love he needs to recover properly – we’re totally focused on getting him back to full strength,” she added. “He deserves the absolute best.”

This year’s European Championships for children, juniors and ponies take place in Le Mans, France, from 28 July to 3 August.

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Espe, the record-breaking six-time championship medallist ridden by Annabella Pidgley, has been sold to Australia as a new partner for 14-year-old Abby Weel.

The 11-year-old Escolar mare made history with Annabella as the first British combination to win an individual medal at the young rider European Championships, where they claimed double gold in 2023. Their performance also marked Britain’s first youth gold since Phoebe Peters’ double pony title in 2015.

Annabella’s double gold followed team bronze at the same championships, and built on their strong record at the 2022 junior Europeans, where they secured team bronze, individual bronze and freestyle silver.

Having won six medals across two seasons, Espe leaves as British Dressage’s second-most successful youth horse, behind only St Lucci.

“The time has come for Espe to find a new home and to teach another young girl with big dreams just how she did with me,” Annabella said. “I couldn’t be happier to know she has gone to the best home with Abby in Australia.

“I can’t wait to follow their journey together and to see all the amazing things they will achieve.”

Espe was bred by Hedda Droege, who produced her lightly as a young horse in Germany. In 2019, she was sold to Andreas Helgstrand and Stutteri EVO and partnered with Eva Möller.

That year, she reached the final at the World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo, placing 11th, and was seventh in the Bundeschampionate final.

Later in 2019, she moved to Helgstrand Dressage in Denmark and was sold to Tony and Sarah Pidgley.

Espe was initially trained by Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, who competed her nationally in 2020 and 2021, before she handed over the reins to Annabella.

Alongside their medal success, Annabella and Espe notched up 23 international victories, two national titles, and held the world number one ranking in the young rider division for several months.

Espe’s final outing was at Wellington Premier League in June 2024, as Annabella stepped up to under-25 grand prix level at the European Championships – winning individual silver and freestyle gold on Charlotte Dujardin’s double Olympic bronze medal-winning ride, Gio.

“Espe was a once-in-a-lifetime horse for me, and to be able to share this with another young rider makes my heart happy,” Annabella said.

“I will, of course, miss her and her cute, happy face in the stable every day. This was a very sad goodbye, but knowing she will continue to do what she loves, competing in the junior and young rider classes, is more than I could ever ask for.”

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Young British showjumper Olli Fletcher enjoyed a year to remember in 2024. The pinnacle was winning individual gold at the European young rider championships with his great horse Hello William, which he described as “up there as the best day”.

Olli was also crowned young rider of the year at the 2024 Horse & Hound Awards, in partnership with NAF and Agria.

Now a regular competitor at showjumping’s five-star level, he achieved top tier wins in Doha and on home soil at the London leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour riding Cajus 42. He also took the opening leg of the Prix Land Rover Defender for under-25 riders at CHI Geneva, finishing third in the grand prix there.

2024 will clearly be a hard act to follow, so what does Olli have planned for the year ahead?

“I am very lucky, I have a string of really nice horses at the moment and I am very grateful for my owners and sponsors,” says Olli. “I have a few exciting horses who I think are going to come through the ranks, so I am hopeful for a successful 2025.”

Olli Fletcher: opportunities with the Young Riders Academy

Olli was selected for the Young Riders Academy supported by Rolex and he is inspired by its recent graduates including Harry Charles and Richard Vogel.

“It definitely gives me a bit of hope!” he says. “Even to be able to have half the success that those riders have had would be amazing. I think without the Young Riders Academy supported by Rolex it would not have been as easy for them to get to where they are now.

“It is a fantastic programme, not just for the fact that you have the opportunity to be able to learn from some of the greatest riders and trainers in the world, but you also learn about veterinary care, business and economics, and communication,” he continues.

“This provides us with information that can be crucial in the sport. It has been a great year as part of the Academy and I have learned so much.”

“My parents have been inspirational”

Olli nominates his parents Graham and Tina Fletcher as having a huge influence on his career.

“I couldn’t look past my parents – they are both inspirational,” says Olli, whose older brother Will Fletcher is also competing at the top level of the sport. “I was also lucky enough to train with Rolex Testimonee Steve Guerdat five or six years ago. Not a day goes past when I do not think about the advice that he has given me – he is the complete horseman.”

Competing at shows such as CHI Geneva, the home of the Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping, and other Majors “means everything”, he says.

“There are big shows and big grands prix every week, but as a rider, you know that when it is a Major it is different,” he explains. “There are riders from across the world who have come over to complete on their best horses in the Rolex grand prix. It is spectacular and means a lot to us.”

When asked if there is any horse in history, past or present, who he would like to ride, he pinpoints the great mare Ursula XII.

“There are so many good horses now that it is hard to say,” says Olli. “However, I would have to choose Scott Brash’s Ursula XII. My mum produced her and was double clear in the Nations Cup in Calgary before Scott took her on.

“What a fabulous horse she was – when she walked into the arena she had a great aura around her – she was gorgeous.”

With thanks to Rolex Grand Slam.

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Great Britain won double gold in a thrilling showdown at the pony, junior and children-on-horses European Championships in Opglabbeek, Belgium, as pony rider Abigail Gray scored an emphatic freestyle victory with George Clooney BS and Ella-Grace Dovey – on her championship debut – exceeded expectations to make Britain’s first-ever children-on-horses medal a gold one with Sheepcote Jackson.

Alongside her teammates Darcey Blaze Marcus (Ella), Evie Head (WS Jackson), and Sofia Games (Steendieks Cadillac), Abigail was also part of the pony team that narrowly missed out on a spot on the podium, finishing fourth on a team score of 212.17 – three points behind Sweden in third.

The junior team of Mette Dahl (Fidelio Van Het Bloemenhof), Ruby Hughes (Brioso), Isla Sully (Vagabond De Massa) and Myles Graham (Nibeley Union Hit) also finished agonisingly close to the podium in fourth on a team score of 212.51.

The Germans won both the pony and junior team gold medals and the Netherlands triumphed in the children-on-horses team competition – for which Britain didn’t enter a team.

It was a fabulous environment in Belgium, and despite the difficult situation British dressage has found itself in following the suspension of Charlotte Dujardin, Britain’s next generation radiated positivity and optimism.

“I’m proud of them all,” said chef d’equipe Nina Boex. “Under maybe not the easiest of circumstances, they conducted themselves in an exemplary manner.

“It was important that they came not only for the experience but also for the opportunity, and they proved that they’re the next generation.

“Abigail was ready to set down what she could this time, after a taste of things at the Europeans last year, and Myles was really strong among very hot competition,” added Nina. “Ella’s children-on-horses medal hopefully inspires other riders in that age category that it can be done.”

“He felt incredible”: Abigail Gray on George Clooney BS

It’s been a remarkable rise to the top for Abigail, from Banchory, Aberdeenshire, who told H&H in 2019 – when she was only 10 years old – that she was aiming for team selection one day.

She and George Clooney BS (Caesar 171 x Santano) headed the 53-strong field in the team test and, despite a personal best score of 75.32%, were second behind German combination Madlin Tillmann and Chilly Morning WE in the individual competition.

But the pair were clear winners in the freestyle on another personal best score of 80.1%.

“George was a bit excited at first, but by the last day he was more relaxed and he felt incredible,” Abigail said. “It was amazing to hear our scores at the end of each test and to realise that I’d achieved personal bests in all three.

“Our freestyle canter is to Scottish music, which was emotional, as that’s where I’m from,” added Abigail, the first British pony rider to take a European championship title since Phoebe Peters’ success in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

“Our first canter down the centre line was good, with counter canter circles – that was a highlight. George is such a showman. I hoped it would get a good score and a medal.”

Historic gold medal for Ella-Grace Dovey and Great Britain

Ella-Grace, making her European championships debut as Britain’s only children-on-horses contestant, rose to the challenge with Sheepcote Jackson – building on improving scores to hit the jackpot in the individual.

The fact that Britain’s first-ever medal in the division was gold was all the more remarkable given that horse and rider joined forces just months ago.

“Jackson is a delight – the best dancing partner possible,” Ella-Grace said of the 11-year-old Johnson-sired gelding, owned and bred by David and Serena Pincus.

“I was aiming for a medal but didn’t think I could do it, as our partnership is so new,” added Ella-Grace, who had been placed 12th and then ninth before producing a 79.7% test to win on the final day.

“I knew it was going to be a good score, as Jackson was so soft, but I had no idea it was so big. Honestly, I was crying. It hasn’t yet sunk in.”

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Emotional scenes followed newly crowned young rider individual gold medallist Olli Fletcher’s crowning moment at the FEI European Championships in Peelbergen, the Netherlands (13-21 July), where team titles were also celebrated by both Great Britain and Ireland.

Olli’s win came with his “horse of a lifetime” Hello William, co-owned with great supporters Lord and Lady Harris and Lord and Lady Kirkham, the only combination to shrug off the intense pressure and remain faultless throughout five top-flight rounds of jumping.

“I’m thrilled for the horse and everyone around me that made it happen – this is really special,” said 21-year-old Olli, who was joined by his parents Graham and Tina Fletcher as he secured the accolade at this his ninth youth championship, adding to the eight medals he’s already accumulated in every colour.

Having come into the final day in the silver-medal position, the rising star held his nerve on his 12-year-old “best friend” Hello William, also known as the brilliant Willy Wonka, to deliver one final double clear over the 1.50m tracks. When last to jump, Olli’s close friend and leader Jules Orsolini (Charlotte 198) of France, hit a pole and dropped to third, the individual title was secured for the young Brit.

“Obviously you want to win gold but you can’t wish your friend bad luck, so that was tough,” said Olli. “Hello William never even breathed on a pole all week – he tried his heart out and he’s a fighter through and through.

“There was pressure, but I managed to take myself away from it a bit, and just try to take each jump as it comes. I’ve done enough championships at youth level to know and learn from what mistakes I’ve made previously – and what we did right. Talking with my whole team, we’ve really focused on this championship and put everything into play for it. Luckily it was our week and Hello William deserved that medal.”

“My dad made it there for the final day and it was really special to have a moment like that with your family around you after a tough year,” he added. “It was emotional. But I felt relief more than anything; I’ve worked so hard for that moment. It was my ninth championship and individual gold was the only medal I haven’t obtained so that was nice after such a long, drawn-out week.

“It was also very emotional to hear from my brother Will. He’d been competing at CSI3* Chard but rang me as soon as I won. He was crying on the phone so much they had to put him down the order in one class – this is what it means to all of us.”

Olli Fletcher: “This win is for my aunt Jenny”

As well as thanking his extensive support team, including supergroom Gemma Chapman, Olli dedicated his medal to his aunt Jenny Cassan, who was paralysed in a riding accident three weeks ago.

“She was one of the first people I called and apparently her face lit up at the news,” he said. “We did it for her.”

Olli’s father Graham Fletcher said: “It’s a tough old sport and nothing is easy – the standard is up in every direction – but a day, and week, like this one is up there with the best.

“The courses were tough but fantastically built – you need a three- or four-star horse and a good rider to jump them,” he added. “Olli really tries, he’s a thinker and a grafter and I’m so pleased it all came together and, I have to say, he was better than I was!”

Gold for Ireland’s young riders

Climbing up the leaderboard to take silver in the young rider individual championship was Ireland’s Francis Derwin and Flexi K, who was also part of the squad winning back-to-back young rider team gold medals. He jumped alongside Niamh McEvoy (Jasmim Da Hermida), Tom Wachman and Cathalina S and Max Wachman riding Kilkenny.

“They are a fantastic bunch of riders who give everything they have every time they put on the green jacket and they have worked so hard to get where they are – I’m incredibly proud of them,” said Horse Sport Ireland youth showjumping team manager James Kernan. “To win one European championship is a phenomenal achievement but to go back-to-back is truly special.

“We had obviously given ourselves a great chance of the victory and this afternoon was really about managing the lead and making sure we got over the line – but we’ve done it in style.

“I must thank Horse Sport Ireland, GAIN Equine Nutrition and all our sponsors – without them none of this can happen. A very special thank you also goes to our vets and all the support staff who help make this possible. And the parents and grandparents – they’re unwavering support of our riders enables them to achieve these great things and I hope they enjoy this incredible win.”

Great Britain’s gold rush continues: “They were absolutely brilliant!”

Great Britain’s children’s team also scooped a glorious gold. Emily Gulliver on Glamor, Honey Bowes (Javas El Cid), Tabby Morgan-Evans riding Bermudez BDA and championship debutante anchor rider Rosie Smith with Fruselli held their nerve to finish on a zero score to take team honours with fifth squad member Lottie Adams (Khaleesi OL).

“They were absolutely brilliant!” said chef d’equipe Clare Whitaker. “There was pressure on Tabby, who is still only 11, and Rosie gave Fruselli a superb ride. I am really proud of them all.”

Great Britain’s junior riders also came home with a team bronze after “a real team effort” courtesy of Tabitha Kyle riding Desterly, Sophie Evans on CSIO Bel, Henry Squibb with Diatencona PS and Olivia Sponer riding Bingo Du Chateau.

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After becoming the first British rider ever to win an individual medal at the young rider European Dressage Championships last year, Annabella Pidgley made the step up to under-25 grand prix look effortless at this year’s European Champions in St Margarethen, Austria, winning individual silver and freestyle gold on Charlotte Dujardin’s double Olympic bronze medal-winning ride, Gio.

In the short grand prix which decided the individual competition, the margin between Annabella and Denmark’s Sophia Ludvigsen, who won on Blue Hors Quintana, was incredibly close, with less than 0.1% separating them.

But Annabella stormed her first-ever freestyle with Gio – or Pumpkin as he is known at home – winning on 79.52%. German combination Helen Erbe and Carlos FRH recovered from a disappointing individual test to place second on 78.08%, while Sophia was third on 77.99%.

“The last day was very special, as Charlotte let me ride her freestyle from Tokyo – it was such an honour,” said Annabella, who was last into the arena.

“I watched Helen and knew I had to ride really well. But I love that intensity, and having an amazing dancing partner like Pumpkin really raised my game.

“The freestyle has a high degree of difficulty, but Pumpkin knew where he was going and really brought some energy. Everything that Charlotte has taught him, he’s now teaching me – he’s incredible.”

Alongside Jessie McConkey (Dior III), Angus Corrie-Deane (Jack Johnson 2) and Anna Jesty (Commodore Platinum), Annabella was also part of the British under-25 team that finished just shy of the podium in fourth.

Chef d’equipe, Tom Hobday said: “All of them did a cracking job.”

Young riders take team bronze

The British young rider team of Isobel Lickley (Nymphenburg’s First Ampere), Oliver Gould (Virtue), India Durman-Mills (Escade) and Hermione Tottman (Exquisite) won team bronze – successfully defending the historic title they won last year.

A medal was not necessarily on the cards, explained British Dressage’s international director Judy Harvey.

“Germany has huge strength and depth at this level, so their win was not unexpected,” she said.

“But looking at our scores, compared with others, statistically we weren’t that strong. Our riders really upped their game. They proved they can compete against the best in Europe, get their game faces on and keep that focus. It’s very exciting for the future.”

Best of the Brits in the team placings was Isobel, who stood 10th in the 64-strong field on a personal-best 70.2%.

Pathfinder Hermione Tottman scored 65.2% on her championship debut while Oliver and last-to-go India tied for 12th place in the team placings with 70.05%.

“The pressure was on so we went for a nice, clean test,” said India, for whom this was a third European Championships medal with the experienced Escade in as many years. “But I enjoyed being the final rider – pressure makes diamonds!”

Oliver scored personal bests in all three tests and was the overall highest-scoring British rider in the division, finishing fifth in the individual competition (72.06%) and seventh in the freestyle (75.09%).

“Achieving three personal bests in three tests at the Europeans – it doesn’t get much better,” he said. “We’ve been chasing 70% all year, so to get that in the team test was huge. I couldn’t have asked for more – a year’s worth of training came together in the arena.”

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Teenage showjumper Madison Heath made the Olympic Games her goal at the age of 10 and she’s continuing to make huge strides on her way to making that dream a reality.

Cheshire-based Madison, 19, enjoyed a glittering career on ponies, including claiming many of the country’s leading titles on brilliant ponies Red Alert III and Sonas Barney, and is now making big waves in the sport of showjumping since stepping up to horses.

“Aged 10 I said I want to go to the Olympics – I set that goal, so I have to do it now!” Madison tells H&H. “It was a big step off saying that when I was on Red Alert, but I’ve set my goal now, I hope I can make it happen.”

Madison was recently selected for the British Showjumping gold development programme, which will help her continue to progress in the sport.

“I’ve been to one of the training camps and learnt a lot already,” she says. “We tell them all our aims and what we’d like to get out of the programme, then we have lessons with Matt Lanni. You go through your strength and conditioning, what’s going right, what’s going wrong. It’s brilliant.”

Madison is currently enjoying a busy winter indoor showjumping season, recently finishing with just four faults in the Yeti Under 25 British Showjumping Championship at the London International Horse Show on her top horse Ivory, an 11-year-old daughter of Don VHP Z, who Madison has been riding for the past three years.

“I couldn’t believe it – I was thinking, ‘I’m going to be clear!’ then I just panicked at the last fence,” she recalls. “I would have been clear otherwise. But it was a great experience. She was jumping amazing for me as well – she really did try, bless her.”

Madison Heath: “I’ve always gone for razzy little horses”

As well as Ivory, Madison has been producing great results with 12-year-old Bouncer and nine-year-old Soulful, with a new ride for 2024 Summer Rain and a handful of youngsters coming through, all of whom are looked after by “top groom” Clare Roberts.

“Ivory does pick her good days – I always say she has to be in a good mood to do well,” explains Madison.

“I’ve six or seven horses to ride a day – I’m lucky if someone lunges a few for me! Summer Rain is coming through – we haven’t taken her out anywhere yet, we’re just getting her settled but she will be a big jumper. We had half shares in her, so we’ve bought the rest and she’s jumped a few big classes with other riders. When she was eight, she just didn’t have the rideability so we thought we’d try to sort that out before we took her out.

“Bouncer is a brave one and no matter how big the fence is he’ll jump it, but I feel unfair on him because he can’t actually jump huge! I did my first rankings class on him and I think he had five down, he was all up for it though!

“I’ve got three five-year-olds – one sassy little chestnut mare who is so brave and so careful but she likes to do things her way! Then another one is quite a big five-year-old – it’s funny, the good ones definitely come in all shapes and sizes!”

Madison is trained by Adam Botham and she has been having plenty of dressage lessons which have helped in many ways, but particularly with the difficult step up from ponies to horses.

“As I’ve got older, I’m not as brave, which is actually a good thing because I was pretty ruthless!” she says. “The dressage lessons have really helped as I was so used to ponies razzing round, I’ve had to calm myself down a bit. I had two 14.2hhs, a ‘horsey’ one and a ‘pony’ one, and I loved the pony one but I’d always dread getting on the horsey one! But I’ve always gone for the little razzy horses, too – like Ivory.”

Madison is hoping to fulfil her dream to compete abroad this year, aiming for Oliva in Spain in the autumn.

“Then I’d love to do young riders hopefully with Ivory, or even Summer Rain if she starts getting going,” she says.

“When you’re scrolling through Instagram, you see Ben Maher competing in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower and you think wow, I want to go there! So that’s the dream.”

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Irish showjumper Seamus Hughes Kennedy is only 21 but he’s undoubtedly one of the world’s brightest young talents, the rising star of his generation. Seamus made a huge impression during his years on ponies, he won the seven-year-old world championship with a home-produced mare Cuffesgrange Cavadora in 2019, then in 2023 he got everyone talking when he was crowned young rider European champion and also won team gold with a string of exceptional performances riding the eight-year-old ESI Rocky.

He made his five-star debut at Dublin Horse Show in August and he sealed an unforgettable year with victory in the prestigious under-25 Defender Grand Prix at the CHI Geneva in December, again with the 11-year-old Cuffesgrange Cavadora. We caught up with Seamus to reflect on what has been a monumental few months.

Talking about the Defender Grand Prix in Geneva, Kilkenny-based Seamus says: “The mare has lots of experience now and I was fourth to go in the jump-off, so I got to see what to watch out for. There was a tight turn back to the double that caught out a few people. I thought if I kept her in a good rhythm, she’s very quick across the ground, so I knew she’d be hard to beat.

“She’s a lovely mare, she’s won a few two-star grands prix already this year and a three-star grand prix and placed in a lot of rankings classes. She was the seven-year-old world champion in 2019 and she’s a great mare that we had since she was two or three.”

From broodmare to the best in Europe

Cavadora is by Z Wellie 72 and out of Seamus’s multi-medal and pony World Cup-winning Cuffesgrange Cavalidam, who they bought from a neighbour as a “hardly broken” nine-year-old former broodmare and produced her into “one of the best ponies in Europe”. They eventually sold her to Coolmore and she jumped to great success for both Tom and Max Wachman.

“When we realised the pony was good we asked the neighbours if they had anything else from her and they had this small three-year-old in the field – we bought her and she’s ended up being another really good one,” says Seamus, who hails from a family with a rich equestrian heritage. “My mum loves the young horses and she’s a great eye for them, so I’m very fortunate to have her give me a hand.

“All the horses we have this year have been horses we’ve produced all the way up. They are all local, too, all from within the Kilkenny region. So it’s been very good to bring them up and win with them – it’s good to see when they’re making progress, it’s a good feeling.”

Seamus Hughes Kennedy: “I kept riding at arm’s length till I was 11 or 12”

His dual gold-medal winning ride ESI Rocky was bred by his mother’s cousin Richard Hughes and both his proud parents, mother Clare and father Melvyn, were there to see him to be crowned European champion in Gorla Minore, Italy.

“Our family has always been into horses and my sisters were mad into it, but I didn’t start going cross-country, doing hunter trials and hunts, until I was 11 or 12. That’s what got me into it as I’d kept it at arm’s length up till then!” says Seamus. “I lasted a lot longer than the rest of them! Then I was so lucky to have Cavalidam as my pony, then everything kept growing from there. It’s all been from one step to another rather than one grand plan. I’ve just kept going forward and luckily good opportunities kept coming up.

“All the horses I have now, I’ve had for a number of years and I’ve been building them all up gradually, so I knew this was going to be the first year when I had more than one horse at ranking level and for the bigger classes. I knew this was the first year I’d be able to give everything a bit of a run anyway. I’m very thankful for that.

“It was good to finish 2023 on a high with Geneva, so now I’m getting stuck back into the young horses until February. Then hopefully we’ll head down to the Sunshine Tour in Vejer, Spain, where we’re going to start off the new season. I want to try to do a few three-star Nations Cups to start with and see where we end up and go from there.

“I’d love to be back at Geneva next year and do the five-star – I did my first five-star at Dublin Horse Show, having got in on the young rider wild card after the Europeans, so that was also good. Hopefully we’ll be back there again. I’d just like to keep the ball rolling and keep moving forward.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Ever since she was a young girl, when she would ask her parents over and over again to go and feed apples to the ponies in the field in her village, Lauren Caroline has been bitten by the horsey bug. She forged a stellar career on ponies, winning team bronze at the 2023 junior European showjumping championships, and now the 18-year-old is hoping to make the same waves as she moves into young riders next year.

For the past two years in juniors, her star partner has been the 12-year-old Dutch-bred Gait L, and the dynamic duo have represented Great Britain at two European championships, on junior Nations Cup teams and just recently qualified for the prestigious Yeti Under 25 British Showjumping Championship at the London International, where they just picked up four faults in round one.

There’s plenty to be excited about in the months to come for this rising star of showjumping, and her exciting team of horses.

“Now I’ve finished my second junior year, I’m looking forward to doing young riders because I really enjoy doing the teams,” she says. “The championships this year were a great experience – I think I could have ridden a bit better, maybe. But I enjoyed the team and everyone supporting each other and you want everyone else to do well and they’re happy when you do well. It was a great experience. Now that I’ve got that kind of experience under my belt I can be a bit more excited than nervous next time.”

Lauren Caroline: “He has such a big heart”

As well as Gait, Lauren has taken the reins on her sister’s former horse, the six-year-old Breen Equestrian-bred BE Cuick One (Quick Star Kervec x Golden Hawk) and the relatively new nine-year-old Elmira Mail. All three horses came from Lauren’s trainer Shane Breen.

“I like seeing the young ones improving and coming on, and she [BE Cuick One] tries really hard for me, which I like,” she explains. “Gait is quite hot and quite a blood horse, which I like – he tries really hard for me as well, he’s got such a big heart.”

Lauren is based about 20 minutes away from Hickstead and she started going to Shane for training while she was still on ponies.

“I’m very lucky – Shane’s made me ride a lot better. He’s very specific, so I think that’s good, especially when you’re a bit younger and you’ve a few specific things that you’ve picked up from being on ponies,” says Lauren, who still has her 11hh first pony at home. “When my mum realised my sister and I liked the ponies, she put absolutely everything into us and it all worked out.”

As well as aiming for young riders in 2024, Lauren would like to do some of the big under-25 shows then “maybe in a few years a senior Nations Cup”, but she would also like to run a business on the side to help with the financial side of things.

“I’m very excited about it all,” she says. Watch this space.

You may also like to read…

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‘I wanted a bit of balance’: meet the young rider combining five-star shows with a job in property

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Five daughters and sons of five-star riders, plus one five-star horse, have been selected among the British squads heading to next month’s junior and young rider eventing European Championships in Montelibretti, Italy (13-17 September).

Multi-medalled eventer Tina Cook’s daughter Isabelle, who won individual silver and team gold at last year’s junior championships, heads up the junior squad this time. She has been selected with her partner from last year’s event, Mexican Law (owned by Jim Chromiak), with Turbo (owned by Shaun Lawson) as a direct reserve horse.

Joshua Levett, son of Australian championship rider Bill, joins Isabelle on the junior squad, riding Elisabeth Murdoch’s This Ones On You.

Anna Price, whose mother Patricia Price rode at the top level on Riva Ruel in 20o4 and 2005, has been selected for the junior championships with Keep Happy, owned by her father Tim Price – no relation to the New Zealand eventing world number one of the same name.

The five-star horse on the list is 17-year-old Bayano owned by Rebecca Salt and Caroline Harris. He won Bramham Horse Trials CCI3* (now CCI4*-L) and completed Badminton Horse Trials and Luhmühlen Horse Trials with Caroline’s daughter Flora, before moving to his current rider, Pippa Royle.

Annabel Finston (Grafelles) and Jasmine Underwood (Indian Girl G) complete the junior squad.

On the young rider squad, Ellie Fredericks – daughter of five-star winners Lucinda Fredericks and Clayton Fredericks, who are now divorced – makes her British squad debut, riding Lucinda’s Pure Trendsetter.

Daisy Bathe, daughter of British championship rider Charlotte Bathe (née Hollingsworth), joins her on the squad riding her grandmother Mary Hollingsworth’s Mexican Wave.

In addition, Finn Healy, who competes on young rider squad with Amy Hawley’s Treamble, is the son of a four-star rider in Sarah Healy.

Barnie Brotherton (his mother Naomi’s DHI King Nelson), Maja Hullah (Articus) and Millie Juleff (her own and her father Darren’s Donateur) have also been selected for the young rider squad.

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Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

H&H’s dressage editor ponders the unusual move that led to two teams winning silver on different scores at the recent junior European Dressage Championships 

At first glance, the team podium photo from last week’s FEI Junior European Dressage Championships, doesn’t appear out of the ordinary. Take a slightly longer look, however, and you’ll spot something unusual in the crowd of young riders filling the silver spot.

Two sets of silver medals were awarded at these championships, in an unprecedented move that caused quite the confusion. Both Austria and Denmark walked away with a shiny silver, despite finishing on differing team scores – Austria on 214.469 and Denmark on 214.243. Germany won gold, while Britain took bronze on 214.03.

The source of the snafu was an error of course made by Austria’s Fanny Jöbstl, who rode two left walk pirouettes, and the fact the judge at C did not notice the mistake. Alice Schwab, heading up the judging panel, was the only one with the ability to ring the bell to notify Fanny of her mistake and, crucially, to allow her to repeat the second pirouette in the correct direction.

But the error wasn’t rung out, Fanny continued with her test, receiving very low marks for the incorrect pirouette, plus an error of course penalty. Her announced score put Austria into fourth, just off the podium. And then the mistake was realised, and an appeal lodged by the Austrian contingent.

On account of the judging error, and the fact that Fanny was not given the chance to redo the movement, it was decided to raise her scores for the incorrect pirouette to align with those for her other one, and simply apply the error of course penalty.

Her revised score was enough to elevate Austria into second position, theoretically knocking Denmark down into bronze and Britain, agonisingly, off the podium altogether into fourth.

Except it didn’t.

In a surprise move, the organisers, judging committee and single member of the Judges Supervisory Panel present conferred, then opted to give out two silver medals. Sponsors Avalon Premium Cars Kronberg admirably stepped up to pay out prize money for both teams, and all four nations went home happy. The British contingent, especially, was thrilled to have received the bronze medal that riders Myles Graham, Ruby Hughes, Isla Sully and Mette Dahl so deserved for their superb performances.

‘An insane shame for the kids’

But here lies the rub. Britain may have won bronze, but they didn’t finish third. And while tournament director Matthias Rath pointed out, quite rightly, that to drop Denmark and Britain down the order “would have been an insane shame for the kids”, it does raise the question: Would the same decision have been made at a senior championship?

It seems inconceivable that it would have. At senior level, Austria would almost certainly have won silver, Denmark would have received bronze and Britain would have gone home empty-handed, however much of a shame, and arguably unfair, that result may have been.

So was it the right decision? It’s a hard one, and something I have been pondering all week, not least because it did not comply with FEI rules.

In a statement regarding the junior European Dressage Championships supplied to H&H from the FEI, a spokesperson confirmed that “the matter at stake is a field of play matter and the FEI headquarters has no authority to change the results or to intervene.”

But they also acknowledge that “awarding two team silver medals to teams with differing results… is not in accordance with the FEI rules”.

“We wish to emphasise that the FEI rules and regulations have to be applied and complied with by all FEI officials. We expect that these rules are applied diligently and uniformly, ensuring a fair playing field for all participants,” the statement continues.

“The FEI will conduct a thorough review of all available facts, evidence, and reports related to the matter. We will liaise with the relevant officials to address this matter.”

Should youth riders be treated the same as seniors?

To me, the most interesting issue raised here is the attitude towards international youth championships. Should they be treated as any other FEI championship, and the same rules and decisions applied as per senior events, or is it appropriate for a softer approach to be taken?

Further complicating the matter is that the individual most at fault in this situation is not one of the riders, who, it is accepted via the existence of the error of course penalty, do sometimes go wrong in the heat of the moment.

Instead it was the judge at C, the highly experienced Alice Schwab, who was promoted to five-star status earlier this year. Of course, even the most experienced, diligent professionals are capable of human error, which is all it came down to in this unfortunate situation. But should that human error have been allowed to disadvantage other competitors?

Ultimately, all parties came home happy. And perhaps that’s what it’s all about, at the end of the day. Who knows what impact stripping the bronze medal they believed they had won might have had on the young British team members’ mentalities and attitude to competition.

But, on the other hand, competitive sport at this level isn’t supposed to be about keeping its participants happy, however young they might be. Would it have been more educational and constructive to have been forced to accept the tough, alternative outcome?

Then again, would that alternative outcome, that denied Britain a team medal based on others’ mistakes, have been any more or less “fair” than the decision that was made, with the riders’ best interests at heart? Maybe the FEI review into the matter will provide answers to that question. To me, that’s what it comes down to.

Because elite sport isn’t always kind. But it should always, always be fair.

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Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Myles Graham led the British team to bronze at the Dressage Junior European Championships in Kronberg, Germany, before collecting individual freestyle bronze for himself on the final day.

Riding Caroline Bell’s 16-year-old mare Nibeley Union Hit, 16-year-old Myles finished best of the Brits in eighth, in what turned out to be a turbulent team competition at the dressage junior Europeans.

As team anchor, Myles’ score was enough to secure the bronze medal for the team, which also featured Ruby Hughes (Classic Goldstrike), Mette Dahl (Caporal De Massa) and Isla Sully (Vagabond De Massa).

In an unprecedented turn of events, four teams ended up on the dressage junior Europeans podium, with Germany winning gold and Denmark and Austria each taking silver, although they finished on different scores. An error of course by Austria’s Fanny Jöbstl, when she rode two left pirouettes in her team test, went unnoticed during the test by the head of the judging panel, Alice Schwab at C, which meant Fanny was initially awarded very low scores by the other judges for the incorrect movement, but without the chance to redo it correctly.

After the conclusion of the class, which had left Austria in fourth, an appeal from the Austrian team resulted in Fanny’s marks for the pirouette in question being raised to sevens and 6.5, and an error of course penalty deducted. The change meant Austria leapt up the leaderboard into silver, which would have pushed Denmark down into bronze, and Britain out of the medals altogether.

But, in order not to leave any team at a disadvantage, organisers opted to give out two silver medals, to Austria and Denmark, with Britain remaining in their original bronze medal position.

“They’ve really stepped up this week,” said British chef d’equipe Nina Boex of her team. “They were all fantastic and there was an awesome team spirit with the support team and officials.” 

Myles then went on to finish fifth in the individual and scoop bronze in the freestyle with an impressive 77.89%, riding to a Johnny English and F1-themed programme.

“The team bronze was amazing – to be a part of that was fabulous,” he said. 

“In the individual, ‘Una’ performed beyond my expectations. We came into the freestyle just wanting to have some fun and enjoy it, and I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d come away with an individual bronze. All the training of the music really paid off – I feel like we’d nailed every movement and the judges rewarded us for it.”

Isla and Mette also qualified to ride the freestyle, with their pair of Lusitano full brothers. Isla and Vagabond De Massa finished eighth on 75.95% while Mette and Caporal de Massa, her ride of just three months, scored 71.98% for 16th. 

These championships capped an exciting fortnight for British youth dressage, the young rider team having captured bronze a week earlier, and Annabella Pidgley claiming double gold.

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Britain has a new youth European dressage champion in Annabella Pidgley, who made history by winning double gold at the Dressage European Championships for Young Riders last week.

Annabella, riding her mother Sarah’s nine-year-old mare Espe is the first British dressage rider ever to win an individual medal in the young riders division.

It comes off the back of silver and bronze medals Annabella won at junior Europeans in 2021 and 2022, but with so many of her successes having been a first for Britain, it highlights how few youth dressage riders we have had in the medals at Europeans to date.

So, who are the other Brits with youth or under-25 medals to their name? And what are Britain’s youth dressage medallists up to now?

Lottie Fry, 27

Lottie Fry was a stalwart of British youth teams from ponies right up to under-25s. She became under-25 European champion in 2018 riding Dark Legend, winning freestyle gold and individual silver that year, and leading the team to bronze. They were Britain’s first ever under-25 medals.

Lottie became the leading rider at Van Olst Horses in the Netherlands, where she has been based since 2014. She graduated to the senior Europeans team the following year, and her star has carried on rising since.

She helped Britain win Olympic bronze and European silver in 2021 on Everdale, and most notably of all, was crowned world champion with Glamourdale in 2022. Lottie is currently ranked number two in the world, having held the world number one spot earlier this year.

Phoebe Peters, 24

Phoebe Peters and her superstar pony SL Lucci were the face of British youth dressage between 2013 and 2015, when they picked up no fewer than five individual medals, and led Britain to a place on three consecutive pony team podiums too.

Phoebe became the first British dressage rider ever to win an individual medal at a youth Europeans when she claimed pony double gold in 2013. She took freestyle silver the following year, and returned in 2015 to win double individual gold – breaking their own world records along the way – and leading Britain to team glory too.

Phoebe went on to compete on junior teams and up to national prix st georges, before gaining a degree in French and German. She spent several months based with Klaus Balkenhol in Germany during the first part of 2022, before moving to become assistant rider at Van Olst Horses in the Netherlands in May 2022, working alongside Lottie Fry and competing at under-25 grand prix.

Alex Hellings, 24

Alex partnered the renowned dressage pony Der Kleine Lord to team silver at the 2014 pony Europeans, and also won individual bronze the same year.

She continued to progress though youth ranks with Uvender V, riding at the junior Europeans in 2016 and young riders in 2019. Nationally, she and Uvi competed together up to grand prix level until the gelding was retired at the end of 2022.

Alex is another young rider with a first class degree to her name, having graduated in mathematics in 2020. She is now a professional rider and coach based in Derbyshire, with a string of horses she is bringing up through the levels.

Britain’s youth dressage team medallists

While Britain boasts just four individual medallists – Phoebe Peters, Alex Hellings, Lottie Fry and Annabella Pidgley – youth teams have fared well in recent years, with six team medals since 2013.

Ponies

2013 – bronze

Rebecca Bell with Valido’s Sunshine

Rose Hugh-Smith with Holsteins Derwisch

Phoebe Peters with SL Lucci

Erin Williams with Dynasty

2014 – silver

Rebecca Bell with Valido’s Sunshine

Alex Hellings with Der Kleine Lord

Bethany-Rose Horobin with Gigolo

Phoebe Peters with SL Lucci

2015 – gold

Rebecca Bell with Valido’s Sunshine

Isobel Berrington with DHI Langar

Clare Hole with Rembrandt DDH

Phoebe Peters with SL Lucci

Juniors

2022 – bronze

Myles Graham and Nibleley Union Hit

Sophie Wallace and Rosalie B

India Durman-Mills and Escade

Annabella Pidgley and Espe

Young riders

2023 – bronze

Annabella Pidgley and Espe

Lily Laughton and Skovborgs Romadinov

India Durman-Mills and Escade

Jessie McConkey and Lady Gaga

Under-25s

2018 – bronzeLottie Fry with Dark LegendRebecca Edwards with Headmore DelegateClaire Gallimore with Annette BallerinaRyan Todd with Charlex Eskjeberg

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British and Irish showjumpers delivered in Italy last week, taking home a fistful of medals at the European Championships for young riders, juniors, and children (10-16 July) in Gorla Minore.

On 14 July the British young riders, Olli Fletcher and IV Willem, Nicole Lockhead Anderson and Chatondo, Claudia Moore and Hardesther and Sandy McLean and Gino F, were the first to take to the podium – with Belgium taking silver, and gold going to Ireland. Claudia was fourth in the individual final.

“We had to wait right until the very last riders for the final result over a big course that only produced four double clears, of which Claudia was one. We carried eight faults but that was good enough for bronze,” said Clare Whitaker, team manager.

Young riders Niamh McEvoy and Templepatrick Welcome Limmerick, Rhys Williams and Playboy JT Z, Seamus Hughes Kennedy and Esi Rock, Max Wachman and Quintini, and Ciaran Nallon and Fifty Shades of Grey delivered the team gold for Ireland. Seamus was also crowned individual young rider European champion.

Ireland’s team manager Jamie Kernan said he was “absolutely thrilled”.

“It was the only colour medal I wanted this week and I knew this team had the talent to deliver it,” he said. “They’ve all jumped so well all week, they’re a superb bunch and we’re over the moon.

“I must give a huge thanks to all of the supporters and the team here on the ground. The parents, grandparents, grooms, our vet Seamus McSorley, it is a massive undertaking to come out here and win a European Championship, and everyone has been terrific.”

On the same day, the British children’s team – Darcy Breen and Kunis, Emily Gulliver and Fleur Du Nuit 8, Sienna Lanni and Bermudez BDA and Sula von Bülow and Dabelle – won bronze behind France in silver and winners Germany. Darcy was fourth in the individual final on Kunis.

“The children’s team were fantastic,” said Clare. “It was a great result as they are so inexperienced but they held their own.

“They were a bit unlucky in the jump-off but a bronze medal out of 23 teams is a great achievement. I am so very proud of them all.”

The following day Britain’s junior team – Lauren Caroline and Gait L, Maisy Williams and Devil VD To Jo Pe Hoeve, Noora von Bülow and Interstar B and Tabitha Kyle and Desterly – won bronze behind the Netherlands and champions Ireland.

“To achieve three team bronze medals is a fantastic result and highlights the talent we have coming through for the future,” said British Showjumping chief executive Iain Graham.

“The achievements reflect the hard work and dedication behind the scenes and we owe many thanks to team manager Clare Whitaker, chefs d’equipe Tony Newbery and Stanny van Paesschen, and team vet Mark Sinnott.”

The gold-medal winning junior Irish team was made up of Eoin Brennan and Eskola M, James Brennan and MHS I’m The One, Tom Wachman and Cathalina S, and Timmy Brennan and Diadema Della Caccia. Tom also took the individual gold.

“I’m just so, so proud of these boys – they showed so much character to hold firm and perform to that level and bring the gold medal home,” said Jamie.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Annabella Pidgley has become the first British rider ever to win an individual medal at the Dressage European Championships for Young Riders – by claiming double gold in Hungary over the weekend (15-16 July).

The 18-year-old rode her mother Sarah’s nine-year-old Escolar mare Espe to two huge personal best scores as they secured both the individual and freestyle gold medals.

Annabella’s double gold came off the back of the British team winning the first British young rider team medal since 2005, as Annabella joined Lily Laughton (Skovborgs Romadinov), India Durman-Mills (Escade) and Jessie McConkey (Lady Gaga) to claim a brilliant bronze.

Britain finished closely behind Denmark in gold and Germany in silver, with Annabella’s trainer Charlotte Dujardin joining them out in Hungary.

Annabella finished top of the leaderboard individually in the team test and duly completed a clean sweep over the course of the weekend. She and Espe scored 76.94% for their individual test to knock Germany’s Valentina Pistner and Flamboyant OLD into silver, and leaving her “simply speechless”.

Jessie and Lady Gaga finished 13th, with India 18th and Lily 19th for Britain.

A new personal best for Annabella Pidgley and Espe

A day later, Annabella and Espe recreated their magic once again, breaking the 80% barrier for the first time in their partnership to lay down an unbeatable score of 80.5%.

Taking freestyle silver was Annabella’s boyfriend, Denmark’s Alexander Helgstrand, son of Andreas Helgstrand, riding Belantis. Jessie also secured a top-10 finish for Britain, in ninth, with India 15th.

“Double European champion… Espe did it again and got the gold in the freestyle today here in Hungary, against a brilliant field of riders,” said Annabella. “I could not have imagined we would have these results here at the Europeans in our first year at young riders, but she deserves it all.

“She’s such an incredible mare with a beautiful heart and I’m so grateful to her for being so amazing over the last week,” added Annabella of Espe.

“Thank you to my team, family, Charlotte, my sponsors and all who have supported me from home. Thank you also to my Team GB teammates.”

This is not the first time Annabella has made history for British dressage – in 2021 she became the first British rider to claim an individual podium place at the junior Europeans, when she won double silver on Sultan Des Paluds. Riding Espe, she added more medals to her haul in 2022 when they led the British junior team to silver and also scooped individual silver and bronze.

This is Annabella’s first year in young riders, and with these medals she has become the first British rider to win gold in any youth (under-21) section since Phoebe Peters took double gold at the pony Europeans in 2015.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Egyptian showjumper Nayel Nassar scooped the lion’s share of a $1,000,000 prize pot at Spruce Meadows, Jodie Hall McAteer, 23, scored an impressive victory in the Ommen CSI3* grand prix 1.55m grand prix with Kimosa Van Het, plus the European Showjumping Championships for young riders, juniors and children get under way in Gorla Minore, Italy (10-16 July). Read on for a round-up of this week’s international showjumping news and results.

Top prize money on offer at Spruce Meadows

Nayel and the 14-year-old gelding Coronado fended off 34 combinations to win the CSI5* 1.60m ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the Canadian venue during the North American Tour (5–9 July). Nayel and Coronado jumped two clear rounds to take the $330,000 (£193,580) first prize, beating Spain’s Sergie Alvarez Moya and Puma Hs by more than two seconds. Nayel and Sergie were the only riders to jump double clear around Olympic course-designer Santiago Varela’s 1.60m track.

• Spruce Meadows results

British victory in the Netherlands

Jodie was thrilled to win the feature class at the Ommen CSI3* (5-9 July), staving off competition from home-side rider Michael Greeve and Jacksonville Eurohill, and Ireland’s Harry Allen and Calculatus. The top 12 combinations returned for the jump-off, and it was Jodie who was the first to take a tight line from a big oxer to secure the win.

“I’m on such a fantastic horse. She fights for it in the ring. She is often a bit on the lazy side, but when she is in the ring she wants to do well,” said Jodie, who is based with the Schröder family in Twente, the Netherlands.

“I learn so much and have a great team behind me. I want nothing more than to develop as a rider and ride in championships one day. It is much more practical to go to the competitions from the Netherlands instead of from England. Of course I miss my family, but I will see them soon when I go to Hickstead (26-30 July).”

• CSI Ommen results

“An awe-inspiringly fast round”

Another young Brit making waves abroad is Robert Murphy, 23, who beat 24 combinations to head the CSI2* grand prix at Longines Tops International Arena on the 10-year-old Imbeer on 9 July. Robert won with an “awe-inspiringly fast round”, and stopped the clock on 30.31 seconds.

“I am delighted with this win, Imbeer jumped fantastic in this incredible grass arena. These shows at Longines Tops International Arena are brilliant to bring a wide range of horses to with such great facilities,” said Robert.

“Recently I moved to Belgium to base myself with Jos Lansink so we will be coming back for the rest of the summer. The atmosphere is fantastic.”

France’s Pénélope Leprevost was second with Fantasy de la Roque Z, and Brazil’s Marlon Mondolo Zanotelli was third on Electro vd Kromsteeg. Marlon went on to win the CSI4* grand prix the same day on Cornest.

• Longines Tops International Arena results

Brits in action in Gorla Minore

This week the European Showjumping Championships for young riders, juniors and children get under way in Gorla Minore, Italy, and Britain is fielding a team in each section.

Junior squad:

Lauren Caroline and 12-year-old gelding Gait L, owned by Lee CarolineSophie Evans and 11-year-old gelding CSIO Beln, owned by ESM EquestrianTabitha Kyle and 15-year-old mare Desterly, owned by TJ Hall LtdNoora von Bulow and 10-hear-old gelding Interstar B, owned by her mother Sharifa Al-HomaiziMaisy Williams and 15-year-old gelding Devil VD To Jo Pe Hoeve, owned by her father Guy Williams

Young rider squad:

Oliver Fletcher and 10-year-old gelding IV Willem, owned by Alison Walton and Graham FletcherNicole Lockhead Anderson and 13-year-old bay gelding Chatondo, owned by Thomas WilliamsSandy Mclean and 12-year-old gelding Gino F, owned by Marjory McNaughton and SandyClaudia Moore and 11-year-old mare Hardesther, owned by her mother Katrina MooreRed Morgan and 12-year-old grey gelding Golia, owned by Didy Morgan

Children squad:

Darcy Breen, from West Sussex, with the 10-year-old chestnut mare Kunis, owned by Lea PopelyEmily Gulliver and 8-year-old mare Fleur De Nuit 8, owned by Ben GulliverSienna Lanni and 10-year-old chestnut gelding Bermudez BDA, owned by Jill WilliamsRuby Payne and 12-year-old mare Whitesparke Pepper, owned by Russell PayneSula von Bülow and 14-year-old grey mare Dabelle, owned by her mother Sharifa Al-Homaizi

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US-based British showjumper Grace Debney has enjoyed a breakthrough year in which she won her first five-star classes, stepped up to grand prix and won a team bronze medal at the European young rider showjumping championships.

This 18-year-old is clearly a star of the future.

“I really am living the dream, it’s been amazing,” says Grace, who is based in Massachusetts but will be spending the next few months competing in the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) at Wellington, Florida.

The teenager has been riding for as long as she can remember and has channelled a strong competitive spirit and natural flair in the saddle, rising quickly through the ranks and she is now catching the eye on the international jumping circuit.

“I’ve always been competitive,” she says. “But that competitive side helps me to fight for success in the ring, especially when my horses are fighting for it as much as they do.”

Grace won two five-star classes in 2022, the first coming at WEF in April and the second at Traverse City Horse Show in September, both with her 11-year-old mare Zarina De Vidau, a Spanish-bred daughter of Diamant De Semilly previously ridden by another British rider Amy Inglis and US Olympia Reed Kessler and whom Grace refers to as her “trusty steed”.

Grace Debney: ‘I’m figuring it out and it’s a lot of fun’

Her other top mare is the 15.3hh Boheme De La Roque, but Grace has added two exciting new horses to her string in recent months. The 11-year-old gelding Agadance Van’t Gelutt Z is proving a fantastic schoolmaster.

“I got to jump my first bigger grand prix on him,” she says. “It’s a learning experience every time I go in the ring, which is how it’s going to be, but I’m figuring it out and it’s a lot of fun. I own Agadance with Jos Lansink, we bought half of him in August to get me going in the bigger rings and he’s really done a good job of that. At only my second show on him I jumped my first five-star grand prix. He’s a real confidence giver. I also bought an eight-year-old, who shows a lot of good talent so I’m very excited about both of them.

“I still feel ‘wow’ about jumping at five-star, but hopefully it can become a regular thing for me,” she says. “I have some big goals this Wellington season in Florida, so hopefully I can achieve them all. It’s really exciting to have so many good horses going into the new season.”

In July, Grace Debney fulfilled a life-long ambition to fly the flag for her native Great Britain when she was selected as part of the young rider team at the European Championships in Oliva Nova, Spain with Boheme. The squad won a bronze medal and Grace finished sixth individually.

“That was unbelievable, I was so happy and proud of my horse, she gave her all,” she says. “It was a bit intimidating coming in and not really knowing anyone on the team because I’m in a different area obviously, but everyone was so welcoming, I made a lot of friends and hopefully I’ll try to keep working towards a championship again in 2023 — I’d love to do it again and try to ride on some teams, it’s definitely a goal.

“So after Wellington the plan then is to go back to Europe — I don’t want to miss another opportunity like that. We have good experience from last year as to where to go and what to do, so hopefully it will be fun.”

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Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

International rider and trainer Pammy Hutton FBHS shares her thoughts on the value of championship experience to young riders

YOU can’t be a game-changer without experience, it was said following England’s win in the women’s football European Championships final. A similar discussion recently surfaced in our sport via a debate on social media. Namely, should one compete in a youth European Championships even when no medal is likely?

My view is yes, riders should take up every opportunity to go to each championship offered, regardless of their chances. Lottie Fry is a perfect example of why that’s the case. Young in years she may be, but it’s her experience – honed by endless hours of hard work and competition – that’s helped create our new world champion. And I love that she has brought softness and forwardness back, along with humility and smiles, too.

If, like me, you weren’t able to go to the dressage World Championships in Herning, I hope you’ll agree that the online coverage was brilliant. Spencer Sturmey, Carl Hester and Nicky Pasco were stand-out commentators. It was free if you took advantage of the free trial on ClipMyHorse.TV and one gained as much as from any lesson.

Thanks to their brilliant tips and insightful learnings, we mere mortals were inspired to keep improving – although “that” extended canter from Lottie and Glamourdale remains the stuff of dreams.

Riding for experience

Another less well-known example of experience paying off is Kaya Probst (pictured above), who competed for Croatia in the junior dressage European Championships at Hartpury in July. She learnt to ride dressage here at Talland, as well as in her home country.

She was never picky or complaining, though she was occasionally bucked off, and she rode our 20-year-old Rotspon’s Rockin down the centre line at Hartpury for over 68%. She gained this ride “for experience” and was the youngest competitor in the class on the oldest horse.

The standard of youth dressage has risen so much that one needs 70% and counting to have a chance of finishing up the leaderboard – and this is where the conundrums start. A smart horse with three amazing gaits and an accurate test equals the winner. The cost of achieving such can be astronomical. Good, softer, and sometimes better, riding on an ordinary horse can (but not always) equal “out with the washing”. Yes, this dressage lark is mega expensive now.

Well done, Hartpury

At the Hartpury Europeans, one judge actually came to find me to congratulate me on how beautifully Kaya rode. Then we looked at the marks. Usually, I moan at the lower judge, and to be fair, four judges had Kaya 30th or lower. But one had her 12th. And no, this should not happen because of where a judge is sitting – even if the judge’s “hot seat” is always a tricky topic.

Of course, I hang my hat on that one score. But she should have been higher; I saw over-strong hands and obvious mistakes from a few of those who finished ahead of her.

Full credit to Caitlin Burgess, Britain’s best-placed young rider in the team test, and Chocotof, a horse who was tricky and didn’t cost mega bucks, but has been so well trained that he has proved all his critics wrong. I confess, I was never impressed with him in his youth – but I always rated Caitlin. Her story shows the only way round the expense dilemma is to really learn to ride.

Overall, Hartpury did Britain proud in its hosting of the Europeans. There were some complaints about two arenas running at the same time, but this must have saved the organisers a fortune. Several countries shared horse transport to get their teams to the championships. So why not use two arenas simultaneously and halve the costs? Well done, Hartpury.

• Do you agree with Pammy? Let us know at hhletters@futurenet.com

• This exclusive column is also available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 1 September

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Britain’s juniors claimed a first dressage team bronze medal since 1998 when they finished on the podium at the junior and young rider dressage European Championships, held at Hartpury, Glos.

Spearheaded by 17-year-old Annabella Pidgley, last year’s double individual silver medallist, the junior team took the European bronze medal behind Germany in gold and the Netherlands in silver. The home side’s achievement was all the more impressive considering the other three members of the British team –Myles Graham (Nibeley Union Hit), Sophie Wallace (Rosalie B) and India Durman-Mills (Escade) – were all riding at their first championship. 

Annabella also secured individual bronze and freestyle silver riding Espe. The eight-year-old Escolar x Dimaggio mare was bought as a six-year-old and spent two years with Annabella’s trainer Cathrine Dufour before returning to Annabella in March.

“I couldn’t have asked for more from her,” Annabella said after her team test, in which she scored 75.15%. “We’ve only had this short season together, and this is her first Europeans. She just performed and exceeded all my expectations, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Following her 77.6% freestyle performance, Annabella added: “She really pulled it out of the bag. She’s the sweetest horse and always gives her all. I can’t believe we have a silver medal!”

It was only eight months ago that former showjumper Sophie took over the ride of Ursula Bechtolsheimer and Laura Tomlinson’s mare Rosalie B, a Westphalian by Rubin Royal out of a Newcastle mare.

“It’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and feels unreal,” said Sophie of her team’s bronze medal. “I never imagined I’d get selected for my first Europeans in my first season of dressage. I’m so thankful to Mrs Bechtolsheimer and Laura Tomlinson for letting me have the ride on Rosie. It’s been an amazing experience.”

Germany’s Allegra Schmitz-Morkramer spearheaded the German team to gold riding 10-year-old Hanoverian stallion Libertad, and also became the junior individual champion. But it was Denmark’s Sophia Boje Obel Jørgensen and Brilliant who upgraded their individual silver to freestyle gold, ahead of Annabella. 

British junior team chef d’equipe Tom Hobday said: “It has been the most incredible week of competition and the teams have put in an astonishing amount of effort over the year to get here.

“We’ve had some very impressive results, including quite a few personal bests, some from riders making their championship debut. To come away with two bronzes and a silver medal is incredible.”

Young rider dressage European Championships: ‘It was a nail-bitingly close competition’

Germany asserted their dominance once again to add young rider team gold to their junior team gold at the junior and young rider dressage European Championships, with Denmark in silver and Sweden in bronze. Meanwhile the Brits did brilliantly to finish just off the podium in fourth.

It was the turn of Allegra’s sister Helena Schmitz-Morkramer who produced an impressive 75.21% for gold riding 12-year-old gelding DSP Lifestyle (Lord Fantastic x Samba Hit).

“He was absolutely amazing – he performed a great test and although there’s always something to improve on, I’m more than happy with him,” said Helena about DSP Lifestyle, whom she has had for 18 months. “At the beginning, it was really hard, but we found our way and now he means the world to me. This medal is the highlight of the year.”

The British young rider team was made up of Caitlin Burgess and Chocotof, who finished eighth, ninth-placed Jessie McConkey and Lady Gaga, 16th-placed Anna Dalrymple and Vagabond De Massa, and 21st place for Maddy Frewin with Eagle Nouvelle. 

Jessica and Lady Gaga also finished fourth in the individual competition, with 74.04%, before rising to the occasion once more to take fifth in the freestyle with a hugely impressive personal best of 77.38%.

“She got better and better – we gained two or three per cent each day,” said an overwhelmed Jessica, who has had the mare for six years. “On the freestyle I just wanted to have fun. I’d only ridden that freestyle once before, but luckily it paid off. I never used to be able to get her round the freestyle and we’d end up having to retire, but now I can channel that energy and she just feels electric.”

British young rider chef d’equipe Nina Boex was thrilled with the team’s performance.

“It’s been an absolutely fantastic championship for us,” she said. “The young rider team is such a close team and it was a nail-bitingly close competition – they rode their socks off. The standard of riding this year was a cut above and our riders really stepped up. It’s the best Europeans we’ve been to in many years and Hartpury has really pulled out all the stops. Next year we’ll come back from it even stronger.”

Additional reporting by Stephanie Bateman

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Britain’s stars of the future took last week’s junior and young rider eventing European Championships at Hartpury by storm when they claimed both team gold medals, as well as an individual silver and bronze.

Isabelle Cook led the way in the junior division, winning individual silver and spearheading the team gold.

“It’s been the most amazing experience at my first championship,” she said. “I felt a lot of pressure going into the showjumping after watching all my teammates go so well, but I somehow managed to focus on the job and pull it off. I was very, very nervous, but my mare is a really good jumper and I had faith that she would jump well. I just had to keep it together.

“Jumping the last knowing I’d gone clear was amazing – the crowd just went wild. It was incredible.”

Isabelle’s ride was Mexican Law, owned by her mother Tina Cook – the winner of numerous championship medals herself – and Jim Chromiak.

Tina previously rode the home-bred mare, who is by Billy Mexico out of a Mill Law mare called Devine Law, handing over the reins to Isabelle at the end of last year.

“It’s really special riding a mare that we’ve bred ourselves and watched grow and develop,” said Isabelle. “She’s a lovely horse to ride and a brilliant jumper. I enjoy every minute of riding her.”

Isabelle finished just over a point behind Germany’s Mathies Ruder and Bon Ton who also finished on their dressage score of 25.2 to take individual gold and lead Germany into team bronze, behind Ireland in silver.

Britain’s six riders all jumped clear across country and finished in the top 15, with Finn Healy (fourth on Fathers Compromise), Jasmine Underwood (12th on Indian Girl G) and Grace Donnor (14th on Cooley Ramiro) joining Isabelle in the team and Jaymee Savill (seventh on Grange Ash Sparrow) and Holly Clarke (11th on Nico) riding as individuals.

Casburn best of British young riders

Alice Casburn added another accolade to her CV after 19th at her first Badminton Horse Trials this spring when she took home individual bronze in the young rider section on her mother Caroline’s home-bred Topspin.

The time across country proved tight and Alice and Topspin were the only pair to finish on their dressage score.

“I love showjumping but it’s quite frightening when you’ve got a team relying on you,” she said after her final round.

Looking back on the whole week, Alice said: “He doesn’t settle very well usually, but he settled in really well here and did a really good test for him. He was phenomenal in both jumping phases. He’s a mega horse.”

Millie Juleff (sixth on All We Need) and Molly Faulkner (seventh on Call Me Cooley) provided the other counting team scores, with fourth team member Ibble Watson not far behind in 13th on Aristoteles S Z. Germany took team silver and Ireland the bronze.

British individual Phoebe Hughes led the dressage on Top Biats and finished fifth after adding 5.2 time-faults across country and finishing the showjumping with a rail down and a second over the time. Britain’s other individual Polly Muirhead had a late call-up into the squad on the Monday of the event week and finished 15th on Penhill Touch Of Class.

Zazie Gardeau took individual gold for France on Cesar de Commarin LA, saying: “He’s quite cuddly and sensitive, but he was very courageous and brave cross-country and I was so proud of him jumping clear today.”

British chef d’equipe Darrell Scaife summarised the junior and young rider eventing European Championships by saying: “To have all six finish in the top 15 [across both divisions] is incredible. They’ve been such a really wonderful group of young people.

“They haven’t had a championship experience for two years and for some of them, this is their debut performance. Our joint philosophy is that it’s their medal to win and they’re absolutely focused on their own training and experiences which they draw on in these situations. Our job is just to enable them to perform at their best. The standard just keeps getting better every year.”

Additional reporting by Stephanie Bateman

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

The British teams for the Junior and Young Rider European Championships this month have been announced.

The FEI Junior and Young Rider European Championships will take place on British soil this year, at Hartpury, Glos, on 25-31 July. Eighteen nations are set to be represented at junior level, and 15 at young rider level, although some riders from mainland Europe have opted to withdraw owing to travel concerns.

The British team for the Young Rider European Championships has been revealed as follows:

Caitlin Burgess (21) with 15-year-old gelding Chocotof

Owner: Caitlin Burgess

Breeder: D Faro Gravenmoer

Breeding: by Lord Leatherdale, out of Twicky, by Negro

Anna Dalrymple (19) with 13-year-old gelding Vagabond De Massa

Owner: Maxine Vainio

Breeder: Silvain Massa

Breeding: by Reito, out of Vexame, by Xaquiro

Maddy Frewin (19) with 13-year-old gelding Eagle Nouvelle

Owner: Hannah Dovey

Breeder: J Hiddink

Breeding: by Singapore, out of Nouvelle B, by Burggraaf

Jessica McConkey (20) with 13-year-old mare Lady Gaga

Owner: Jessica McConkey

Breeder: Johannes Søndergård

Breeding: by Quatarback, out of Brunette, by Solos Landwind

Jessica McConkey is also listed with a direct reserve horse, Wilson Stensvang. The first reserve has been announced as Lilah Gibbs, with Dude III.

The British team for the Junior European Championships has been announced as follows:

India Durman-Mills (18) with 13-year-old gelding Escade

Owner: Verity Saul

Breeder: A Van Essen

Breeding: by Jazz, out of Jenia, by Wolfgang

Myles Graham (15) with 15-year-old mare Nibeley Union Hit

Owner: Caroline Bell

Breeder: Bernerd Eley

Breeding: by Nibeley Union Jack, out of Winter Willow, by Sandro Hit

Annabella Pidgley (17) with eight-year-old mare Espe

Owner: Annabella’s mother Sarah Pidgley

Breeder: Walter and Hedda Droege

Breeding: by Escolar, out of Delice, by Dimaggio

Sophie Wallace (14) with 16-year-old mare Rosalie B

Owner: Laura Tomlinson and her mother Ursula Bechtolsheimer

Breeder: Klaus Balkenhol

Breeding: by Rubin Royal, out of Nordmaid, by Newcastle

The first reserve has been announced as Isobel Lickley with Mount St John Furstin Fugger, while the second reserve is Ruby Hughes with Extra Time P.

Travel concerns prompt withdrawals

Several riders from mainland Europe have already opted not to travel to compete at the Junior and Young Rider European Championships, due to concerns surrounding transport and in particular availability of customs slots to cross the Channel on the return journey.

The conclusion of the European Championships is the same weekend as the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead, and is also when many of the British horses will start their journey to Herning in Denmark for the World Championships, meaning delays and a lack of slots are likely.

The first riders to announce they were pulling out of the championships were Spanish young riders Natalia Bacariza Danguillecourt (Romantico Ymas) and Felipe Montoya Martinez (Douro).

“It would have been a pleasure to represent Spain for the sixth time at the European Championships in Hartpury, but unfortunately due to the inconveniences and uncertainties of horse travelling when leaving the UK we’ve decided not to attend this year,” said Natalia. “Wishing the best of luck to my teammates attending the championship.”

Following this announcement, both junior riders set to compete for the Czech Republic at Hartpury – Johana Vasaryova (Firestone) and Tereza Matouskova (Paolo Il Bello) – have also decided to pull out.

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Gemma Owen is the dressage rider who has become, arguably, the most talked-about contestant on Love Island 2022. The reality romance show, which airs six nights a week on ITV2, is just four episodes in, and already the online gossip is rife among viewers and in the press.

Gemma, it’s fair to say, has been at the centre of much of this gossip – at just 19 years old, and with former England footballer Michael Owen for a father, she was always going to attract attention outside the villa as well as within it. And then there’s her job, as an international dressage rider.

Every rider knows the difficulties in educating those outside the horse world about our sport, and of all the equestrian disciplines, dressage is understandably the hardest for most people to get their heads around. Yet social licence and public perception of the sport is more important now than ever.

As grand prix rider and trainer Anna Ross says in her upcoming 16 June column, “It’s possible Gemma Owen has done more to raise awareness and bring the job title “international dressage rider” to the UK public in one episode of Love Island than the entire annual marketing budget of British Dressage.”

But without sufficient understanding, publicity can serve the wrong purpose. Certainly Gemma’s famous father and privileged upbringing will have done nothing to help dispel the image of dressage as an elitist sport. But I was horrified to read Gemma’s dressage career being picked apart in the national tabloid media in the most cruel and unjustified manner.

Gemma Owen is an international dressage rider – she has competed on the world stage representing Great Britain, with 38 international starts. She is completely truthful in saying that she has travelled around Europe competing in big arenas; her being a “dressage champion” is a status bestowed on her by others.

It should be noted that she has not, as yet, competed internationally as a senior rider – her FEI career has so far been in pony and junior ranks – but let us not forget that she is only 19. Her selection for the British team at the junior European Championships in 2021 is a tremendous achievement, as is her championship score of 67.8% with the 17-year-old gelding Sirius Black.

Nationally, Gemma has competed up to inter I. Of the 10 levels available in affiliated dressage, this is the eighth highest, two below grand prix, which is ridden at the Olympics. Earlier this year, aged 18, she scored over 73% at prix st georges, one rung down from inter I. Very few riders make it to this level, even fewer will score over 70% once they get there – and fewer still while in their teens. And, contrary to popular opinion, no amount of money will elevate you far up the dressage ladder if you lack the talent and work ethic required.

I couldn’t help but wonder if Gemma’s sporting CV would have received such ignorant rapping if she had been a youth footballer, or tennis player, for example. Quite apart from the public acceptance those sports enjoy, in a football or tennis match, you either win or you lose. Success in dressage, a scored sport which can see 50 or more starters in any one class, is far more nuanced. Critics would do well to invest time researching the measures of success in such a sport before labelling a sportsperson’s achievements as “lame”.

I worry about the dangerous effect this sort of inaccurate and uneducated commentary could have on Gemma or other riders. I also wonder whether horse sport will ever shake off its elitist image, or whether the media will continue to perpetuate this narrative knowing it will prove divisive among the public, and therefore lucrative.

Part of the problem is that, unlike football, tennis or swimming for example, most people have little personal experience or connection with horses. It’s something of a catch-22: increasing affordable routes into the sport is hugely important, but for many, equestrianism simply does not resonate or appeal, often due to misguided impressions.

Therefore, to me it seems that educating, enlightening and sharing the reality of our wonderful sport and those in it, is the best tool we have at our disposal.

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits. 

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Gemma Owen is the 19-year-old dressage rider set to star in the opening episode of Love Island 2022 this evening (6 June). Gemma, daughter of former England footballer Michael Owen, now a racehorse owner and breeder, hails from Cheshire and has headed to the Love Island villa in Mallorca in a bid to find love this summer.

Gemma has enjoyed a highly successful international dressage career in youth ranks, representing Britain at the 2021 European Junior Championships in Oliva, Spain, riding her own 17-year-old Stedinger gelding Sirius Black. The team, also featuring Annabella Pidgley, Mette Dahl and Holly Kerslake, finished sixth.

Nationally, Gemma Owen and Sirius Black have competed up to inter I level, and scored a personal best of 73.53% at prix st georges (PSG) in January this year. Gemma’s last competition before entering the villa was Myerscough Premier League in March, where she finished third in both the team and individual young rider tests, having stepped up to the level this year.

Before teaming up with “Siz” as she entered juniors, Gemma competed Der Kleine Lord in international pony ranks.

Gemma Owen: entrepreneur and dressage rider

“I’ve travelled all across Europe competing in big arenas in big competitions. I would say I’m very competitive. [When it comes to relationships] I will always go for what I want. But at the same time, I’m not going to mess up something for someone who is in a proper relationship or get in the way of a couple if they have a genuine connection. I wouldn’t do anything to another girl that I wouldn’t be happy with her doing to me,” says Gemma – who has described her biggest turn-off when it comes to love as men who wear socks with trainers.

As well as her dressage career, Gemma is also a fashion entrepreneur and launched luxury swimwear brand OG Beachwear in February 2022. More recently, she opened media representation company OG Promotions in May 2022.

“I am open to finding love. I’m wanting to have a really fun summer. I was seeing someone and then that didn’t work out so I thought, ‘Why not?’,” says Gemma.

“I would say I’m fun, flirty and fiery. I think I’m good at giving advice, I’m a good person to talk to, I’m very honest. If I want the same guy [as someone else], I’d do it but in a nice respectful way.”

Gemma will be the youngest of the 11 starting contestants in the ITV show, now back for its eighth series. The show begins at 9pm on Monday, 6 June, on ITV2 and ITV hub.

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Teenager Annabella Pidgley has sprung into the history books clutching a pair of silver medals as the first British rider to claim an individual podium place at the FEI junior European Dressage Championships.

Annabella, 16, and Sultan Des Paludes were making their junior Europeans debut at the competition in Olivia Nova, Spain, as part of the British team.

The pair produced personal-best scores in every test – topping the leaderboards in the team test on 75.45%, and going on to clinch double silver success in the individual and freestyle contests with scores of 75.38% and 80.11% respectively.

Britain’s junior dressage sides have won team medals at European Championships in the past, but this was the first time a Brit had brought medals home as an individual.

“I’m really overwhelmed and so happy,” said Annabella, who rode to music from Burlesque in her +80% freestyle. “Although I’d always dreamed of it, I never thought I’d get a medal in my first year of juniors.

“He came out on team test day feeling the best ever, as if to say ‘we’re going for the win’.

“He’s such a showman — he’s just amazing, and then to get a PB every day was incredible.”

The French-bred Hanoverian gelding was bought by Annabella’s mother, Sarah Pidgley, this year on the recommendation of Annabella’s trainer, Cathrine Dufour.

The 11-year-old (Soliman de Hus x De Niro) won silver at the seven-year-old World Breeding Championships with Dutch rider Kirsten Brouwer.

“Due to coronavirus, we couldn’t travel to view him, so Cathrine rode him at Helgstrand and we bought him having just seen the video,” said Annabella.

“Cathrine knows me so well and we like the same type in a horse; we really like them very similar. She knew straight away that he would suit me, and we put so much trust in her that we took the risk of buying a horse I’d never sat on.

“He’s definitely a horse I’ve clicked with straight away. He’s such a good horse with a good brain — absolutely amazing in his mind.”

The team of Annabella, Holly Kerslake (Extasia), Gemma Owen (Sirius Black) and Mette Dahl (Florina 146) finished sixth out of 16. Mette’s ride Florina 146 had a reaction to the sand and was withdrawn from the individual competition on veterinary advice.

Caitlin Burgess and Chocotof were best of the Brits in the young rider European Championships, finishing 13th in the team test (69.23%) and 15th in the individual (69.61%), which earnt them a place in Sunday’s freestyle.

Sadly, Chocotof did not make it through the final horse inspection.

“He has been absolutely incredible this week and I’m so so proud of what we have achieved together. To come in the top 15 twice with a horse I trained myself, at both of our first European Championships, is beyond what I could have ever asked for! He has made my dreams come true and I will for ever owe everything to him,” said Caitlin.

The team of Caitlin, Jessica McConkey (Lady Gaga) and Charlotte McDowall (Alivia) finished seventh out of 14.

• What is your favourite history-making moment in equestrian sport? Let us know by writing to hhletters@futurenet.com for a chance to see your views in H&H magazine and you could win a bottle of Champagne Taittinger (please include your name and nearest town and county; letters may be edited).

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Over this festive season, we are shining a light on up-and-coming talent across the equestrian disciplines. These are riders you really need to keep an eye out for during the 2021 season...

Meet Ellie McCarthy, the young dressage rider setting herself up for a successful grand prix career with an exciting string of horses and new yard to match

Ellie McCarthy was always destined for a career in horses, but she could just have easily ended up a professional polo player as a dressage rider. Her father, Spencer, is playing patron of the highly successful Emlor polo team, and Ellie grew up playing Pony Club polo.

“I did BYRDS [British Young Riders Dressage Scheme] when I was very young, but then I fell out of love with competing and played polo for a few years instead. When I was 15 my dad asked me to choose either dressage or polo, and I opted for dressage,” says Ellie, 24, who made her international debut at juniors just two years later riding Casual.

In 2016, Ellie took on the ride on Donna Summer, previously produced and competed to grand prix and on British young rider teams with Olivia Oakeley, eventually buying him in 2018.

“It was with Donna Summer that I learned to really, really love dressage again,” says Ellie. “He was such an amazing schoolmaster; with him I could really focus on myself rather than just what the horse was doing.”

Ellie and Donna Summer were selected to represent Britain at the 2017 young rider European Championships, where they finished 15th individually, in the same year that she took the plunge and moved out to Germany to spend two years training with Helen Langehanenberg.

“It was really amazing to see how they do things out in Germany, where dressage is more of a way of life to people than it is in this country,” said Ellie. “I didn’t really want to come back, but I also wanted to build a business for myself. I set up at home when I got back, with five stables and a small arena. But we have since bought a property down the road – it was actually the riding school where I first learned to ride – and have been rebuilding it. I’ll have two barns, an indoor and outdoor arena, and I plan to start a livery yard alongside my dressage business. I’m most excited to have a full size arena – it’s physically impossible to ride a test in my small arena at home.”

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At the top of Ellie’s string nowadays is Sir Lancelot M, her ride at the 2020 under-25 European Championships. The striking grey Lordanos stallion’s career has been punctured by injury, but Ellie hopes to bring him back into work this winter and has high hopes for him. Sharing the limelight is her latest ride, the stunning Londontime son GB Londero Von Worrenberg, who arrived with her in May this year having been found by her current trainer, Charlotte Dujardin, and shipped from Germany for Ellie to try during the pandemic. Needless to say, he never went back.

“Charlotte and I have been training Londy together – he was tricky in the beginning and is very strong and sensitive. I have to sit really quietly as he gets upset easily by things and is very hot to the leg, but he always tries hard,” says Ellie, who got her competitive partnership with 11-year-old Londy off to a super start this month with double inter II victory at Keysoe High Profile show.

“He is still green at the level, but he felt incredible at Keysoe.”

Her plan for 2021 is to bring both horses out at under-25 grand prix, as well as venturing into the world of seniors.

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Five riders will represent Britain at the youth European dressage championships this month, the only Brits to compete at a championship this year.

The Europeans for ponies, children-on-horses, juniors, young riders and under-25s will all take place at Pilisjaszfalu near Budapest in Hungary, from 11-27 August.

The venue was originally set to host the children and under-25 championships, but after the cancellation of the junior and young rider championships at Hartpury in Britain, and the pony championship at Strzegom, Poland, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Hungarian organisers and national federation offered to host the additional categories.

While British Dressage opted not to send any teams to this year’s combined championships, riders were given the opportunity to put themselves forward to compete as individuals on a self-funded basis.

In the under-25 section, Britain will be represented by Lewis Carrier riding his own 12-year-old Spielberg gelding Diego V, and Ellie McCarthy with Bridget McCarthy’s 15-year-old Lordanos stallion Sir Lancelot M.

Competing in young riders will be Emily Bradshaw on Susan Bradshaw’s 11-year-old Apache gelding Enjoy Amaris V and Alicia Lee riding her own 11-year-old Benetton Dream mare Bonita 466, while Annabella Pidgeley will contest the pony championship on Sarah Pidgeley’s 12-year-old FS Chambertin gelding Cognac IX.

There are no Brits travelling to compete in the children-on-horses or junior sections.

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“When the opportunity came up to go to Hungary, I really wanted to take it and support the venue who are making such a huge effort, especially as we haven’t been able to do much other competing this year,” 23-year-old Lewis told H&H.

“I’ve kept up the training throughout lockdown; I made the most of the opportunity not to work flat out and instead focused on more training at home. We’ve kept Diego ticking over, and it’s been a good time to reflect on our training and try some new things. When we made the decision to campaign to go to Hungary we just stepped up that training, and recently we have been able to get out to some shows to do a couple of grands prix, which went really well.”

The championships will be run in accordance with the FEI Policy for Enhanced Competition Safety during the Covid-19 Pandemic, with measures in place including social distancing and temperature screening.

“Covid is definitely on my mind, and we will all have to be sensible, plan ahead and take plenty of precautions, but I’m not worried,” added Lewis, who will leave on the three-day journey to Hungary this Wednesday (12 August). “It feels really good to support the sport, and not to write off the whole year.”

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The 2020 youth European dressage championships have been “uncancelled” with a new venue stepping in to host all age groups.

Pilsianzfalu in the Budapest region of Hungary, which was set to hold the children on horses and under-25 Europeans, has stepped in to add the junior, young rider and pony championships to its schedule.

These will now take place from 11 to 27 August.

Hartpury was due to host the junior and young rider Europeans in July, while the pony championships were scheduled for Strzegom the same month. All were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hungarian national federation and Pilsianzfalu organisers contacted the FEI, offering to host the additional championships and the proposal was supported by the European Equestrian Federation, the FEI’s dressage calendar task force and dressage technical committee.

The FEI then held a videoconference meeting in early June to finalise arrangements.

“The FEI owes a huge of debt of thanks to both the Hartpury and Strzegom organising teams for all the hard work that they had already put in and share their disappointment in having to cancel their championships because of the pandemic,” said an FEI spokesman.

“We, together with the community, are very grateful to the Hungarian organisers and national federation for stepping in and providing the opportunity for all youth athletes to participate in FEI Dressage European Championships this year.”

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The dressage committee has waived minimum eligibility requirements and the expanded schedule means the event has been extended from six days to two and a half weeks.

Measures will be in place to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 spreading and these will be published on the FEI website ahead of the final entries deadline.

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All FEI young rider, junior and pony European Championships in the Olympic disciplines have been cancelled for 2020 — but a new replacement youth event is to be held this autumn.

Vilamoura Equestrian Centre in Portugal, host of the young rider, junior and children on horses showjumping championships, announced the cancellation today (13 May) as did organisers of the 2020 FEI European Championships for ponies.

This year’s pony dressage, showjumping and eventing championships were set to be held in Strzegom, Poland, from 15 to 19 July but the plug has been pulled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The decision has been taken in consultation with the FEI and with the health of all athletes and everyone involved in mind, and of course fair play rules,” said a statement from the organisers.

“We tried our best to find a new date, but it proved to be extremely difficult to plan a big sports show during the school summer holidays this year.

“We realise that for many athletes the Europeans were their last chance to compete in this age category, so instead of FEI European Championships for ponies, we plan to organise a new event called the European Pony Masters in September or October.”

This will include team and individual competitions in showjumping, eventing and dressage.

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Hartpury’s European Championships and Equifest among latest cancellations

The 2020 dressage and eventing European Championships for young riders and juniors are among the major events to be cancelled

FEI secretary general Sabrina Ibáñez said: “After all the hard work they have put in, it is desperately disappointing for Marcin Konarski and his wonderful team at Strzegom to have to cancel the FEI European Championships for ponies, and also of course for all the young athletes who were planning their season around heading to Poland this summer.

“But it is wonderful that Strzegom has come up with a creative solution, with the new European Pony Masters offering an alternative outing later in the year.”

Ms Ibáñez added it is “so sad” the showjumping championships is “yet another sporting event to fall victim to the pandemic”.

“Especially knowing how much time and effort has already gone into the preparations,” she said. “But it is great that the organisers and the Portuguese national federation have already been so proactive and have come up with a proposal to potentially reschedule the championships in 2021; we will discuss that with the FEI board next month.”

The cancellations follow Hartpury’s abandonment of the 2020 dressage and eventing FEI European Championships for juniors and young riders.

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Hartpury has cancelled its major 2020 equestrian events including the young rider and junior European dressage and eventing championships as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gloucestershire venue has abandoned hopes of running the NAF Hartpury Festival of Dressage (1 to 5 July), NAF Hartpury Showjumping Spectacular (14 to 16 July) and the NAF International Hartpury Horse Trials (12 to 16 August).

The FEI dressage and eventing European Championships for young riders and juniors (27 July to 2 August) have also been cancelled. Hartpury is working with the FEI to establish whether it can host the championships in future years.

“While we are extremely disappointed not to be running any of these competitions in 2020, we feel this is a necessary decision to make in the current circumstances,” said Hartpury’s equine director, Phillip Cheetham.

“The health of staff, volunteers, officials, competitors and visitors to Hartpury remains our top priority as well as reducing any unnecessary pressure on our local NHS services.

“So much work has gone into the preparation for the FEI championships, and we’ll continue to work hard with the FEI to find a way to run the competition bigger and better in future.

“We’d like to thank all our long-standing supporters and sponsors, NAF in particular, who have done so much to help prepare for our 2020 events, and we look forward to working with them again in future. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for celebrations beside the international arena when these challenging times are behind us.”

Hartpury has pledged to refund all tickets and accommodation in the coming weeks.

Provisional dates for next year’s Festival of Dressage are 7 to 11 July 2021, with the horse trials provisionally scheduled for 11 to 15 August 2021.

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Equifest is among the other major events to cancel owing to the pandemic.

The event was due to be held at the East of England Showground from 19 to 23 August.

“Following the guidelines which have been set out by the government for the forthcoming months it will not be possible for us to hold the event this year,” said a statement from the organisers.

“Our paramount concern is for the health and wellbeing of our competitors, exhibitors, judges and stewards during this time. It would not therefore be possible to plan and run an event of this scale while Covid-19 is still prominent throughout the country, and we hope for your support on this decision.

“This is an unprecedented and challenging time for everyone and with Equifest being the largest amateur horse show in the UK, health and safety has to remain our number one priority.”

Organisers have said they will refund online entries and cashed cheques, and destroy any cheques they have not yet paid in. Booked exhibitors will also be refunded.

Next year’s Equifest will take place from 18 to 22 August 2021.

We continue to publish Horse & Hound magazine weekly during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as keeping horseandhound.co.uk up to date with all the breaking news, features and more. Click here for info about magazine subscriptions (six issues for £6) and access to our premium H&H Plus content online.

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The FEI Young Rider European Eventing Championships went down to the wire on the final day at Maarsbergen in The Netherlands this afternoon (14 July). The French team had a 9.5 penalty advantage going into the showjumping, but when Morgane Euriat, the French overnight leader lowered three poles, victory went to the Saracen Horse Feeds-sponsored British team. The team consisted of Felicity Collins (RSH Contend OR), Phoebe Locke (Union Fortunus), Richard Coney (Kananaskis) and Isabelle (Bubby) Upton with Cola. The Netherlands won team bronze, some 57 penalties behind France.

“I’m just so happy for everyone, because it really is a team effort and we’ve all been fantastic,” said Bubby, who also secured individual silver. “What Cola has done this week is beyond all expectations and I’m just so, so proud of him. His showjumping has come on so much this year with the help of my amazing trainers, Tina Fletcher and John Ledingham. I was in the fortunate position where I could have a rail down and still hold onto bronze and to win team gold is such a dream come true.”

The British team completed their full set of medals with Heidi Coy clinching individual bronze on Royal Fury. Heidi, who won double silver at the Junior Europeans last year, was competing as an individual in what is her first year in the young rider ranks.

“I can’t believe it — to climb up from 26th after the dressage to third is amazing and I never ever thought I would win another medal,” said Heidi, who capitalised on a fast clear cross-country round yesterday, being one of only four combinations to make the optimum time. “I was really nervous because I wanted to do well for myself and I didn’t want to let anyone down, but then equally on the other hand it’s just great to be here and I thought if I could finish in the top 20 I would be really happy.”

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Germany’s Emma Brüssau won individual gold with the 10-year-old mare, Dark Desire GS. Third after the first phase, Emma finished on her 25.3 dressage, just .6 of a penalty ahead of Bubby.

“It has been an amazing week,” said Emma. “Every phase was really good, my mare was focused throughout and gave her best — I’m really proud. I know she’s a really good jumper and she hasn’t faulted for the past two years so I trusted her.”

The rest of the British squad also put in great performances. Richard Coney was seventh, Rosa Onslow was 12th with Diamond Sundance, Felicity Collins was 15th and Pheobe Locke showjumped clear to finish 33rd, despite her disappointment incurring penalties across country.

Read about all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 26 July.

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The NAF-sponsored British team held their nerve on the final day of competition at the FEI Junior European Eventing Championships today (14 July) to secure team and individual silver.

Three out of the four team members (Leilia Paske, Georgia Bartlett and Elicia Miller) all showjumped clear, which they needed to do as the French team were just .5 of a penalty behind them in bronze. The German team (Joelle Celina Selenkowitsch, Ann-Catrin Bierlein, Anna Lena Schaaf and Calvin Böckmann) clinched team gold by 10.2 penalties.

Leilia Paske was delighted to rise from fourth overnight into eventual individual silver medal position, thanks to a great round with the Paske Syndicate’s 10-year-old mare, Billy Mcfee (pictured).

“It’s such a surprise, I’m so chuffed and I still can’t quite believe it,” said an emotional Leilia. “I was nervous but at the same time I had this calm about me because our coach Caroline Moore and the back-up team are so good that I knew all I had to do was put my horse in the right places — she’s such an amazing jumper.”

Teammate Georgia Bartlett also put the pressure on the remaining riders when jumping an immaculate clear with Spana de Nazca, rising from sixth to eventual fourth and just .5 of a penalty away from bronze.

“He was amazing and jumped a really good round — I couldn’t have asked for more,” said Georgia. “I wasn’t too nervous going in there — I thought I would be but I had a good plan and stuck to it.”

Germany’s Anna Lena Schaaf held her nerve to jump clear and take individual gold with the 12-year-old chestnut mare, Fairytale 39, who her grandfather bred for dressage. They finished on the 24.1 dressage and some 4.9 penalties ahead of Leilia.

“I hoped we would get a good team result as we have a strong pool of riders to choose from, but I never expected to win individually,” said Anna Lena, who also won double gold at the 2016 pony Europeans. “This mare is a good jumper but has incurred faults on the final day before, so I was quite nervous.”

Fellow German rider Ann-Catrin Bierlein lowered one pole to drop one place into bronze with Auf Geht’s Fraeulein Hummel.

“This is my first Europeans so I’m really happy,” explained Ann-Catrin. “I’ve only ridden this horse since August 2018, but I think we’ve become a good team and it’s been a perfect weekend.”

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British individual rider Alice Casburn finished on her dressage score with Topspin, a horse bred by her mother Caroline, meaning they finished a highly creditable 16th. Elicia Miller was 19th, also finishing on her dressage score with A Sunny Bay, while final team rider Saffie Osborne lowered two poles and incurred 1.6 time faults in the final phase, but still finished 28th with Lakantus, despite a frustrating run-out on the cross-country.

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 26 July.

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As predicted by many competitors, the cross-country proved highly influential at the FEI Young Rider European Eventing Championships today (13 July).

There were 43 finishers from 66 starters, and the leaderboard experienced a huge shake up.

Germany, who led the competition after the dressage phase, crashed out of contention when two of their riders, including individual overnight leader Jerome Robine, fell. They have now dropped to seventh.

Three of the Saracen Horse Feeds British team riders jumped clear, but the optimum time proved very difficult to achieve, with just four combinations getting inside the 8min 36sec time.

The best of the Brits is Bubby Upton, who is in individual bronze with Cola (pictured). They finished some 14 seconds inside the time to sit on their 25.9 dressage.

“He was amazing. I’m just so proud of him,” said Bubby. “The course was causing absolute carnage so I was really lucky to have such great teammates to feed back information to me. Cola is just out of this world — he ate it up. I was kicking like billyo because I thought I was down on the clock but he ended up being easily inside — he wasn’t always a naturally quick horse, so it makes it even more rewarding.”

The next best-placed Brit is Heidi Coy with Royal Fury, who are competing as individuals. They were 10 seconds inside the optimum time and are in fifth on 32.6.

“My horse is so cool — he’s such a cross-country machine and I can trust him,” said Heidi. “He’s brave and careful and gets his legs out the way and he’s about 50% blood so he wasn’t even tired at the end — he could have gone round again. The time wasn’t easy at all — I was kicking for every minute. It was one of the strongest tracks I’ve ever ridden — there were a lot of questions and it was big too.”

Richard Coney climbed from ninth after the dressage to seventh with Kananaskis. They added 8.8 time-faults to a 28.8 dressage.

“It wasn’t the most enjoyable track to ride around due to the tight turns, the trees and the deep sand, but I pushed as much as I could and being in the team, it was important to get round with no jumping penalties,” explained Richard. “I went as fast as I could but he’s not the fastest horse in a straight line but he tried.”

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Team rider Felicity Collins (RSH Contend OR) and second individual Rosa Onslow (Diamond Sundance) also jumped clear across country but incurred some time faults to sit in 14th and 16th place respectively.

The final team rider for Britain, Phoebe Locke (Union Fortunus), had a stop at the first water but was otherwise clear, and is now in 36th.

France now lead in the team competition — they are 9.5 penalties ahead of Britain, who have climbed one place into silver. The team competition is likely to remain between these two nations as the third-placed Netherlands squad is on a score of 159.1. Italy is fourth on 203.3 and Ireland are fifth on 210.6.

The showjumping for the young riders gets underway at 1pm (BST).

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 26 July.

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The NAF British junior eventing team put in some great performances to remain in contention for team and individual medals on cross-country day at the FEI Junior European Eventing Championships today (13 July).

Two standout rounds for Team GB came from Leilia Paske and Georgia Bartlett, who now sit in fifth and sixth place respectively.

“Once I got out there it was really great,” said Leilia of the Paske Syndicate’s Billy Mcfee, a 10-year-old mare (pictured). “I was held for 10 minutes at fence 12 which was fine but it’s always a bit annoying as you just want to get home. My horse was such a good girl and I was really pleased with her — she’s not naturally quick but we still managed to get home 20 seconds inside the optimum time.”

Georgia was equally as pleased with her 13-year-old gelding, Spano de Nazca.

“He was amazing all the way round. It was a different course to usual but he really enjoyed it,” said Georgia, who is 18 and has just finished her A-Levels. “A lot of the track ran through the woods so fences came up much quicker than expected and a lot were off tight turns — it was definitely tougher than last year’s European track in Fontainebleau so I just tried to stay focussed.”

Saffie Osborne, who was in individual silver medal position after the dressage, dropped out of contention after incurring 20 penalties with Lakantus.

“He was awesome, I couldn’t fault him, we just had a really unfortunate blip at fence 5A where he just didn’t see it — we came down to it quite strong and he didn’t lock on,” explained Saffie, who still sits in the top 50% of cross-country finishers.

Elicia Miller put in a great round, going out first for the British team, finishing inside the optimum time with A Sunny Bay, and is in 24th place going into the final showjumping phase.

The British team have dropped one place to bronze, but are just .1 of a penalty behind Ireland in silver.

Lilly Keogh is best of the Irish in fourth with Master Tredstep, finishing on their 28.8 dressage.

“He’s an expert — he feels like a four-year-old and cruised round,” said Lilly of the 17-year-old gelding with whom her father, Aiden competed to five-star. “I started riding him in November as I couldn’t find a junior horse and my dad had retired him from top level eventing — I was just exercising him at the time and dad said ‘sure, go on and see what happens’, so I’m very lucky.”

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Germany sit in team gold medal position with a 14.1 lead over Ireland, with two of their team members occupying individual gold and silver positions — Anna Lena Schaaf and Fairytale 39 and Ann-Catrin Bierlein with Auf Geht’s Fraeulain Hummel. Jeanna Chauvel and Iggy Pop are in bronze for France.

The final horse inspection commences tomorrow morning at 7am (BST), with the showjumping starting at 9.30am (BST).

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 26 July.

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The Saracen Horse Feeds-sponsored British team has fought hard in a very competitive dressage phase at the FEI Young Rider European Eventing Championships at Maarsbergen, in the Netherlands (10-14 July) and hold team bronze medal position going into the cross-country tomorrow.

Two combinations on the team managed to break the 70% barrier, the best of those coming in the form of Isabelle (Bubby) Upton who is fourth individually. Riding her mother Rachel’s Cola, Bubby scored 25.9, which puts her 3.8 penalties adrift of leader Jerome Robine and Gucci R Old, who scored an impressive 22.1 for Germany.

“I was so pleased with Cola — he’s very level-headed and so took a bit of a risk and got on him just 20 minutes before my test,” explained Bubby. “Unfortunately he then got quite hot and spooky in the 10-minute box and I was thinking ‘oh God’, but he was such a pro when he went into the competition arena — he’s not been in many big arenas before and everything was very close, such as the speakers and the crowd, so I was really proud of him.”

French rider Morgane Euriat holds the individual silver medal position with Baccarat d’Argonne on 23.4, while Germany’s Emma Brüssau is in bronze with Dark Desire GS on a score of 25.3.

Richard Coney is the next best-placed British rider, sitting in ninth with Kananaskis (28.8), with Felicity Collins behind him in 24th on RSH Contend OR (32.3) and the final team rider, Phoebe Locke is 27th with Union Fortunus (32.7).

The two British individual riders, Heidi Coy (Royal Fury, 32.6) and Rosa Onslow (Diamond Sundance, 33.3) are 26th and 33rd respectively.

Germany lead the team competition, 3.8 penalties ahead of France, who are on a score of 79.8, while Ireland is eighth.

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The young rider cross-country is due to get underway at 1pm (BST) tomorrow and course designer Eric Winter has set a real challenge for combinations.

“It’s very tough and big — I would say Eric has definitely built a mini-Badminton, so it’s definitely all to play for,” said Bubby.

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 26 July.

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The NAF-sponsored British junior team have got proceedings off to a strong start at the FEI Junior European Eventing Championships at Maarsbergen, in the Netherlands (10-14 July) after the dressage phase.

Saffron (Saffie) Osborne is the best-placed Brit, sitting in individual silver medal position ahead of tomorrow’s cross-country. Riding Lord and Lady Blyth’s nine-year-old Lakantus (pictured), Saffie posted a score of 24.8 earlier today.

“I was really chuffed with how Lakantus went, but unfortunately we had a costly error where he changed legs in the counter canter,” explained 17-year-old Saffie, the reigning European pony eventing champion, who is contesting her first year in juniors. “But he held himself really well and we picked up some great marks apart from that, so I was pleased.”

Germany’s Anna Lena Schaaf leads the way with Fairytale 39, just .7 of a penalty ahead of Saffie.

Germany also lead the team competition, just .6 of a penalty ahead of Britain, who are on a team score of 83.6, with German rider Anna-Catrin Bierlein (Auf Geht’s Fraeulein Hummel) in individual bronze on 25.3.

The Irish team is third on a score of 95.1, with Lilly Keogh the best of their riders in fourth on 28.8.

The next best-placed Brit is Leilia Paske, who is sixth with Billy Mcfee on 29, while Georgia Bartlett, is seventh with Spano de Nazca on 29.8. Alice Casburn, an individual rider for Britain is 41st on 36.4 with Topspin and Elicia Miller, who was a late call up to the squad after Saffron Cresswell suffered concussion in a fall at Barbury last weekend, is 57th with A Sunny Bay on 38.4.

Fellow British rider, Milo Kennedy, unfortunately withdrew his mount Moher Prince from the holding box at the first horse inspection, which means the squad are fielding just five riders.

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The cross-country looks like it will be a true championship test, starting at 8.30am (BST) tomorrow.

“It seems like a really good course — it’s big and bold with some technical combinations and hopefully the time will be tight so it will be a good competition,” said Saffie.

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 26 July.

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Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I have just got back from my first ever European Championships in the young riders and as you have probably already seen by now, the team came home with GOLD!

As usual there has been a lot of travelling and plenty of heat for us. We all headed out to Fontainebleau, France on the Friday evening and were out there for a week. Team GB vet, Mark, kept the horses feeling healthy; a week in 30 degree heat, jumping so many rounds can be a lot for them, but they all looked and felt great. This is so important at these kind of events as the horses need to be really consistent in their jumping. Every score counts towards your final result, so an off day can cost you the competition.

When taking your horse abroad there is so much you have to think about — packing the lorry is a whole event in itself! I actually write myself a little checklist to make sure I don’t forget anything, but that doesn’t always mean we don’t. It would be very embarrassing if we arrived and I realised I hadn’t packed any of my Redmills feed or Foran supplements, so Cash Up’s breakfast, lunch and dinner is always first to be loaded. After that, I make sure I’ve got all my gear; my Kaval kit, Charles Owen hat, brand new Filli Fabbri boots (I’m a little obsessed with them, as you can probably tell!), and all our CWD tack.

This year was the first of the new format, which was really interesting to be a part of. One of the biggest changes is that medals went to five members of each podium team, rather than four. This is because the first day is run as table C, where each horse goes against the clock with four seconds added for every pole you have down. Each of the five riders have their turn in the ring and the best three scores count towards the final team score. This new format is great — it means everyone has more of a chance at being counted than they would have done in the old format. After this, normal service is resumed and four of the riders jump two more rounds with the top three of each round counting towards the final score. The fifth rider (me!) also jumps in these rounds to try and qualify for the final individual round, although no matter their score, they cannot be counted in the team total.

I’ll give you a minute while you take some time to re-read that and take it in…!

As with any championship, the courses were cleverly built with lots of areas that needed serious thought and precision. Course designer, Gregory Bodo, was creative with his designs, incorporating the gradients that the Fontainebleau grass ring is renowned for and using the nature of the arena to his advantage. One particular area that caused a lot of trouble was right by the gate into the arena. During one round, he built a combination where you had to ride up a hill and come back down just as you were turning into it, an element that a lot of us weren’t particularly used to, but a great rider learning curve to take home with us.

Z7 Cash Up and I sadly had one down in our first two rounds which put us out of contention for the individual medals. However, as part of Team GB we still got to experience the UNBELIEVABLE feeling of standing at the top of the podium.

It was such a proud moment for everyone when GB won gold. Being on the podium with my team mates, standing to our national anthem and receiving our medals is a moment that will stay with us all forever.

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This was my first European Championships and the atmosphere among both the riders and Team GB management was amazing. I think this is so important and really reflects in the results that teamwork is a key aspect of success. I have to say a HUGE thank you to NAF UK for supporting the teams, Tony Newbury, our chef d’equipe for everything he did, and the rest of the team for all their support. Everyone contributed to the great atmosphere which completely made my week. Also, a huge shout out and well done to our individual medal winners, Harry Charles and Olli Fletcher.

Finally, I am so grateful to Breen Equestrian for all the doors they have and continue to open for me, and to Team Z7 for all their ongoing support.

Next up, the Royal International Horse Show on my home turf here at Hickstead — keep your fingers crossed for us and watch this space to see how we get on in the ring and behind the scenes!

Georgia

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After yesterday’s dramatic cross-country day at the young rider European eventing championships in Millstreet, Ireland, the British team fought hard to come away with individual silver and team bronze medals.

Alex Kennedy (pictured top) added nothing to her dressage score of 41.3 to take home the individual silver. Riding her 12 year old grey Lissangle Cavaletto B, Alex put in a foot-perfect performance in what was a dramatic championships.

Germany’s Hanna Knuppel, who was second after the dressage, but rose to first after British rider Sam Ecroyd fell on the cross-country, had a fence in hand over Alex on the final day. Nerves were rattled when she had the second fence down, but she held it together to take individual gold with Carismo 22.

British-based Dutch rider, Janou Bleekman and Granntevka Prince capitalised on their clear showjumping round inside the time, of which there were only eight from the 40 final day starters, to rise from eighth to eventual bronze medal position.

Ireland’s Cathal Daniels put the disappointment of teammate Susie Berry and Morswood, who were in second after the cross-country, being spun at the final trot-up, behind them to notch another good clear jumping round with Sammy Davis Junior to finish in fourth.

Individual British rider, Lizzie Baugh, and Quarry Man enjoyed their first taste of a championship when finishing ninth thanks to a fantastic double clear.

Katie Bleloch and the super-consistent Bulano, were the next best-placed Brits in 11th.

“I’m so pleased,” said Katie, who is in her final year of young riders. “I’ve waited three years to get a medal so I’m over the moon to have finally managed it. I’ve never ridden so fast in the showjumping, due to the tight time, but my horse didn’t touch a pole.”

Felicity Collins, who was a member of the junior team last year with her hugely promising eight year old, RSH Contend Or added just one showjumping time-fault to wind up in 13th place.

The final rider for Britain to complete was Libby Seed. She had a pole down at fence three to finish a respectable 16th with Philanderer.

“My horse was a bit awestruck going into the arena so I had to ride him quite strongly, which is why we had that fence down,” explained Libby. “But he’s been a really good boy all week and the further we went round the course, the better he got.”

The top three teams finished well clear of the rest of the field. Thanks to Britain’s consistent performances, the team clinched the bronze, which is a great result to add to the junior’s individual gold and team silver medals.

It ended up being a tight battle for the gold and silver medals between Germany and the Netherlands, but Germany held on to finish 2.2 penalties ahead of the Dutch.

Continued below…

Drama at YR European eventing championships final trot-up: individual contender not accepted

There was huge disappointment for one combination the

‘I’m in a dream world’: Bubby Upton takes individual gold at junior Europeans — team win silver

Britain's junior eventers were on flying form in

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There was much jubilance in the Great British camp at the junior European eventing championships today (23 July) as they took individual gold and team silver medals in Millstreet, Ireland.

Isabelle (Bubby) Upton led from start to finish to claim gold on Eros DHI, incurring two time-faults, which she could afford. The pair finished 3.9 penalties clear of their nearest rivals.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet — I can’t believe it, I’m in a dream world,” smiled Bubby. “I was confident and he jumped clear when it really mattered,” she said, referring to the fact ‘Ero’ has had one pole down at his past four events in the UK.

Bubby prevented a German whitewash with three of their team riders claiming silver, bronze and fourth. They were Gesa Staas (St Stacy), Emma Brussau (Donnerstag 20) and Antonia Baumgart (Little Rose 9).

“We’re very happy and we’ve had such a nice time,” said Emma. “We must thank our new trainer Julia Krajewski [German Olympic eventer] — she is our idol and we’re glad we have done her proud.”

Phoebe Locke jumped one of the best rounds of the day on the super-consistent Union Fortunas, notching up a clear to wind up in fifth.

“He’s amazing and I couldn’t have asked for any more,” said an emotional Phoebe of her 10 year old, that has only lowered two poles during the past two seasons.

Third British team member, Richard Coney, was seventh with Kananaskis, again notching two time-faults in an otherwise beautiful clear round.

“I didn’t think I was going that slowly, but my horse jumped so well,” said Richard.

Final team rider, Imogen White knocked two fences and clocked three time-faults to be 26th with Emill.

“He was very spooky, but I’m so lucky to be here,” said Imogen, making her British team debut.

Individual rider Sasha Hargreaves rose 26 places after the dressage to finish 21st with Playtime. The pair jumped a great round, picking up one time-fault.

“He’s improved so much and it’s so emotional to have gone so well,” said a tearful Sasha.

The other British individual rider, Holly Needham, didn’t have the best time in the showjumping with Strike A Pose, incurring 21 faults to sit in 41st place.

“I have always known that he’s quirky,” said a disappointed Holly. “We were flying by the end so it’s a shame.”

The team standings remained unchanged from after the cross-country.

Germany took the gold with a winning margin of 11.5 penalties from Britain in silver. Although Ireland fought to move from fourth to third, two fences down and a time-fault prevented them from doing so, which meant France kept the bronze.

Continued below…

Drama at YR European eventing championships final trot-up: individual contender not accepted

There was huge disappointment for one combination the

Dream day for Britain’s junior eventers at European championships

Find out how Britain's junior eventers have finished

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The final horse inspection at the young rider European eventing championships in Millstreet, Ireland today (23 July) was filled with drama as one horse was not accepted by the ground jury.

Irish team rider Susie Berry, who was in individual silver medal position after the cross-country with Morswood (pictured at the first horse inspection on Wednesday), was eliminated upon reinspection after being held.

Susie, who is based in England with Piggy French, enjoyed a great cross-country round yesterday to rise two places after the dressage, but her nine year old did not look quite right behind as he was trotted up.

There was long deliberation between the vet and ground jury consisting of James Rooney (IRL), Dr. Katrin Eichinger-Kniely (AUT) and Gerd Kust (GER), but they eventually decided not to let the combination continue any further in the competition.

This is also a huge blow to the Irish team, who were in fourth after the cross-country. They have now slipped to last place in 10th behind Spain, as the team now only has two competitors (Cathal Daniels and Nessa Briody) after Tessa Harley’s horse, Catsky was withdrawn before the cross-country with an injury.

Britain’s Alex Kennedy now goes into the final showjumping phase in individual silver medal position with Lissangle Cavaletto B. She is some 5.3 penalties behind the leader, German rider Hannah Knüppel, a combination that had two fences down on the final day at last year’s young rider European championships in Montelibretti, Italy.

Britain sit comfortably in team bronze, with a 37.2 penalty buffer over Sweden in fourth. The Netherlands are 14.4 penalties ahead of Britain, with the leading German team just 2.2 penalties in front.

All British junior horses were accepted and Bubby Upton will hope to take individual glory at lunchtime, with the team less than two fences behind current leaders, Germany.

Continued below…

Disappointment for British individual at YR Europeans and exciting result for debutante

Cross-country day has been full of drama at

Dream day for Britain’s junior eventers at European championships

Find out how Britain's junior eventers have finished

The showjumping begins at 11am.

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It was a day of ups and downs for Britain’s young rider European eventing team on cross-country day at Millstreet, Ireland today (22 July).

Dressage leader, Sam Ecroyd, needed to jump a clear round but unfortunately came to grief at the second water, riding Tallaher Sunrise. Twenty-year-old Sam was last out on course for the British team, and a clear round inside the optimum time wouldn’t just have meant that he would maintain his individual lead, but the team would narrowly jump into gold medal position too. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be and Sam fell off when his horse whipped left-handed at a water cascade rail (pictured top, jumped by Alex Kennedy).

“The sun decided to come out for the first time this week as I started my round,” explained a gutted Sam, who had also been held for an hour at the start following falls on course. “My horse spooked and I came off.”

Germany’s Hannah Knüppel put in a fast and clear cross-country round on Carismo 22, to rise from second into first, while Ireland’s Susie Berry put in a great round on Morswood to finish in second, despite collecting 2.8 time-faults.They are on a score of 41.2.

“He was very good,” said Susie, who is based with Piggy French in Britain. “I accidentally stopped my watch half-way round which didn’t help and then he hit a bit of a wall so I nursed him home.”

Susie is 5.2 penalties behind Hanna, but the German had two fences down at last year’s championships, so it is all still to play for.

Best of the Brits is young rider debutante Alex Kennedy (pictured), who rode from sixth to third on Lissangle Cavaletto B, to wind up just 0.1 of a penalty behind Susie. The pair flew around the testing course, designed by Mike Etherington-Smith, to finish bang on the optimum time of 8 minutes 49 seconds.

“My horse was incredible,” smiled Alex, who is second rider to British eventer Mille Dumas. “It was like he knew where he was going. There was no room for faffing on the course and you had to be awake the whole way. I’m pleased it’s over but I’d now happily do it all again!”

British team pathfinder, Katie Bleloch, is in 12th riding Bulano, thanks again to a speedy clear.

“He was so straight and there wasn’t one hairy moment, which is a nice thing to have achieved,” said Katie.

Felicity Collins has risen some 23 places to 15th, after a classy round on the eight-year-old RSH Contend OR.

“He was so strong but he answered every question,” said Felicity who was physically exhausted after piloting her keen horse around the track. “I’m so proud of him.”

Individual riders Libby Seed (Philanderer) and Lizzie Baugh (Quarry Man) also enjoyed two good rounds.

Lizzie incurred 1.6 time-faults to wind up in 17th.

“He was awesome, especially as I’ve only had him for six months,” explained Lizzie. “I was told to attack the course and that’s exactly what I did.”

Libby finished spot on the optimum time but was awarded 20 penalties after a wobble at a corner at fence 14b.

“We got to the bottom of the first part after we had been held before the fence,” explained Libby of the youngest son by Jumbo and who still does stallion duties at West Kington Stud. “So I put in a wiggle to give us more time to get to the corner, but we definitely didn’t cross our tracks.”

Although being contested, the penalties still stood after the cross-country, but they were later taken away, putting Lizzie into 11th.

The team standings have all changed. Reigning champions France, who were leading, have dropped to seventh after a day of refusals, falls and time-faults.

Germany added just 0.6 of a penalty to their dressage score to end up in gold medal position on 125.7. The Netherlands has risen from fourth to second to lie on 127.9, while Britain has maintained their bronze medal position, finishing today on a score of 142.3. They have more than a 25 penalty lead over Ireland in fourth.

Continued below…

‘He’s never done a test like it’: Sam Ecroyd holds individual gold after dressage at YR Europeans

Britain has had a good day at the

Dream day for Britain’s junior eventers at European championships

Find out how Britain's junior eventers have finished

The young rider showjumping begins at 2pm tomorrow following the final horse inspection.

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 27 July.

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Things couldn’t have gone any better for Great Britain’s eventers on cross-country day at the junior European eventing championships in Millstreet, Ireland today (22 July) with all six riders jumping clear inside the optimum time.

Isabelle (Bubby) Upton (pictured top and below) had it all to lose riding Eros DHI, after a dressage test that put her almost six penalties ahead of her nearest rival in second place. Riding her mother’s eight-year-old, Bubby flew around the Mike Etherington-Smith designed course, finishing clear and 15 seconds inside the optimum time of 8 minutes 11 seconds to maintain her lead.

“‘Ero’ was amazing and so straight the whole way,” smiled Bubby. “We were cruising and I had to steady him a bit to the last as we were so up on the time. We had a bit of a sticky moment at the first water where I got my stick out to give him some encouragement and he ended up leaping off the drop and we almost didn’t make the turn out to the angled duck. But after that I said to him, ‘come on, we’ve got to get on with this’ and he was just unbelievable.”

Germany’s Gesa Staas holds her second place with St Stacy, while her fellow countryman, Emma Brüssau is in third with Donnerstag 20.

Phoebe Locke is in fifth with Union Fortunas. She said that she has “no problems” despite her horse only measuring 15.2hh.

Team pathfinder, Richard Coney, is in seventh with Kananaskis, while final team member Imogen White is in 14th with Emill.

“He’s so spooky, but is really clever and an old hand at his job,” said a jubilant Imogen. “I love him to pieces and he was so straight and on it.”

Individual riders Holly Needham and Sasha Hargreaves both enjoyed their team GB debuts, cruising round on Strike A Pose and Playtime to finish in 21st and 31st respectively.

“I never dreamed we would be here,” said Holly. “My horse pulled from the start and we really did fly.”

In the team competition, the top three teams remain unchanged from the dressage.

Germany lead on 95.2, while Britain are in silver medal position, not too far behind on 102.7. France are in third on a score of 136.

Continued below…

‘I was in floods of tears’: British rider in gold after first phase at junior European championships

Find out how the junior British eventing team

The showjumping commences after the trot-up at 11am.

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 27 July.

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Tullaher Sunrise, the mount of British rider Sam Ecroyd, needed to score a personal best in the dressage at the young rider European eventing championships in Millstreet, Ireland today (21 July) to take the lead, and that is just what he did.

“He’s never done a test like it,” said 20-year-old Sam of ‘Carlow’, a nine-year-old owned by Sam’s mother, Penny, who scored 35.7 (76.18%). “He’s good at dressage, but the team both at home and at these championships have put so much work into him to make the marginal gains we needed to produce a mark like that, and we couldn’t have done it without them.”

The last few riders to go in the first phase were snapping at Sam’s heels, but none could quite get in front of him.

Third-placed Frenchman, Victor Levecque, looked like he could take a commanding lead over Sam, but four small mistakes dropped him and his horse, RNH MC Ustinov, down to a score of 38.3.

Hannah Knüppel and Carismo 22, of Germany, again came close to Sam, but had to settle for second at this stage of the competition on a score of 36.

Ireland’s Susie Berry, who is based in England with Piggy French, produced a very consistent test on Morswood to slot into fourth place on 38.4.

The next best-placed Brit is fellow team rider Alex Kennedy, who is currently lying in sixth riding Lissangle Cavaletto B, on a score of 41.3. British individual rider, Lizzie Baugh, is 26th on 47.7 riding Quarry Man, while team member Katie Bleloch is 28th on 48.3 riding Bulano. Final team rider, Felicity Collins, did a good job on a tense-looking RSH Contendor to score 52.7, but was understandably disappointed with her mark which leaves her in 38th. The final individual rider for Britain is Libby Seed and Philanderer, who sit in 35th on 52.2.

France lead the team competition on 121, some 4.1 penalties clear of second-placed Germany, with Britain closely behind in bronze medal position on a score of 125.3. Ireland are in fifth on 136.2, behind the Netherlands.

Weather conditions were poor all day, with torrential rain falling throughout the afternoon session of dressage, which could play a huge part in the cross-country tomorrow.

Sam Ecroyd said: “It’s a proper championship cross-country track, and it won’t be a dressage competition, particularly with the weather we’ve had today and the impact it could have on the ground. When I walked the course this morning, I thought it could take more rain, but we’ve had an awful lot of it, so we will have to wait and see.”

Continued below…

‘I was in floods of tears’: British rider in gold after first phase at junior European championships

Find out how the junior British eventing team

The young rider cross-country follows on from the junior competition and will start at 2pm.

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 27 July

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Britain’s Isabelle (Bubby) Upton put in the dressage test of her life at the junior European eventing championships in Millstreet, Ireland today (21 July). Riding the eight-year-old Eros DHI, the pair posted a remarkable score of 23.9 to go into individual gold medal position after the first phase.

An understandably emotional Bubby, who is 18 years old, burst into tears upon completing her test.

“I was in floods of tears,” she laughed. “‘Ero’ was so with me in the warm-up and I felt like we could produce a good test. The atmosphere can sometimes get to him, so we’ve worked him hard this week, and he came out today and knew exactly what he had to do.

“I was a bit apprehensive of the counter canter movements as a lot of people broke in them, and Ero was getting a bit tired in his test, but it couldn’t have gone any better. He’s grown up, matured and strengthened so much last year and it wouldn’t have happened without my dressage trainers; Judy Harvey, Ruth McMullen and Fiona Bowen,” explained Bubby.

Bubby’s 84%+ score puts her almost six penalties ahead of her nearest rival, German rider Gesa Staas and St Stacy who sit on 29.8.

The next best placed Brit is Pheobe Locke and Union Fortunas who lie in sixth on 38.5, while fellow Brit Richard Coney is in eighth with Kananaskis on 40.3.

Great Britain hold team silver medal position at this stage of the competition, 7.5 penalties adrift of Germany who lie on a score of 95.2.

The German team riders hold second, third and fourth spots individually, while France are in team bronze on a score of 131.3.

Britain’s fourth team member, Imogen White and Emill are in 20th on 45.2. The other individual riders are Holly Needham and Strike A Pose (48.4, 29th) and Sasha Hargreaves and Playtime (52.1, 47th).

The Irish team of Anna Power, Jim Tyrrell, Correna Bowe and Anna Kelly are in sixth, with Anna and Lakantus the best-placed in 10th on 41.

The Mike Etherington-Smith-designed cross-country track looks to be a serious test, requiring horses and riders to be both attacking and accurate. Bubby predicted that the optimum time of 8 minutes 16 seconds will be a challenge to achieve.

“I think the time will be tight and it will need a lot of riding,” she said.

The cross-country kicks off at 9.30am tomorrow.

Keep up-to-date with all the action from the championships at horseandhound.co.uk, plus don’t miss the full report in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 27 July.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Britain’s junior event riders fought gallantly to maintain their team bronze medal position at the Junior European Eventing Championships in Montelibretti, Italy today (25 September).

First to jump for the team was Isabelle (Bubby) Upton riding her mother’s seven-year-old Eros DHI. The pair jumped a clear round but picked up two time-faults.

Bubby burst into tears upon exiting the arena.

“These are happy tears,” she laughed. “My horse hasn’t had the best season in the showjumping phase, but I knew if I did everything right we could jump a clear round. I’m so proud of him.” Bubby finished in 16th place individually.

Championship debutante Felicity Collins (pictured) then jumped an immaculate clear round on the seven-year-old RSH Contend Or.

“My horse was fresh and squealing in the warm-up and he went into the arena and was a bit spooky, but he just jumped higher. It’s great to be a counting score for the team,” said Felicity. The pair finished in a highly respectable ninth place individually.

Next to go was individual rider Chelsea Pearce who again rode a beautiful clear round on Albert.

“That was the best round he’s jumped this season and I’m delighted with how he has performed all week,” said Chelsea who finished best of the Brits in eighth place.

Team rider Phoebe Locke was unlucky to have fence four down to drop from seventh to 11th place individually.

“It was my fault,” said a gutted Phoebe.

Final team rider Richard Coney had the final fence down plus one time-fault to finish in 13th place on Kananaskis.

“I thought we jumped a good round and overall I’m pleased with how my horse has gone this week,” said Richard.

Germany won the team competition just 4.7 penalties ahead of second placed France who were over 12 penalties ahead of Britain.

Anais Neumann won individual gold, finishing on her dressage score of 38.5 on Pumuckel E after the cross-country leader, Jerome Robine also of Germany, had three fences down, dropping him to seventh place.

Frenchman Victor Levecque won silver on Phunambule Des Auges and a delighted Sofia Sjoborg, a British-based Swede took individual bronze riding DHI Mighty Dwight.

Young rider final fence drama

The young rider team and individual competition went down to the wire, with medals being decided right up until the final rider jumped the final fence in the showjumping.

The course produced only four clears inside the time and was the undoing of the German team who had a 10.4 penalty lead over the French going into the showjumping.

Marie Charlotte Fuss of France rose from individual 10th to gold thanks to a clear showjumping round on Sillas De La Nee. Her team mate Alexis Goury had one fence down on Trompe L’Oeil D’Emery and Victor Burtin had two fences down on Early Van Ter Nieuwbeke, but it was enough to take team gold by nearly nine penalties.

Cross-country leader Marie-Sophie Arnold had two fences in hand to maintain her gold medal position on Remember Me 74, but when she had three fences down, including the final fence, she passed victory to Marie Charlotte, and dropped to individual fourth.

German individual Hella Meise had one fence down on First Flight’s Beauty to clinch silver, while one fence down was enough for Frenchman Alexis Goury to take home bronze.

Britain’s three remaining riders in the competition rode classy rounds, all jumping clear.

India Wishart incurred one time-fault on The Masters Harry to finish best of the Brits in ninth place.

“He’s such a good boy,” smiled India. “The one time-fault is annoying but I wanted to do our best and I think we did that.”

Rocky Rockstar, the mount of Ella Hitchman, never looked like touching a pole to finish in 13th place.

“That’s not a bad place for us to jump our first clear round this year is it?” laughed Ella. “I was shaking when I put Rocky’s boots on as I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform but he was amazing.”

Katie Bleloch incurred two time-faults on Bulano to finish in eventual 16th.

“I’m delighted,” said Katie. “Bulano felt a million dollars this morning and he jumped his socks off.”

Despite only finishing with two team members, following the retirement of Will Furlong on the cross-country and the withdrawal of Sam Ecroyd and Opera House before the final trot-up, the British team finished in fifth on a score of 1,123.8 (1,000 penalties are given to a team per eliminated rider) behind Italy in bronze and Belgium in fourth.

For a full report from the Junior and Young Rider Eventing Championships, don’t miss next week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine (29 September).

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Any chances of a team and individual medal for the British young rider eventing team were brought to an abrupt halt this morning (25 September) due to the injury of a key contender.

Opera House, the ride of Sam Ecroyd (pictured), was found to have suffered a minor injury following the cross-country at the European Young Rider Eventing Championships in Montelibretti, Italy yesterday.

Chef D’equipe of the British young rider team, Alex Colquhoun said: “We discovered a minor injury to Opera House following the cross-country and was unable to present to the second trot-up this morning. It’s very unfortunate and obviously hugely disappointing for Sam and the team.”

Britain was in fourth place in the team competition after the cross-country, within striking distance of bronze behind the Italian team, but when team member Will Furlong retired on the cross-country, the team was down to three members. With the loss of Sam, who was in individual fifth and also had a shot at an individual medal, the team is now eliminated.

There are three British young riders left in the competition. India Wishart and The Masters Harry finished the cross-country in 19th place, while Ella Hitchman and Rocky Rockstar are in 27th place and Katie Bleloch and Bulano are in 28th.

The showjumping phase begins at 12pm GMT.

All British medal hopes will now be pinned on the junior team who currently hold bronze. The final medals will be decided later this morning, concluding at 11.30am GMT.

For a full report from the Junior and Young Rider Eventing Championships, don’t miss next week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine (29 September).

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

British hopes were dashed at the Young Rider European Eventing Championships in Montelibretti, Italy today (24 September).

Will Furlong, who was the dressage leader riding Livingstone, retired at fence eight on the cross-country course, Guiseppe’s Lake, after he felt that his horse wasn’t quite right.

Chef d’equipe of the British young rider team, Alex Colquhoun, said: “Sadly we found that Livingstone was lame this morning with a foot abscess. Our team worked hard to get him right and so Will started the cross-country, but unfortunately he pulled him up at fence eight after he felt he wasn’t quite right.”

This is a blow to the British team who have now slipped from third to fourth in the team standings, less than four penalties behind third-placed Italy.

Sam Ecroyd rode a class round on Opera House, finishing three seconds inside the optimum time to now sit in fifth place individually.

“My horse has never run in this heat — he’s used to competing in Wales!” said Sam, referring to temperatures of 27 degrees at the time he tackled the tough track.

“Opera House really tried for me but we had to fight for the clear round. I felt him starting to tire at the second water at fence 18 which is only a little over halfway round so I had to nurse him a little bit.”

The next best placed Brit is India Wishart riding The Masters Harry who jumped a clear round but incurred 11.6 time-faults — they lie in 19th place.

Fellow team member Ella Hitchman is in 27th place after a classy clear across country on Rocky Rockstar. They incurred 7.6 time-faults.

British individual rider Katie Bleloch said she had a “foot-perfect round” on Bulano. They picked up eight time-faults and sit in 28th place.

The Germans continue to dominate, holding all top three individual spots following the cross-country.

Marie-Sophie Arnold jumped clear inside the time (one of only seven to do so) to move up from silver to gold medal position riding Remember Me 74. Individual German rider Rebecca-Juana Gerken is in silver medal position riding Scipio S and Hanna Knuppel (team rider) is in bronze riding Carismo 22. Just 7.5 penalties separate the top seven individual spots.

Best of the Irish riders is Elizabeth Hayden riding Loughnatousa Joey who is in 12th place. The Irish team sit in fifth place after Susie Berry and Kelley Hutchinson incurred 20 penalties each.

Junior European Eventing Championships

Britain’s junior riders enjoyed an almost perfect cross-country day with five out of their six riders jumping clear inside the time, to hold on to their team bronze medal going into the showjumping tomorrow. They are less than one showjump (four penalties) behind the second-placed team, France.

Best placed Brit is Phoebe Locke, who sits in seventh place riding Union Fortunus.

“My horse found the track very easy and I wasn’t worried at all as he’s jumped double clear pretty much all season,” said Phoebe.

Fellow team member Richard Coney is just behind Phoebe in eighth place on his lovely little bay horse Kananaskis. Standing at just 15.1hh, he ate up the track to finish 11 seconds inside the optimum time.

Individual rider Chelsea Pearce is in 11th place on Albert. Unfortunately fellow individual rider Chelsea Round fell off when her horse, Fleetwood Mac, ground to a halt at fence 16a — a log into water. Both Chelsea and her horse were fine.

Remaining two team members Felicity Collins (RSH Contend Or) and Bubby Upton (Eros DHI) are in 13th and 17th place respectively.

Again Germany dominate proceedings with a commanding 17.5-penalty lead in the team standings over second-placed France.

Individually Germany hold gold and silver medal positions with Jerome Robine (Guccimo R) and Anais Neumann (Pumuckel E) maintaining their dressage places respectively. France’s Victor Levecque is in bronze.

The Irish team are in fifth place.

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Will Furlong (pictured) got off to a strong start in the Young Rider European Eventing Championships in Montelibretti, Italy today (23 September).

In a bid to defend his 2015 individual and team gold titles, Will rode an almost perfect dressage test on 13-year-old Livingstone to score 40.9.

“I’m so pleased,” said Will. “Livingstone has been quite fresh this week so we’ve put quite a lot of work into him and I think we had him just right today. He was slightly on edge in his canter work and his two halts weren’t quite where I would have wanted them, but other than that I thought it was good.

“I knew what we were capable of doing and Livingstone performed as well as he could. More people suddenly arrived for the final session of dressage [in which Will was included] and so there was quite a bit of atmosphere, but my horse really tried.”

Chef d’equipe Alex Colquhoun said: “If riders got anything wrong in their tests, they were really battered for it by the judges.”

Twenty-one year-old Will said that the cross-country tomorrow could catch quite a few out.

“There’s not one fence in particular that I think will cause problems, but there’s plenty of cleverly built combinations scattered throughout the course which I think could prove problematic for some. Going later in the day [Will will be the third from last rider out on course], should work in my favour.”

Other top British young rider, Sam Ecroyd, made one significant mistake in his dressage test on Opera House when his horse struck off in the wrong canter lead twice out of the extended walk movement. The pair are in 17th place after the first phase on a score of 49.5.

India Wishart is the second best placed Brit in 11th place riding The Masters Harry, who is typically a good performer in the jumping phases.

Rocky Rockstar, the mount of Ella Hitchman, unfortunately got his tongue over the bit at the start of their test and they sit in 44th place on a score of 56.6, while Katie Bleloch (individual rider) is in 48th on Bulano on a score of 57.9.

Germany’s Marie-Sophie Arnold is in individual second place on Remember Me 74 and Giulio Gugliemi of Italy is in individual third riding Mister Brightside.

There are two Irish riders in the top 10 — Elizabeth Hayden in eighth riding Lougnatousa Joey and Susie Berry is in 10th riding Vanir Hello Duca.

In the team standings, Britain are in bronze medal position on a score of 137.1, but things are tight at the top. Germany are in gold medal position on 132.5 while second-placed France are on a score of 136.3. Ireland are in fifth place in the team competition, just 0.5 of a penalty behind fourth placed Italy who are on 141.5.

Junior European Eventing Championships

German rider Jerome Robine has a commanding lead in the junior competition. Riding the eight-year-old Guccimo R by Grafenstolz, the 18-year-old rider scored 33.4, over five penalties clear of second placed German rider Anais Neumann. Frenchman Romain Sans sits in third place on Enzo Van’t Vennehof.

The best placed British rider is Phoebe Locke riding Union Fortunus in 10th place. Richard Coney is in 12th, Chelsea Pearce (individual rider) is in 16th, Felicity Collins is in 18th, Chelsea Round (individual rider) is in 21st and Isabelle (Bubby) Upton is in 28th.

The British team is in bronze medal position after the dressage on a score of 134.5. Germany lead the team competition on 113.8 while France are in silver medal position on 125.5.

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