Annabella Pidgley wins European gold as Britain’s next generation impress

Annabella pidgley European gold — Annabella Pidgley and Gio win gold at the FEI Dressage European Championships for U25.

(Image credit: Lukasz Kowalski)

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.

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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).

‘It’s such an honour’: European individual gold as Britain’s next generation impresses

Young riders take team bronze

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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