Laura Collett and London 52: the hot favourites to take this year’s individual gold in a head to head against Germany’s Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
After a season full of 4 p.m. first horse inspections, there’s something very discombobulating about heading to the trot strip at noon – but when there’s an Opening Ceremony to cram into the afternoon, plus plenty of team course walks to cram in, efficiency is key. And so, already, with the day scarcely begun and the morning’s second coffee still steaming and untouched in its cup, we’ve already wrapped up the first hurdle of the 2025 Agria FEI European Eventing Championships.
55 horses and riders representing seventeen nations made their way to the South Lawn of Blenheim Palace, nestled on the outskirts of Oxford, to place their bid for acceptance into this week’s Championship – and happily, all 55 have been given the nod, without so much as a single hold.
Padraig McCarthy and Pomp N Circumstance. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The ground jury, which is presided over by Great Britain’s Sandy Phillips, and also hosts Austria’s Katrin Eichinger-Kniely and the USA’s Valerie Pride, did want a closer look at one horse: that was the eleven-year-old Pomp N Circumstance, presented for the Irish squad by 2018 Vice World Champion Padraig McCarthy. The pair were asked to trot again after their initial sojourn down the strip and were subsequently accepted without being asked to go to the holding box.
Lea Siegl and Van Helsing P: best-dressed and ready to bring the heat for Austria. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
It’s important to embrace the host nation’s culture at a championships, and Britain’s equestrian culture largely revolves around trot-up fashion awards, so we had a couple of those, too, despite the team kit orders: Austria’s Lea Siegl, who will ride Van Helsing P this week, took one for her dirndl (though we’d like to give a nod to teammate Katrin Khoddam-Hazrati, who opted for the traditionally male lederhosen), and Italy’s Pietro Majolino, who presented Vita Louise DH Z, took the other for his Esercito Istruttore (Army Instructor) uniform.
Pietro Majolino and Vita Louise DH Z. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Otherwise, all was quiet on the western front or, rather, the southern lawn – and now, we can look ahead to the start of the competition proper with tomorrow’s dressage phase, commencing at 10.30 a.m. tomorrow (11.30 a.m. CEST/5.30 a.m. EST).
We’ll begin with the first of our Swiss team competitors, Nadja Minder and the very experienced Toblerone taking to the ring at 10. Then, we’ll follow the draw of nations, which took place this morning. Here’s how that stacked up for our nine teams:
- Switzerland
- Italy
- Austria
- Belgium
- Great Britain
- Sweden
- Germany
- France
- Ireland
We took a closer look at those nine teams, and what their goals and prospective outcomes might be, in our Guide to the Nations, available here. Of course, the host nation once again comes into a championship as the hot favourite, but there’s plenty to do before they can – potentially – step onto the top of the podium, and some hot competition that they’ll have to best.
Plus, there’s the small matter of a Captain Mark Phillips track that they’ll need to traverse – and quickly – if they want a shot at a medal. You can take a first look at the key combinations on course, with insights from Mark himself, in our guide to the week to come, available here. We’ll be back with plenty more stories and insights — and, of course, you can follow us on Instagram to get a sneak peek behind the scenes and check out this afternoon’s Opening Ceremony, too. Go Eventing!
EN is proud to welcome Horsepal onboard as the sponsor of our European Championships coverage! Horsepal is a newly-launched heart rate monitor brought to you by Tom MacGuinness, founder of Horseware and an FEI eventer and endurance rider, who’s brought his decades of knowledge to practice in the design of Horsepal. You can now purchase Horsepal directly to the UK and Europe — learn more here.
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