Classic Eventing Nation

Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Very nearly one year ago to the day, Ros Canter rode into the main arena at the Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials on her 2023 Pau champion Izilot DHI on as near to a sure thing as you can get. She and the then-eleven-year-old had overcome his notorious spookiness to place top of the pack in the first phase; had added just two seconds of time over a tough cross-country track to retain their lead; found themselves, enviably, with two fences and a tiny smattering of time in hand going into the final phase. Luhmühlen’s showjumping is one of the two toughest in the world at the five-star level, but Izilot – or Isaac, at home – had already bested the other one at Pau, and he hadn’t had a single rail down in an international since his first CCI2*-S in 2019. 

But what is a five-star if not the most efficient and effective way to put all your hopes, your dreams, your doubts, your expectations and your statistics into a blender and mangle them into something you hadn’t even thought of imagining? Ros and Isaac were just three fences from home when their first rail dropped. Then the next went. That was okay: they had those two to spare, and all they had to do was jump out of the double cleanly, and over the final fence, and the 2024 Luhmühlen title would be theirs. 

They did – but as Ros and the packed audience made to celebrate, it felt as though time stopped for just a fraction of a second. Or, perhaps more accurately, the time hadn’t stopped. Ros had tipped over the time allowed by five seconds – four more than she had to spare. Those 2 time penalties meant she had to settle for fourth place, and yielded the crown to Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and her homebred Hooney d’Arville, who’d jumped an exceptional clear to move up from third. 

Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Later on that season, Ros admitted that the loss of the win had played on her mind. And on her return, she vowed, she’d learn from what had happened and ensure she and Alex Moody’s strange but ultra-talented gelding got the result they deserved.

Today, that redemption arc was completed. Ros and Isaac cantered into the arena in second place – a placing they’ve held since the first phase, in which they scored a 26, and didn’t lose when adding a scant 2.8 time penalties over yesterday’s enormously influential cross-country course. This time, they easily popped over each of the fences; didn’t lose any focus down the busy grandstand side of the arena; and gave Ros her second clear of the day after her sterling first round on MHS Seventeen. 

It hadn’t been a foregone conclusion – even without last year’s plot twist on the brain, today’s showjumping had already caused considerable issues, with 31 fences falling over the previous 23 rounds. And even jumping clear and inside the tight 82 second time wouldn’t mean a win unless some seriously bad luck befell two-phase leaders Laura Collett and London 52, here on a mission to regain their 2023 title and add their fourth five-star win from as many starts. 

Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

But hey: hopes, dreams, doubts, meet blender. Laura and London 52 are always a confidence-boosting pair to watch over the poles, and their round today was no exception – until it was. The first part of the influential treble combination at 10A fell, thuddingly, and that was that. The streak was over; Ros Canter was the Luhmühlen champion. 

“I’m a bit surprised, really,” admits Ros. “I’d have been absolutely delighted with second! But we’re just so thrilled that the horse has come out again with confidence. He hasn’t been an easy character, but he is a really, really genuine horse – and sometimes I think some people think he’s just a bit naughty, but actually, he’s just really genuine and genuinely spooky.”

While she might be surprised at the sequence of events that led to her move-up to the win, the sea change in her own round is less of a shock – because it comes after a lot of reflection and system changes to make it all work this year.

“I feel like last year, I lost my first place and I blamed myself, and so I worked quite hard on how I presented myself today and the mental side behind it. I changed a few things and I was more relaxed today, and I gave him a much better ride, so I’m just delighted,” she says. 

Those changes, she says, largely centred around time management – a tricky thing to get right over the course of Luhmühlen’s lightning-fast Sunday schedule, which puts the five-star’s showjumping less than an hour after the horse inspection, leaving limited time to plan and prepare. 

“Last year, I felt like I got caught out by the timings,” she explains. “We jump a lot earlier here than we normally do. Normally, if you’re in the top ten of a five star, you jump in the afternoon session, so you walk the course, and I might watch a few, and I might rewalk the course in the lunchtime break, and then go and get my head into it and so on. Last year, I felt that it caught me out that it was all a bit more of a rush. 

“So that’s the biggest change I made here – last night, I just put time into having a plan ready for this morning. I like to walk [the course] three or four times if I can, and I didn’t manage that last year – suddenly [the class] started and I hadn’t even got changed yet. So I made sure this year, straight after the trot up I went up, I got changed, and then I came back. I was very much ready for it, which worked a lot better. I just can’t rush stuff like that.”

Last year, she continues, she also travelled down with other people, and this time, she knew she needed to eke out some time by herself to get her head in the game.

“I’m definitely the type of person that needs to put work into the mental side of things. I need to prepare myself for a round,” she says. “Today, I knew after [MHS Seventeeen]’s round that Isaac was going to be coming down [from the stables], and so I went and locked myself in a loo and just rewatched a video that I was proud of, and just really got the plan in my head so I felt more relaxed in the warm up.”

Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Finally, she says, a bit change for Isaac added to the marginal gains that shapeshifted their final phase result. 

“That’s also made a huge difference. He was just in a normal metal gag before, and now he’s in a nathe pelham. He’s got such a long stride that when I used to shorten it, he went slower. Last year I got the time faults, and I just felt I couldn’t compress him very easily, whereas in the nathe pelham, I’m able to get that little bit more spring into the canter. He loves it.” 

Even with all her boxes ticked, though, Ros wasn’t immune to the colossal weight of expectation as she entered the ring. 

“The pressure was on, not just on from a competition point of view, but the pressure was on me as well. Today, I put pressure on myself, and I thought a lot about how I wanted to perform today – everything was geared up to try and pull off that result.”

Ros Canter and Izilot DHI: your 2025 Luhmühlen champions. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Now, Ros can add a Luhmühlen title to her Badminton wins this year and in 2023 with Lordships Graffalo; a Burghley title and Paris team gold last year, and the European Championships team and individual gold in 2022, also with Lordships Graffalo; a Pau victory with Izilot DHI in 2023; and the individual World Championship title in 2018 with Allstar B. She also takes home an educational 19th place with the inexperienced MHS Seventeen, who picked up 20 penalties on course yesterday but of whom she says she’s “very, very proud.”

How’s the view from the top, anyway?

“I can’t believe it, really – I didn’t think when I was growing up that I was ever going to do anything like this,” she says. “It’s hard to believe that I keep doing it, but I’m just lucky that I’ve got horses like him, aren’t I?”

Sam Lissington and Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

British-based Kiwi Sam Lissington took advantage of the open door left by Laura and London 52 to move up into second place with Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ, with whom she jumped a clear round that looked very nearly jump-off speed – but almost saw them tick over the time allowed nonetheless. 

The reason? Sooty’s just not a very big horse, and Sam had to race the seconds to make it home without penalties when horses with a longer stride might have looked steadier when covering more ground. 

Having just the one horse to ride this week, though, helped Sam to harness the strengths of the little fourteen-year-old. 

“He’s very small, and I’ve gotten used to it now, but it’s a lot easier when I’m just riding him by himself – when I’m riding my other five-star horse with him [at the same show] he really does feel very small,” laughs Sam. “The jumps feel bigger with him than they do with other horses.”

But, she says, “we don’t have problems in the combinations, and we don’t have problems making time. He does, though, put in a lot of effort over the fences, and so my strategy normally is to be a little bit more patient, which I couldn’t afford to do today. So it was a bit of a balance between galloping around and then adding a little bit of patience at every fence, and then trying to get him up in the air with enough scope. I’m glad we could execute [that plan today].”

If she hadn’t, she explains that it would never have been down to a lack of talent or honesty on the gelding’s part. 

“He’s so, so obedient and rideable – like, he’s a teacher’s pet, and he always has been, and he’s a very much a yes man,” she says. “But almost to the point where, if you make a mistake, that’s a mistake, because he just does what he’s told. He’s never going to take over and do something – for sure, he’s got incredible footwork, and he’ll pat the ground and fix a mistake, from that point of view. But basically, if you make a mistake, it’s your fault.”

This result – Sam’s best yet at five-star – comes in the thick of a purple patch for the 33-year-old, who recently made history by taking the top three spots in a CCI4*-L class at Royal Jump in France.

“It’s a reflection of the cumulative effect of years and years and years of work,” she says. “Like, this horse – I found him as a five-year-old with his owner, Pip McCarroll, in New Zealand, and nine years later we’re on the other side of the world. We knew he’d be a good horse, and I’m so glad I’ve been able to show the world just what a horse is – but it’s not just that. To show the world, we’ve had to shift our lives from New Zealand, start a whole new business, survive Covid whilst trying to start a business, build a team of horses to the point that you can ride with confidence like that – it’s just huge, isn’t it? It’s not just the result, it’s the last fifteen years of work that’s led up to it. We’re riding a wave, and I just hope the wave continues and we take the learnings and build on them.”

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

While Laura Collett and London 52 would have preferred to add a fourth win from four five-star starts to their record, their third-place finish is still an incredibly impressive addition to their extraordinary track record at this level. Their solitary pole late on course today represents the only penalties they add to their first-phase score of 25.4, which was the best of the class and remained so after a fault-free cross-country round yesterday. 

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed,” admits Laura. “I think anyone in that position would be disappointed, more for the horse than anything else. He jumped amazing, and didn’t really deserve to have a rail, but it’s the sport, and I’ve said all along, he doesn’t owe me anything. So for me, the main thing is he’s coming home in one piece, and he’s yet again performed and showed everyone what a spectacular horse he is. I’m so lucky to ride him.”

“It’s just ironic,” she continues, “that the last time he was here, he had a fence in hand and didn’t need it, and this year, he had nothing in hand and had a rail!”

Laura also finished seventh with the fourteen-year-old Hester, a former ride of fellow Brit Alex Bragg and Kiwi Jonelle Price. They added two rails and 0.8 time penalties to their 1.2 time penalties yesterday to finish on a score of 43.9.

Laura’s two rides – rangy, modern-looking London 52 and the more solid, ‘traditional’ looking Hester prove that there’s no true stamp of an event horse. It is, she explains, much more about what’s inside. 

“For me, the most important thing is their heart. Really, you can have the most talented horse in the world, but if they don’t want to do it, they’re not going to do it, or they’re going to let you down when it really matters. With London, he doesn’t have the best conformation; he doesn’t have the best technique over a fence; as a young horse, he wasn’t ever really built for cross country – but he’s got a heart of gold, and he’s got the will to win, and that’s what’s turned him into, I personally think, one of the greatest event horses around.”

Of Hester, who she took on at the start of the pandemic, she says, “I’m super proud of her – the way she’s improved from here last year, she’s grown in confidence. I felt she grew in confidence here at the event last year, and she’s just built on that, which I think is a credit to the course designer, to be able to bring a green horse here and have such a good experience that they come back a year later feeling like a true five-star horse. I feel very lucky to have more than one amazing five-star horse in my string.”

Cosby Green and Highly Suspicious. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

British-based US rider Cosby Green closed out a career-defining week, finishing in the top ten with both Highly Suspicious, who jumped clear and one second over the time allowed to take fourth place, and Jos UFO de Quidam, who tipped the first part of the treble combination to take eighth. 

“I’m just really pleased and excited and happy, and just really happy for the team and my support crew and everyone that works their butt off for me – it’s just amazing to be able to produce that result for them,” says Cosby, who has spent the last two seasons with Tim and Jonelle Price in Dorset, and who has obviously inherited their penchant for easy speed – she finished inside the time with one horse, and just one second over with the other on yesterday’s track, which helped her climb from 18th and 36th with them. 

“This is always kind of the expectation, to try to finish as close to dressage score as you can,” says Cosby. “I know these horses so well, and so that was always kind of the intention. You always hope, but you never know if it’ll really happen or not. So we’ve trained and prepared for that to be the case; we’ve been on the fitness; we’ve been practicing away – and it’s just nice when it comes together.”

Lea Siegl and DSP Fighting Line. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Austria’s Lea Siegl had an inauspicious start to the day with the five-star debutant Van Helsing P, who dropped from tenth to fifteenth after a surprising and uncharacteristic stop at fence 7 and three rails, but returned with her Tokyo Olympic partner DSP Fighting Line to deliver a classy clear inside the time, which moved them up from eighth place to a final fifth. It’s another five-star placing in the bag for the eighteen-year-old stalwart, who finished sixth at Pau last year and will now bow out of the sport. 

“I’m really happy with him,” says Lea. “He tried really hard today, and I always can count on him. He never lets me down. He’s just a very special horse, and he’s 18, so I planned that this is his last competition – and it was a wonderful last competition with him.”

Now, she says, ‘Fighty’ “will go back to Austria, to the owners, and enjoy the fields. He’s been with me for 10 years. We went through Juniors, Young Riders, and up to Senior levels to the Olympic Games. He’s just a very special horse for me and I owe him quite a lot. I learned it all from him.”

Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K brought it home for the host nation with an excellent clear inside the time to climb to sixth place. That completes a week that saw them start in third place after a 28.9 dressage, then drop down to twelfth following a MIM activation on course yesterday. For Malin, having another result at this level to add to the fourth place they earned at Kentucky last year is an enormously emotional moment. 

“To have this horse to go to Kentucky last year and came out with the fourth place, and now a sixth place here, I can’t be more proud of him. I think that’s just special,” says Malin, who hopes to be selected for the European Championships again this year – a goal that looks like a very achievable one, particularly considering their win in the CCI4*-L at Blenheim in 2022. But beyond that, she’s dreaming of her next five-star start. 

“Yesterday, because it feels so easy for him, I was like, ‘okay, maybe we can go to Badminton next year,’” she grins.

Isabel English and Cil Dara Dallas. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

British-based Australian Isabel English finished ninth with the rangy grey Cil Dara Dallas  — a horse with so much leg to him that it’s like two of her pony-sized former five-star partner, Feldale Mouse, stacked on top of one another in a trenchcoat. She piloted the ten-year-old to a clear round with 1.6 time penalties that boosted them up the leaderboard from fourteenth into the top ten, following a clear round yesterday with 8.8 time penalties.

Robbie Kearnes and Chance Encounter. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Ireland’s Robbie Kearnes and Chance Encounter rounded out the top ten, adding just one rail to a weeklong tally that saw them start in 37th place on a 39.2 and move up to eleventh after adding just 2 time penalties yesterday.

Mike Winter and El Mundo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Mike Winter and El Mundo took eleventh place for Canada with a super clear round, adding just 0.8 time penalties and moving up from the 15th place they’d claimed when cruising home with 11.6 time penalties yesterday. That completes a weeklong climb up the rankings from initial 22nd for the pair.

The top ten in Luhmühlen’s 2025 CCI5*.

Julia Krajewski and Uelzener’s Nickel. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

In this afternoon’s suddenly very stormy CCI4*-s, two-phase leaders Julia Krajewski and her Paris Olympics partner — and Boekelo and Aachen winner — Uelzener’s Nickel got the job done in fine style with a faultless clear round in the pouring rain, securing them the win and the German National Championship title.

“He’s eleven now, but the feeling he’s always getting stronger and stronger and better and better,” says Julia. “To be honest, Luhmühlen wasn’t our luckiest competition so far. Two years ago, I believe he had two down, and last year, one down, and but he’s just the most genuine horse, and I think he really learns every time he goes out, and he always wants to do well. He would never think of not doing something right.”

“I’ve had many different horses and characters, and he’s maybe, somehow the most genuine, honest one,” she continues. “If I think of [Tokyo Olympic individual champion] Amande de b’Neville, I think she was always next level, and I always knew she was a superstar, I only have to get it right and I have to get on her side — but with Nickel, he’s just so, so willing. He’s a very sweet, nice character, and you always feel like you want to protect him. I thought about doing the five-star and then back and forth, back and forth. Maybe he’s not quite strong enough physically yet, because mentally, he would do everything. And then I feel if they are so willing, you, it’s your job to not jump on the fast track, but to protect the physical side. So I’m very happy I did it like this, and I’m so proud of my horse. And also, I said it a few times this week, but his owner, Professor Bernd Heike, who bought him for me last summer [when he was put up for sale after the Olympics], he’s here, and it’s the first time since 2019 that he made it to a show. He couldn’t see Mandy win in Tokyo because of COVID, and he’s 90 years old, so to win this for him is super special.”

Nickel, who began eventing just four years ago and was initially with Julia as a junior horse for one of her students, hasn’t always been an obvious superstar, but hasn’t yet hit the limit of what he can do — and Julia’s decision to spend her winters based in the foothills of Rome at the yard of her boyfriend, Pietro Roman, has helped to bring his string along so he can head for the topmost level at his peak.

“He always tries, and he would do when stepping up a level. It’s not a problem that he wouldn’t do cross country, but it’s a little bit, think sometimes you go a bit ahead of the physical strengths,” says Julia. “I really feel he’s growing [in strength] — like every three, four, five months, someone comes and says, ‘oh, he got more strong again’, and he feels stronger again. That’s really cool. In Rome, we have a hill where we can work on — they go into the arena, they go downhill and to the stable, back up, and I think that makes quite a difference to get the basic strength into them. And then it’s patience. With horses, you can do a lot, but you can’t speed up time.”

Emma Brüssau and Dark Desire GS. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

26-year-old Emma Brüssau finished second in both the class itself and the German National Championship with her longtime partner, the sixteen-year-old Dark Desire GS. They’d begun their week in fifth place on a score of 34.1, and then climbed up to second after delivering one of just four clear rounds inside the time on yesterday’s cross-country track. Today, they added just one second, or 0.4 time penalties, to secure the Vice Championship.

Australia’s Andrew Cooper and Sharvalley Thunder took third place in the CCI4*-S, retaining the place they’d earned yesterday with a clear inside the time this afternoon. The pair have travelled over from Australia to gain experience at European competitions ahead of next year’s World Equestrian Games.

And so, for now, that’s it from us from Luhmühlen — thanks for joining us on the ride. We’ll be back on German turf in just two weeks time for CHIO Aachen; until then, Go Eventing.

The top ten in the Meßmer Trophy CCI4*-S.

Longines Luhmühlen CCI5* (Germany): [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Change is afoot in the top ten — and beyond — after the final horse inspection at the Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials, held in front of the ground jury of Katrin Eichinger-Kniely, Merel Schurink, and Dr Ernst Topp.

Four horses were sent to the holding box over the course of proceedings, and just one of those would go on to pass: that was a visibly relieved Declan Cullen of Ireland, whose splashy Seavaghan Ash had also been held at the first horse inspection. They go into today’s showjumping finale in 25th place, having added 20 jumping penalties and 43.2 time penalties yesterday.

That means that three horses and riders have departed from the competition as we head into the final phase, and our field has thinned from 32 cross-country finishers to just 25 competitors. Those were Janneke Boonzaaijer of the Netherlands with I’m Special NOP, who had 13.2 time penalties to sit in 19th place after cross-country; Morocco’s Noor Slaoui and her Olympic partner Cash In Hand, who had won over the crowds through their joyous — and floppy-eared — debut round at the level, and sat 29th on 30 time penalties and 11 jumping penalties, and Great Britain’s Kitty King and Vendredi Biats, who had added  nothing yesterday to sit fourth after cross-country.

The field was further diminished by four withdrawals ahead of the horse inspection. One of those came from last year’s champion, Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier, who produced yesterday’s first clear inside the time with level debutant Origi — but on landing from the final fence, the gelding twisted a fetlock, putting him out of today’s competition even as he held seventh place overnight.

There was also a trio of British withdrawals: Aaron Millar opted not to present KEC Deakon, who was 17th after adding 16.8 time penalties on course yesterday, and debutant Phoebe Locke made the same decision with Bellagio Declyange, with whom she’d added 38 time penalties on course. The final withdrawal came from Kirsty Chabert and Opposition Heraldik Girl, who had added 17.2 time penalties to sit 21st.

We’ll head into showjumping at 10.00 a.m (9.00 a.m. BST/4.00 a.m. EST), with overnight leaders Laura Collett and London 52 currently sitting less than a rail ahead of second-placed Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Also within a rail of the win is third-placed Sam Lissington and Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ — and having taken a peek at the course in the main arena, it’s every bit as square and technical as we’re used to seeing here. Luhmühlen famously — along with Pau at the end of the year — has the toughest showjumping tracks, and whichever way the leaderboard stacks up today, it won’t be easily won.

The CCI4*-S, incorporating the German National Championship, will follow afterwards from 13.15 (12.15 BST/7.15 a.m EST). Julia Krajewski and Uelzener’s Nickel remain in top spot, ahead of Emma Brüssau and Dark Desire GS in second.

We’ll be back soon with a full report on all the action, and you can tune in to the livestream on Horse&Country TV to catch it all as it happens. Go Eventing.

The new-look top ten going into showjumping in the CCI5*.

Longines Luhmühlen CCI5* (Germany): [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Phoebe Locke and Ballagio Declyange pop down the new Irish bank. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Woe betide anybody who continues to repeat the tired opinion that Luhmühlen is a ‘soft’ CCI5*. Dimensionally? No, it’s not maxed out. Length-wise? It’s unlikely you’ll ever see a nearly thirteen minute course here. Terrain? Pretty flat, actually. But it’s a course that’s greater than the sum of its parts: an academic, thinking rider’s track, with plenty of places to have drive-by and lots of places to lose valuable fistfuls of seconds.

Maybe course designer Mike Etherington-Smith felt he had a point to prove in defence of his event this year — after all, he’d admitted in a course preview for the show that he’d felt last year’s track was too soft, with its four inside the time and 51% clear rate. (The average at five-star, for what it’s worth, hovers around 56%.)

Whatever his motivation, he went to the drawing board as a man on a mission, firstly flipping the direction of the track — a move he last made in 2022 — to its more intense clockwise route (well, as much as you can consider anything clockwise or counterclockwise on a course that spirals around itself as much as this one does). He also got to work with his team of groundsmen and builders and, one presumes, a digger, finally installing the Irish bank he’s long dreamed of and argued for. And he took the already tough early combinations — the dappled Longines Water at 4 and 5ABC, the three-part angled question in the main arena at 8ABC — and made them even more acute and exacting, challenging riders on fit, fresh, strong horses to dig deep and find something like rideability somewhere in their partners.

It was those two combinations that I’d flagged early on as potentially very influential ones — but, I’ll confess, it was that water complex at 4 and 5ABC that I really thought would ultimately be the bogey of the day. It followed on from three very straightforward, not at all big fences, which were then left behind by one of the longest galloping stretches on the course. Then, horses and riders had to negotiate a steep downhill approach to a roll top at 4, before turning to a huge brush drop into the water at 5A, an angled boat in the water at 5B, and an angled brush on dry land at 5C. There’s terrain, there’s crowds, there’s tricky dappled lighting, there’s a line there that I walked several times and still couldn’t ever actually see, and it’s the first combination on course, too — surely, I reckoned, this would be the site of a lot of hands in the air and short walks back to the stables throughout the day.

So there was me, worrying about that, and then there was the European-based riders, who were worrying about the Irish bank at 20ABC, and actually, as is often the case at five-star level, we were all completely wrong about both of them. Not a single horse and rider faulted at the first water complex despite everything that made it seem so tricky, and just one competitor ran into problems at the Irish bank. The rest hunted their way through, found their line, and proved Mike right in his convictions that the complex would be a great addition to the course.

Of course, none of us were ever blind to the question in the main arena, which was made up of a wide timber oxer at 8A, followed by two angled hedges — opposing angles at that — after a 90-degree right-handed turn. Luhmühlen’s main arena combination is always influential, and the offset angles on the hedges created a perfect open door for a run-out to the left — an open door that many horses were happy to go through. It walked as one very long stride or two tight ones on a slightly curving line, and neither of them really felt like the right one, and so we knew it would cause problems — we just didn’t really expect 33% of the field to have issues there.

But that’s what happened, as horse after horse skewed out to the left of the C element, and some at the B element. At one point, we were effectively given a long judging break on course because three riders in a row opted to retire there, and by the end of the day, 15 competitors would pick up penalties at one of those two angled hedges.

Ultimately, our starting field of 46 would be whittled down throughout the day to 32 finishers — a 70% completion rate that’s about what we’ve come to expect here. But of those 32 finishers, just 20 completed without adding jumping penalties, giving Luhmühlen’s 2025 track a stiff 43.5% clear rate, nearly eight percent lower than last year and nearly 13% lower than that of Badminton, which saw 56% jump clear.

One thing did remain the same, though: once again, four riders caught the optimum time of 11:02, despite many competitors predicting that the time would be nigh-on uncatchable.

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Chief among those? A familiar face at the business end of the leaderboard in Laura Collett and London 52, who won here two years ago when finishing on their dressage score. Today, they once again added nothing to their first-phase result — a 25.4 earned yesterday afternoon — to continue their bid for a fourth five-star win out of as many starts.

“He’s sensational,” says Laura. “I genuinely have not got enough words. I’m not very good with words, so I can’t do him justice, but he’s insane. The feeling he gives is like no other, so to be in my position and sat on a horse like that is something that I just have to treasure.”

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It feels a very long time since Dan’s wobbly 2019 season, early on in his upper-level career, when he misread a fence in the water at the European Championships here and deposited Laura into the drink. These days, he’s about as reliable as a horse can be, even when the chips are down — something he proved today when he and Laura saw slightly different strides to the double of offset tables at 21AB and had to scramble their way through.

“I rode like a bit of a plonker, to be honest,” she says. “He landed a bit short, and I stupidly still tried to get the three, and it was never there. I don’t know why he landed a bit short; I don’t know what happened, it was just horrible! It wasn’t very nice. Luckily, he’s very scopey and clever with his legs. But that was definitely rider error.”

Other than that little heart-in-mouth moment, though, Laura’s round made the difficult track look like an extended schooling exercise.

“The course it rode like it walked: we said it’s going to ride like a short format from the first water, and it really did. There was nowhere you felt like you could just sit and breathe and gather your thoughts. It was bang, bang, bang — whether it’s turning and twisting through the trees or setting up for a combination. So in that respect, it was exactly as it walked,” she says. “But in everything he does — the way he gallops, the way he listens… He’s a big horse, but he’s so adjustable. He’s so nippy around these tracks, and at the end of the day, he just loves it. He’s so honest, and he looks for the flags, and he makes my job very easy.”

Laura Collett and Hester. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

‘Dan’ was one of the last horses out on the course in this morning’s five-star, and the second of Laura’s rides today: the first, the much less experienced Hester, delivered one of the earliest confidence-boosting rounds of the day as third out of the start box in this morning’s slightly less oppressive heat. It’s a first five-star clear on a third attempt for the thirteen-year-old, who visibly came into her own and grew in confidence as she ticked each fence off on course.

“I went to the stables and I said to Dan, ‘it’d be embarrassing if you let her show you up today!’,” laughs Laura. “She was phenomenal. The improvement in her in 12 months from where she was here last year was amazing. And for me, that’s what it’s all about, is building that partnership. I haven’t had her all the way through like I’ve had Dan, so it’s taken a few years, but she feels amazing. She’s like my little unicorn that I get to fly around on first and she gives me loads of confidence.”

Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

With Laura and Dan safely home, all eyes turned to her compatriots and closest challengers, who were following them around the track. But as they passed the middle of the course, last year’s cross-country leaders suddenly had a big question mark over their score: Ros Canter and Izilot DHI had been awarded a provisional flag penalty at the first element of the LeMieux Water at 16A, nixing their chances at trying for the win again.

It must have felt an achingly long few minutes for Ros, whose last year has felt plagued by flags — but the turnaround on the review was among the quickest we’ve seen, and soon, it was confirmed: she would retain her second place, having added just 2.8 time penalties to her dressage score of 26. That, of course, broadens the margin between her and Laura a touch, but at 3.4 penalties, it doesn’t give Laura anything more than time in hand for tomorrow’s showjumping.

Like Laura, Ros had an earlier ride on a less experienced horse in MHS Seventeen, but unlike Laura, that round didn’t go totally to plan — they picked up 20 penalties in the main arena, and a further 20 time penalties, en route to completing. When it was time to leave the start box again, on a perennially sharp-brained horse, she had to put it out of her mind as best she could and focus on riding the horse underneath her.

Then, she says, “he was fantastic — and actually, less spooky than I thought he would be, because the MHS Seventeen horse went out and he was really spooky today, and he’s not normally like that. So I was a little bit concerned that Isaac might come out at his worst. I rode him a little bit earlier this morning, and he wouldn’t go near one of the show jumps, which I was slightly concerned about.

“But when he got out there, he really settled. I think having the woods and the track really channeled at the beginning really helped him. He was a little bit looky at the first water with the people, but, I mean, he ducks and dives all over. Going into the main arena was the worst, and out again, but he knows his stuff now.”

Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

As regards her 2.8 time penalties, Ros is pragmatic.

“I always come back and think there’s a few places that I could have maybe got a couple of deeper spots, but you know, we’re talking the odd second,” she says.  “You look at Lordships Graffalo, and you can afford to do that and still make the time up, whereas Isaac, bless him — he doesn’t find it so easy to go for so long, which is why he dances so easily in the dressage. So there’s strengths and weaknesses in every horse, but I couldn’t fault his attitude today.”

Sam Lissington and Ricker Ridge Sooty. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

British-based Kiwi Sam Lissington is on an extraordinary run of form, and comes into Luhmühlen off the back of a history-making 1-2-3 in the CCI4*-L at France’s Royal Jump at Berticheres. That’ll have instilled in her the kind of confidence that, when paired with experience, gumption, and a great partnership, tends to make a bit of magic.

Though they didn’t quite catch the time, Sam and Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ‘s one second over the time ensured they’d hold onto third place going into the final phase, and leave our podium untouched for now. They’ll head into showjumping on a score of 29.3 — still just 3.9 penalties off the top spot.

“I’d like to say [the recent wins] help in that you’ve got more confidence,” she says. “Now we’ve had a number of really good results at the top level in a row, so that’s great. But equally, you’re on form, and you can either keep going on form or go downhill, so there’s a bit of pressure to maintain that. But no, I mean, I think this is going to do worlds of good for our confidence and for the rest of the season.”

With her late draw and just one horse in the class, Sam had plenty of time to watch the day unfold — and absorb the chaos of the main arena.

“I think I watched it too much, to be honest,” she admits. “It started riding really well in the morning, and then in the middle section, I feel like it fell apart a bit. So I had a lot of questions going out, and knew that I might just have to ride off feel, and that’s what I did today. I watched pretty much everything — I like to watch and then make decisions for myself, but this course was one of the ones where I was a little undecided going out the start box. I didn’t know quite what I was going to do in the main arena, but thankfully it came off.”

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though Kitty King was one of countless riders to express serious disappointment after the harsh marking of this week’s dressage days, she and Vendredi Biats wasted no time in making their move up the leaderboard. They finished bang-on the optimum time of 11:02 and moved up from eighth to fourth place on a two-phase score of 31.2.

“It wasn’t our tidiest of rounds today,” says Kitty. “We were a bit scrappy in places, but I think that’s the makeup of the course. It’s very twisty and fast, with lots of lines, and the horses don’t really know where they’re going — so we were a bit scrappy, but he kept helping me out, and I helped him occasionally.”

She knew, though, that this wouldn’t be an easy canter around the Lüneberger Heide, not least because she’s been on the hunt for the perfect bitting set-up for the experienced sixteen-year-old gelding this season.

“We’ve just been trying to find new bits for him because his one got banned last year,” she explains. “He’s very sensitive and tricky, and this year we’ve run in a different bit at every event. We haven’t really got that kind of continuity yet, because the first few runs the bits didn’t work and had issues, so we had to keep swapping.

“For an older horse, I’ve confused him probably a bit this year. He had a good run in this bridle at Bicton, but we’re both a little bit at sea with it, although it worked quite well. And so I was really nervous going out here because sometimes when you put the bit on a second time, they don’t work at all. And he was a bit stiff and wooden in the warm-up, and I was thinking, ‘Oh gosh, I don’t know that I’m going to be able to turn!’ So I was pretty nervous going out — more than normal. You’re always anxious and nervous at a five-star, but it was even worse today because there were just so many unknowns. But he just did his job.”

This is a return to Luhmühlen for Kitty and ‘Froggy’, who finished second here to Laura Collett and London 52 in 2023.

“I think that course was quite twisty at the start, but that kind of suited him because it got him settled because he can be quite open and free, so that actually got him listening and condensed. And then we were a little bit down on our time last time, but then you had nearly a minute’s gallop home, so that was perfect for him, and that really suited him doing it that way,” she says. “Whereas this time, you knew you had to be up on time at the start, because that’s your only galloping area. So you have to set him alight a bit, which then isn’t ideal for the control towards the end. But he was very good — he’s just such a dream. I’m going to miss him so much when he has to retire.”

Cosby Green and Jos UFO de Quidam. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

British-based US rider Cosby Green had an extraordinary day on course, finishing one second over the time on her first ride, Jos UFO de Quidam, and four seconds inside the time on her second, Highly Suspicious, to finish the day in ninth and fifth place, up from 36th and 16th, respectively.

It was her latter ride, Highly Suspicious, who was most committed to giving his audience a show: he made a colossal leap over the rolltop at the first water at A, eliciting gasps and cheers at his apparent joie de vivre.

“I’ve been partners with him for almost eight years, and he’s been one of the most tricky ones,” says Cosby. “He’s really bold and keen at the beginning, so I’ve kind of figured out where I can let him kind of be brave and bold. I know as the course goes on, and the longer we go, the better it gets. So it was just about trusting him, even if he was jumping higher or a little bit strong or not where I wanted — to just kind of keep my cool. I knew he’d come into it, and that’s exactly what he did today.”

Cosby let her first ride on Jos UFO de Quidam dictate how she’d approach the tougher questions on course later in the day, including an adjustment to her plan in the main arena.

“I did the one stride on a line that I walked for two strides — he’s got a huge stride,” she says. “My first ride through there wasn’t what I wanted it to be, and he’s really genuine. [Highly Suspicious] is not so genuine. So I walked that line maybe 20 times afterwards and came up with a different plan completely into the oxer, and then I just put a bend in the line to make it really obvious to him, because I think the horses weren’t picking up on something. Jonelle [Price] did the same thing too, before me, I watched the video and was like, ‘that’s perfect.'”

Cosby Green and Highly Suspicious. Photo by Shannon Brinkman. 

Getting two horses round at a five-star is a huge moment — and getting two into the top ten at this stage is even more colossal, particularly for a young professional.

“It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet,” admits Cosby, who’s been based with the Prices for a couple of seasons now in pursuit of her goals. “I think I’ve been dreaming of this for months, of getting both clear and as close to the time as possible, that it’s almost like a bit of a box checked. Like, ‘yep, that was what we came here to do, prepped for, that’s what we wanted, job done and onto the next’. I’ll feel even more excited when it’s all said and done tomorrow, but for now, I feel pleased that we were able to show our partnerships, our ability, the fitness. It makes me feel like we’re doing the right thing. That’s it more than anything.”

There was something a little bit uncanny about watching Cosby’s first ride with Jos UFO de Quidam — because that chestnut gelding doesn’t seem at all dissimilar to another excellent chestnut who recently retired from her string, the former Buck Davidson mount Copper Beach.

“I owe everything to him still. He just gave me that confidence, and I think all of my horses this season have been so consistent with the cross country [because of that],” she says. “Lots of things to tidy up, but I’m really very lucky.”

Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Origi. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The first clear inside the time of the day went to Belgian Olympians Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and level debutant Origi, who — as a bouncy, compact little pocket rocket of an oversized pony looked perfectly suited to Luhmühlen’s tricky, twisty track. They came home one second inside the time to climb from 26th to seventh, but the gelding, who had been on flying form, suddenly pulled up lame after the final fence, and is unlikely to come forward to showjump tomorrow.

Last year’s champion Lara posted a reassuring statement on her social media, saying “Origi was an absolute star around a tough Luhmühlen 5* track. Flying over the last fence he landed only on one leg, twisting his fetlock in the landing which is very painful in the first moments, but he is well taken care of by the amazing vet team and is happy in the stable.”

Lea Siegl and Van Helsing P. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Austria’s Lea Siegl was another double-handed rider in this class, and another to pilot two horses into the top ten — though that result was touch and go in the moments after her second round with level debutant Van Helsing P, who was initially awarded penalties for two refusals after a hesitation at the Irish bank. One of those refusals was quickly removed, and the second disappeared, too, moments after her round was completed, leaving her with just 11.2 time penalties to add and overnight tenth place. ‘Heli’ joins Lea’s first ride of the day, DSP Fighting Line, at the business end of the leaderboard after the diminutive chestnut, who was placed at Pau last year, added just 3.2 time penalties to climb from 15th to eighth.

Lea Siegl and DSP Fighting Line. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“He’s such a nice, super horse and easy to ride,” says Lea of her Tokyo Olympics partner ‘Fighty’. But, she says, she rued not moving faster at the beginning of the course in order to catch the time: “I waited too much and he was a bit spooking because of all the people coming from all the sides — they weren’t standing still, they were all walking around, searching for the best place to watch. I know he can be a bit spooky there, and then I waited too much, and then some combinations were a bit maybe too slow. But he’s a smart and very short horse, so he can manage it really well. He was fine, I’m just a bit not so happy with myself that I didn’t keep the forward rhythm. But everything else felt really easy.”

The debutant Van Helsing P, she continues, “started really good, but he’s a really careful jumper and jumped a bit too much in the beginning. So in the end, he was a bit more tired than Fighty. So I lost some time in the last two minutes because he was just a bit — not like super tired, but a bit not going straight. But otherwise, it was his first five-star, and he did all the jumps and all the questions really nice. And I kept the rhythm more forward than with Fighty, so I’m happy with both horses.”

There were some major surprises and shiftarounds on the leaderboard today: seventh-placed Piggy March and Halo dropped to 24th after a runout at the Messmer Water, while ninth-placed Selina Milnes opted to retire Cooley Snapchat after issues in the main arena and at fence 12C. Tenth placed Aaron Millar dropped to 17th after adding 16.8 time penalties with KEC Deakon, and fifth-placed Gemma Stevens was very quick to pull up Jalapeno at the LeMieux Water when the mare suddenly took a bad step on landing from a fence. They say you should always look for the helpers when situations seem too bad to comprehend, and if there’s one thing I’ll take from today, it’s this: the speed in which Gemma, like Lara, too, noticed the problem and pulled up — and the quick thinking and kindness of the spectators, who dashed forward to offer up their water bottles to cool down Jalapeno while she awaited a ride back to the stables.

The top ten after cross-country in the CCI5*.

Julia Krajewski and Uelzener’s Nickel. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

In the CCI4*-S, the track — widely heralded as one of the most significant the level has seen — continued to cause plenty of problems. After the morning’s influential five-star competition, the pathfinder, Ireland’s Patrick Whelan, opted to withdraw both his rides, one of which was a catch-ride, and then, the next two riders out of the box didn’t complete the course. Though the combination in the main arena wasn’t quite the same as in the earlier class, it was still a standout fence, with four partnerships faulting here and two ending their day early in front of the grandstands.

In this class, problems were largely spread more evenly across the course, and 33 of the 40 starters would go on to complete, with just two of those 33 picking up jumping penalties along the way — a much more positive result than was perhaps expected from the union of a relatively inexperienced field and a nearly championship level track.

That positive feeling has, of course, been marred by the desperately sad loss of Maj-Jonna Ziebell’s longtime partner Chiquita 88, who was irreparably injured after a fall at fence 14C. All of us at Team EN send our deepest sympathies to Maj-Jonna and her team.

At the end of the day’s competition, Julia Krajewski remains atop the leaderboard with the exceptional eleven-year-old Uelzener’s Nickel, with whom she won Aachen and Boekelo last year and finished eleventh at the Paris Olympics. Though the gelding is still just at the beginning of his top-level career, such is his consistency that his two-phase lead seemed almost a foregone conclusion — but they didn’t actually deliver one of those four clears inside the time.

“I wanted to deliver a safe, fast round, but I didn’t go for the very last second,” says Julia, who added 2.4 time penalties. “I’m totally happy with Nickel — he always wants to do everything right. Winning a title is of course always something special, and for Nickel, it would be his first title. But after the cross-country is, of course, the jumping, and we’re now just taking super good care of him.”

Young German talent Emma Brüssau moves up from fifth to second with Dark Desire GS after a blazing round inside the time: “I simply have an unbelievable horse, and she’s so honest and always fights for me,” says Emma of the mare she’s piloted for eleven years now.

Australia’s Andrew Cooper moves from seventh to third with Sharvalley Thunder, who added just 1.6 time penalties.

The top ten after cross-country in the CCI4*-S.

Tomorrow’s final day starts bright and early at 8.00 a.m. (7.00 a.m. BST/2.00 a.nm EST) with the final horse inspection. Both classes will trot up tomorrow morning, as is customary when short-format classes are held with showjumping last, and the CCI4*-S inspection will begin following the five-star at 8.40 a.m. (7.40 a.m. BST/2.40 a.m. EST). Then, it’s onward to the showjumping, with the CCI5* once again taking the morning slot: that’ll kick off from 10.00 a.m. (9.00 a.m. BST/4.00 a.m. EST) and will last around an hour and a half all-in, while the CCI4*-S will start after the lunch break at 13.15 (12.15 BST/7.15 a.m. EST). We’ll be back tomorrow with all the news you need to know, and in-depth debriefs with the stars of the show, so keep it locked on EN, follow along on the livestream with Horse&Country TV, and as always, Go Eventing.

Longines Luhmühlen CCI5* (Germany): [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]