Classic Eventing Nation

Monday News & Notes from Morven Park Fall International CCI

By on Sep 22, 2025 12:01 am -

While the excitement of the European Championships took precedent on the airwaves this weekend, another important competition was also taking place at Blenheim Palace: The GFS Saddles 8- and 9-year-old CCI4*-S, a perennial preview of horses that are en route to future CCI5* and/or Championship events.

New Zealand’s Samantha Lissington continued her top form in this division, piloting Quantas R (owned by The High Flyers) to the win, ending on their dressage score of 22.4. The 9-year-old Hanoverian gelding rose to victory at the CCI4*-L at Royal Jump in France this spring. Samantha also finished with two other horses in the top 15 of this enormous class that had 68 finishers, taking seventh with her own, Neil Robertson, David Taylor and Emtec Laboratories’ Lucas Stone, and 15th with Mr. and Mrs. Robin Greville Williams and Juliet and Martin Humphreys’ Malibu TS.

Several U.S. riders also competed in this division, with “keep an eye on this one” Quidley Kellerman and Blakeney’s Cruise, the best-placed of the group, coming in 13th on a final score of 40.1. Quidley’s is a cool story — you can read more on her background in this piece by Amanda Chance, after the now-19-year-old competed this horse at Le Lion in 2023. “Pancho” is a horse Blakeney has developed all the way up from Novice, and after spending time learning from riders like Kelty O’Donoghue and Avery Klunick, she relocated to the UK, based with Kevin McNab and Isabel English.

Other U.S. riders flying the flag were Hallie Coon with Lucky Fortuna, Cosby Green and Belinda Horne’s Libero D, Chris Talley and Allison Pratt’s FE Marco Polo. It’s an exciting glimpse at the U.S. pipeline, both of young horses and developing riders — with the majority finishing in the top half of the huge field, it’s a good banner for the future.

Major International Events

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Live Stream Replays] [BBC iPlayer Broadcast] [FEI YouTube Streams] [Scores] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

U.S. Weekend Events

Twin Rivers Fall International (CA): [Website] [Scores]

Heritage Park H.T. (KS): [Website] [Scores]

Unionville H.T. (PA): [Website] [Scores]

University of New Hampshire H.T. (NH): [Website] [Scores]

News & Reading

We’re teaming up with Sentinel Horse Nutrition to give away a year’s worth of Sentinel Horse Feeds! This sweepstakes is accepting entries until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 6. You can full the full terms and conditions + enter for your chance to win a big break for your bank account here.

Training horses presents a delicate challenge that demands balance, not least if you’re going to team up with a horse in a competitive setting. More athletes are using data to inform their training programs, and Equestrian Sports Science Consultant Tim Worden is one advocate of data-informed decision making. In a recent presentation, Dr. Worden spoke on the importance of using biomechanics and fitness levels to achieve training objectives. You can read a full recap of the presentation here.

Ingrid Klimke recently welcomed a group of children and young people to her stable, in partnership with the Münster Child Protection Association. The visit coincided with Vielfalt Pferd, or “Horse Diversity Action Week”, which is an ongoing project in Germany that promotes more equitable access to horses. Read more about the kids’ special visit to Ingrid’s here.

A stable lower leg is paramount no matter what discipline you call home. And who better to learn from than the queen of the lower leg herself, show jumping icon Beezie Madden? Check out Beezie’s latest Jumping Clinic column on Practical Horseman for some real-life takeaways.

Sponsor Corner: Morven Park Fall International

Photo by Annan Hepner.

Limited tailgating spots are still available for the Morven Park Fall International in Leesburg, VA! It’s promising to be an unforgettable weekend of sport, with the finale of the US Equestrian Open of Eventing, the USEF/USEA Developing Horse National Championships and competition across FEI levels all on tap. You can book your tailgating experience or your free general admission pass here.

Video Break

Watch Laura Collett and London 52 claim individual gold at the Agria FEI Eventing European Championships (and read our final report here):

“This Is All for Him”: Laura Collett and London 52 Take European Championship Gold

By on Sep 21, 2025 5:11 pm -

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

In every generation of event horses, one or two stand out as the sort of athletes and personalities that will leave an outsized hoofprint; a legacy that lasts well beyond the years they actually spend in the spotlight. They are the Murphy Himselfs, the Charismas, the La Biosthetique Sams: and in this generation, the horses who stepped up to the top level of the sport in those halcyon couple of seasons just prior to the pandemic, the outsize star is London 52.

There’s been something faintly bittersweet in watching the Laura Collett and London 52 vs Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH match race this week at the European Championships: though both horses look at their very peak, the former is now sixteen and the latter seventeen, and there are only seasons remaining ahead of them: even with luck and the very best of management, it feels too optimistic to suppose that either will still be competing when the LA Olympics rolls around in 2028.

But then, perhaps that’s what makes it feel even more special when we get to enjoy them on their finest form, nose to nose to the wire, delivering the kind of first phase scores that only the other can rival and fighting, fighting, fighting for every tiny margin on the leaderboard.

This is modern eventing, as it exists right now: extraordinarily well-trained horses who can slip sub-20 and can run and jump and dig deep, and still come out and jump clear on the final day. This is where the die has been cast; these are the two horses of their age group who have shaped it into what it is. In many ways, that’s made this week – a week that’s seen power wrested back and forth between them – feel like a choreographed demonstration of the idylls of the top of the sport.

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Both horses have shone this week; both riders, similarly, have excelled themselves. But as the 2025 Agria FEI European Eventing Championships draws to a close, it’s Great Britain’s Laura Collett and London 52 who take home the gold medal, amid a flurry of Union Jacks and roaring screams of support and tears; everywhere, tears.

Look, here’s the thing: we can wax lyrical about London 52 all day long. We can talk about how he throws down 17s in the first phase like it’s an easy and normal thing to do. We can talk about how every question mark that’s been raised over his head on cross-country day – and yes, there have been many, and yes, we remember his rollercoaster 2019 season – has been summarily dispelled. We can talk about those three five-star wins. We can talk about how he looks like a little girl closed her eyes and wished with all her might that her Breyer model horse might come to life and be a real, living, breathing dream horse, and there he was. We can do this! We have this in us.

But wouldn’t it be a shame not to take a moment to consider Laura? If London 52 is the horse that little girl wished for, Laura is the woman that little girl is wishing she could be some day. That’s not just because she’s won Pau, Luhmühlen, and Badminton (all with #1 Barbie Dream Horse, of course); it’s not necessarily because she’s been a gold medallist at Pony, Junior, Young Rider, and Senior levels; it’s not even because she fought her way back from a terrible accident in 2011 that could have ended her career and, if she hadn’t been just a bit lucky, her life.

The individual medallists of the Blenheim European Championships. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Really, it’s because she’s the proof that there are options out there for hungry young riders who don’t have backing but do have determination. From her earliest competitive experiences in the showing ring, she worked for her opportunities, pitching up in the wee hours at producers’ yards to catch-ride their ponies. After she swapped over to eventing and began to make her way through the youth programmes, she never did so on horses or ponies that were bought for her for vast sums: she rode, and rode, and rode some more, and learned to produce good horses – and, crucially, how to manage the business of selling them on to keep the whole show on the road. The sale of her excellent pony, Noble Springbok, who she’d bought as a cheap five-year-old who was being sold in a job lot, was enough to allow her to purchase several prospects, one of which she produced to Badminton. That’s been the recipe that’s kept on propelling her further and further along, giving her the opportunity to take part in British teams across the age levels, and putting down the foundation of a functional business that quickly began to attract owners and supporters. Even now, Laura hasn’t slowed down: alongside running a string of horses across the levels from her Cotswolds base, she also works with several top racehorse trainers, helping to produce their stable stars over fences. She never stops, never slows down – and refreshingly, that’s not because of hustle culture, or the relentless churn of the industry machine. It’s because all she wants to do is be in the saddle, all day, every day.

And now she’s the European Champion, and can add her first senior individual title to her extraordinary list of accolades.

Laura Collett celebrates with the ecstatic home front of supporters. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted this,” she says. “Mainly for the horse, because I feel sometimes I’ve let him down – but now he’s finally got the championship he deserves.”

Laura and London began their campaign in second place, putting a smart score of 20.6 on the board on Friday, which was swiftly bested by Michi and Chipmunk’s 18.3. In yesterday’s influential cross-country phase, which saw the British team fall out of contention entirely, she regained the top spot, delivering the second-fastest round of the day to add just 6 time penalties, while Michi and Chipmunk, with his rounder stride pattern, added 10.

That meant, though, that Laura and ‘Dan’, who she rides for longtime supporters Keith Scott and Karen Bartlett, had just 1.7 penalties in hand coming into today’s showjumping: enough to add a few seconds on the clock, but nothing more.

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

As the morning’s session of showjumping unfolded, it became clear that as in yesterday’s cross-country, the time was going to be a significant factor. (“Shall we have a whip round to buy Blenheim a new measuring wheel? Theirs obviously has something wrong with it,” murmured a fellow journalist in the media centre.) And when overnight third-placed Tom McEwen and JL Dublin added nothing to their scorecard with their clear round, and second-placed Michi and Chip did the same, despite the horse’s tendency to a rail, the pressure was well and truly on. Nothing, it was clear, was going to be handed to Laura this week.

But when has Laura ever needed handouts? She and London 52 took their time, found their rhythm, and neatly picked their way around the long course with its series of turnbacks, and as they jumped the last safe, clear, and just a fraction of a second over the time, the grandstands erupted.

So did Laura. She cantered around the arena breathlessly, pointing at the horse beneath her, wide-eyed and crying before she pulled him down to a trot and collapsed onto his neck, whispering her gratitude into his mane.

The golden girl: Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“This is for him, it’s all him,” she says, those tears still flowing. “There are no words to explain what this horse means to me. I said when he won my first five-star in Pau in 2020 that if he never wins anything again, he’s done more than I can ever dream of. What he’s done more in those five years is just a dream – I’d say dreams come true, but I didn’t even dream this.”

This week isn’t the first time we’ve seen the London 52 and fischerChipmunk match race in action: at the last Europeans in 2023, Michael had a shock fall on course while Laura picked up a flag penalty, so neither walked away with individual honours, and more recently, at the Paris Olympics, it was a rail down for Laura that decided the individual gold in favour of Michi.

Redemption, it turns out, tastes sweeter than revenge.

“This tops everything. I came so close in Paris last year, and to come back and have another head to head with Michi — it’s what makes this sport so special. These horses are so unbelievably special to keep coming back and producing the results they do, time and time again. It’s unreal – and extra special to be at a home championships, a local event for me. To be sat on a horse like him and for him to come up with the goods in all three phases, it’s just wow.”

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Michi, for his part, was happy to settle for silver – because he, too, also got to take a gold medal home for his collection. The German team handily won today, despite three rails for Libussa Lubbeke and Caramia 34, 26th, and a rail apiece for Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice (8th) and Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K (11th), who also picked up 2.8 time penalties after turning the wrong way after fence 9. The screams of the crowd alerted her to her mistake and she quickly wheeled the leggy grey back around to the next fence, jumping clear thereafter despite a great rattle of chatter throughout the stands as the audience discussed what had just happened.

They had those rails to play with, though, and more: Germany began the day with a nine-rail advantage over Ireland, and a couple of rails down across the Irish effort widened the gulf a bit more.

Their victory this week is an exciting testament to the strength in depth that the country boasts, thanks in large part to its Warendorf training system for young professionals, at which team members Jérôme Robiné and Libussa Lubbeke, and individual competitor Calvin Böckmann, are based.

“It’s been a really good day and a great week, I’m really happy,” says Michael. “FischerChipmunk was amazing in the dressage and cross-country, and also the showjumping. It’s amazing to have such a nice horse to ride, and compete at nearly every championship. It’s really not normal.”

Winning on English soil might mean the most to the home riders, but for Michi, there’s a special bit of magic in it, too.

“I think England is a very big country in the eventing sport – it’s a very strong nation, and when I was young I always watched videos of people competing at Badminton and Burghley and all these big nations,” he says. “And so we dreamed we could come here and get a gold medal, and we prepared this thing from the first rider to the last rider.”

It is, he says, a heartening victory ahead of next year’s World Championships, which will take place in Germany at CHIO Aachen.

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tom McEwen’s clear round with JL Dublin earned him the individual bronze medal, which means that the two Brits remaining in the competition after yesterday’s tough day in the office each earned their country its plaudits at the end of the day.

“We are competitive by nature, and we all have amazing horses and we all believe our own is the best,” says Tom. “Dubs has done phenomenally well; he couldn’t have done any better and was just beaten by two better horses, possibly two of the greatest horses in our sport.

“After a week that hasn’t been our own, to come home with two medals is absolutely fantastic. We came as a [squad of] six and we leave as a six and it’s team spirit all the way. I’m delighted for Laura.”

Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom of the Opera. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The individual top five actually remains wholly unchanged after cross-country: German individuals Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom of the Opera, who delivered the fastest round on course yesterday, jumped a faultless clear, as did Austria’s Lea Siegl and Van Helsing P, which meant that both finished on a score of 36.5 – but as Calvin had finished closer to the optimum time yesterday, the tiebreak worked in his favour and he took fourth place, while Lea took fifth.

“I’m slowly starting to realise what an amazing result this is, and what this horse has given me,” says Calvin. “I mean, it’s Laura, and Michi, and Tom, and then there’s Calvin and Phanty – it just means the world to me. It’s not just Phanty, it’s the whole team, too, and my family who have pushed me to where I am and always supported me – I’m so grateful to all of them.”

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

For Lea, fifth place isn’t just the culmination of an incredible week of performances – it’s many, many years of crafting the building blocks to succeed despite a limited pool of national support. Her fifth place finish here is the best championship result ever recorded for an Austrian rider, and now, she says, she hopes that it will bolster other young riders to fight for their goals.

“It’s a dream come true to finish in the top five in a championship – it’s amazing,” she says. “It’s not something you achieve in a year – it takes a lot of time, a lot of work, and a lot of people, and I’m so thankful for everyone who has been involved.”

Alexis Goury and Je’Vall. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

France’s Alexis Goury stormed to sixth place after a faultless round with Je’Vall, finishing the best of his countrymen and helping to secure the bronze team medal – a medal that they earned when Switzerland lost their small overnight margin with a spate of rails across the team. While it will feel in the moment like a desperate blow to come so close to a medal – something the Swiss haven’t managed since 1981 – and lose it on the final day, from the outside, it’s been a hugely heartening week: the six-year upward trajectory that the Swiss riders have been on is laying roots, and with some minor finetuning and a bit of luck, they can now consider themselves podium contenders at championship level.

And as for the young, hungry team of Frenchman, they celebrated making their mark on the competition in the Frenchest possible way: by delaying the prize giving by a good five minutes so they could offer bisous to every single other rider lining up for the podium. Air kiss, air kiss, everywhere: “please, please can you take your place on the podium,” pleaded the announcer, and still they kissed away. Fantastique.

Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Hooney d’Arville. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Belgium, also on an upward trajectory over the last number of years, had a stumbling block sort of weekend with just two riders completing – but one of them, Lara de Liedekerke-Meier, gave national morale a boost in finishing seventh with her homebred Hooney d’Arville, who rolled a single, rare rail to drop one placing.

Also dropping one rail was Jérôme Robiné, who finished eighth with Black Ice, while ninth and a clear round went to France’s Benjamin Massie and Figaro Fonroy, who have quietly been climbing up the leaderboard throughout the week. Tenth went to Switzerland’s Mélody Johner, who had two frustrating rails aboard the green but exciting Erin, who she’s taken on from Swiss cross-country coach Andrew Nicholson.

The silver medal winning Irish team. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though no Irish rider would make it into the individual top ten, they did come close: Padraig McCarthy and Pomp N Circumstance finished 12th with a clear round, while Ian Cassells and Millridge Atlantis had one expensive rail and 2.8 time penalties to drop to 14th. Robbie Kearns and Chance Encounter also tipped one rail to finish 18th, while individual competitor Sarah Ennis took 15th with a one-rail round with Dourough Ferro Class Act. Collectively, the Irish effort meant that the team took a heartening silver medal – the first team medal at a Europeans for the country since the early 1990s, and proof that over a tough cross-country course, they have everything it takes to rise to the fore. Even more bolstering? Both Padraig and Sarah, experienced championship competitors in their own right, rode inexperienced horses, while individual competitor Susie Berry and new faces Ian and Robbie represent a next-generation string of talent.

And as for the rest of the Brits? Don’t expect them to be down for long.

“Yesterday, we had blips, but everything goes in cycles and at some point, the bubble was going to burst,” says chef d’equip Dicky Waygood. “But every one of them gave it a shot, and so you’ve got to pat them on the back for giving it that shot [and riding positively]. If it had come off, they’d have been heroes. Every single one of them went out there and was good and competitive on their time, and there are blips we can work on, but it’s the attitude of giving it a shot that’s the absolute ingredient of winners.”

We’ll be bringing you more insights over the coming days into what the 2025 European Eventing Championships, and all its plot twists and scaffolding, means for the bigger picture of the sport, but for now, that’s it from us here at EN. We’re off to wish on some stars that we can be like Laura Collett when (if) we grow up. Until next time: 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.

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream Replays] [BBC iPlayer Broadcast] [FEI YouTube Stream Replays] [Entries] [Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

“A Great Day for Sport”: Andrew Nicholson Debriefs on Europeans Cross-Country

By on Sep 21, 2025 12:47 pm -

Melody Johner and Erin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

On Saturday evening at the Agria FEI Eventing European Championships at Blenheim, the Swiss team were in bronze – on the brink of winning their first eventing medal since 1981 – and Andrew Nicholson, their cross-country coach and a vital cog in their march towards the top end of the sport, was a happy man.

It didn’t quite work out for them on Sunday: a medal slipped out of their grasp and they finished in that ultimately annoying position – where you have to pretend to be delighted but are actually gutted – fourth. But Andrew was still happy; he is proud of the Swiss and the progress they have made, and thoroughly enjoys being part of the red-coated support squad.

Andrew knows Blenheim very well, of course. He won the second-ever running of the CCI4*-L here in 1991 on Park Grove, took the 2012 eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S on Quimbo, has ridden dozens of horses round the track here over the years, and even announced his (partial) retirement during the event in 2021. There’s no one better to appraise Mark Phillips’ cross-country course and how it rode:

Nadja Minder and Toblerone. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I thought he had done a very good job when I walked it,” Andrew began. “I liked the way he got you into a good, quick rhythm straight off. The first two minutes were fast, but there were enough twists and turns that they weren’t just galloping and jumping. Then suddenly they got to the Dew Pond and had to take the speed off, have the suppleness, a bit of finesse, to jump the pinned fences down to the water.

And then from then on, for two minutes, it was intense. I thought what Mark did in the main arena – a big box, then five good, big strides to two angled fences, gave riders good preparation for the fences in front of the palace – the two big corners. They were the ones that everyone was talking about beforehand; in total there was something like seven jumping efforts in a minute, but people made a very good job of them.

And then, after so many jumps in a short space of time, you were going to be down on the clock. Do you then speed up a bit? Quite a few riders were on time going into the first main water crossing, but that makes me think that they had had to make some time up. It’s 60, 70m across the water – there, and on the way back. There’s no way you can make up time from then on. Then, coming out of the water for the first time, they had to push up the big hill, which makes the combinations on the other side of the water difficult. It’s just when the horses are starting to tire.

I think that’s probably why the corner in the water [20abc] caused so much trouble, and the oxer to the corner [22ab].

For me, the only thing I would think Mark didn’t get right was the coffin [25abc] – the long route was too easy. Someone told me a couple of people did the direct route, and I can’t understand why you’d even try. I thought the long route was much easier. It seemed to be incredibly smooth and pretty much risk-free.

If you could get to there, as long as you used your head, you’d get home.”

Andrew thought it was an exciting day’s cross-country [yes indeed…] and “all credit to Mark, and to the riders, who rode it positively and well.”

You can view a guide to the course below or here on CrossCountry App:

“It was a great day for the sport, I think. When you see Laura and Michi, two of the best riders in the world, going cross-country on two of the best horses, and they are working [hard]… I thought Michi would have been inside the time. I couldn’t believe when he was down on the clock at six minutes. He looked to be cutting the corners, turning up tight, everything smooth. And Chipmunk might be getting older, but he can gallop. It was good cross-country. It doesn’t matter at all that no one got the time. The horses weren’t finishing really tired, they looked good. I thought it was very well done.”

Switzerland’s Robin Godel and Global DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Indeed, it was a course that may have given off an innocuous vibe, but as is the case with most smartly-designed courses, the devil lies in the details. A course that can play influence both on the clock and in the form of scattered problems, rather than one standout “bogey” fence, has done its tricks well.

While some questions — the first combination at 6, the Suregrow Dew Pond, (which Tilly Berendt described as “dimensionally diminutive pair of skinny triple-bars with a little pond between them, but crucially, the first element was set on top of a short, sharp mound, and because there had been nothing earlier on in the track to force riders to finetune their horses’ adjustability, many found that their mounts came up the mound and then ground to a halt, startled to find a speedbump suddenly in front of them”) and fence 22, the FEI Mounds, were two particularly influential questions, but in reality a few fences caused trouble for multiple pairs. In all, 52% of the starters on cross-country jumped clear.

For Andrew, the future for the Swiss is bright, and weekends like this, while the result may not have been the ideal, are demonstrative of this.

Melody Johner and Erin, whom Andrew rode up to three-star level, produced one of the best and fastest rounds of the day, and Andrew was delighted with both Melody and Nadja Minder, who was the pathfinder for the whole competition on Toblerone.

“Melody talks away to Erin,” he grins, “and he likes it. Both girls did an unbelievable job. I was disappointed for Robin [Godel, who had 20 penalties on Global DHI], but they all rode very well and they are getting more experience all the time at these big events.”

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.

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream Replays] [BBC iPlayer Broadcast] [FEI YouTube Stream Replays] [Entries] [Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

Product Review: Horsepal Offers a New Solution for Equine Fitness Monitoring

By on Sep 21, 2025 12:00 pm -

My favorite part of using Horsepal was having a handy screen to see my horse’s heart rate at any time, without needing my phone, etc.

I, admittedly, have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with heart rate monitors in the past. My first introduction to them was during my time as a triathlete, when everyone convinced me it was a “must have” item for my own (human) fitness training. Ultimately I think I used it maybe 4 or 5 times and found it generally more annoying than helpful.

A few years later the Hylofit equine heart rate monitor hit the equestrian market, and I got to be an early tester for that. It was a solid tool with good data, but since I didn’t really have a good way to watch my phone screen during a ride, the data was mostly useful for analyzing after-the-fact. A couple years after the Hylofit I tried the Seaver, which I don’t think I ever managed to get to work quite right, despite a lot of trial and error. I gave up.

I do, however, still have a very keen interest in having some sort of quantifiable metrics by which to measure my horse’s fitness. I’m an amateur rider living in Ocala and between the heat and humidity of Florida and the general demands of the sport, I take the task of conditioning pretty seriously. There’s no worse feeling than asking a horse to try its best for you and then finding out you just haven’t done your part to put enough in the tank.

It’s been a few years since I regularly used a heart rate monitor as part of my horses’ training, but now that my homebred has stepped up to Preliminary, his fitness program has also gotten more serious. When I was asked if I wanted to try out the new Horsepal heart rate monitor, I jumped at the chance. I’m always down for exploring new equine tech, and particularly interested in seeing a different heart rate monitor compared to ones I’ve had in the past..

First things first: the Horsepal is simple to put on. It might help that I’m not new to heart rate monitors in general, but it’s an elastic strap with some Velcro… it truly does not take a rocket scientist to figure it out. I watched a video on their site before I started, and it was easy peasy. Since the strap runs under the saddle pad I did have some initial concerns about whether or not it might rub, but even after hour-plus rides in the middle of a disgusting Ocala summer, my horse never had so much as a hair out of place.

My favorite feature by far (and what makes the Horsepal my favorite heart rate monitor I’ve ever used) is the screen, which you can either snap into a little protective sleeve down by your girth/the electrode, or you can put it in a handy dandy rubber case that clips to your saddle dee. This provided what I really wanted most: the ability to see the data in real time. No fumbling with a phone, no squinting at a watch – the display is easy to read and sits right there by the horse’s withers. Having that info constantly available is a total game changer. I can know exactly what the horse’s heart rate is doing and when, which makes it much easier to recognize patterns or make adjustments during your ride.

And while the heart rate data as it relates to fitness training is obviously the goal, being able to see a real-time heart rate revealed a few other takeaways as well. Most notably, I noticed that my horse’s heart rate was always consistently about 10bpm higher when he was on the far side of the property (away from other horses)… useful insight into some ongoing anxiety issues he’s been having on cross country.

I also liked that you can share your ride with someone in real time. The app will send them an email when you start a session, and they can log in and watch the data live. I could see that being a particularly useful feature for vets, amateurs, or in my case – since I often go out alone – so that the people back at home could see my status.

The unit is lightweight and unobtrusive, as well as easy to clean, which is a huge plus when your horses get as sweaty as ours do.

Battery life is another big win. I can go many long rides without taking much away from the battery, which honestly isn’t something you can say about a lot of tech these days. The monitor itself is not rechargeable, but it’s easy to order inexpensive packs of extra batteries to have on hand, and they do last for quite a long time.

The Horsepal app itself is straightforward and user-friendly, with all the data saved and easy to review later. I can look back at sessions, see heart rate zone data, track how recovery times are improving, and make tweaks to the horse’s conditioning program based on actual numbers instead of just feelings.

I did have to email Horsepal to ask some questions about their heart rate zone data and how they do their calculations, which they quickly and easily provided. My biggest complaint is that I wish they had a bit more education and literature on their website for people that might not be experienced or well-versed in using a heart rate monitor or interpreting the data. Hopefully that’s coming!

All in all, I found the Horsepal to be a valuable tool that’s easy to use and met my needs for providing useful information about my horse’s fitness. I was able to learn more about where we’re REALLY at, and make a plan (with numbers!) for what to build on next. Being able to see it all in black and white, in real time, is invaluable if you’re trying to focus on improving your horse’s fitness.

✅ Pros:

  • Having that screen clipped to the saddle dee gives me all the joy.
  • Easy to put on and stays in place.
  • App is simple and easy to use, and has nice graphs for the data.
  • The unit has good battery life.

⛔️ Cons:

  • More info and education on the website would be helpful!
  • Their heart rate zones are defined slightly differently than I’ve seen before, which you wouldn’t really know unless you asked.
  • Had a connectivity issue once in an area with no good signal, and the horse’s speed data wasn’t accurate. The heart rate part still worked great, but if you’re in an area with particularly terrible service or GPS, beware that the speed data might be less accurate.

Overall Rating: 4 🌟 out of 5 🌟

If you want to pick up your own Horsepal, click here. Horsepal is now available worldwide. 

How EN Does Product Reviews:

We believe that product reviews are the most useful when they’re honest. We will always let you know if we’ve been compensated in some way for writing a product review; in all review cases, we reserve the right to write with honesty on our experience with a product, with no editing authority given to the sponsoring party or brand. This review of Horsepal was compensated as a part of an advertising package. This review reflects our writer’s full experience using this product.

One Withdrawal, But All Presented Pass Deliciously Uneventful Europeans Final Horse Inspection

By on Sep 21, 2025 4:41 am -

Overnight leaders Laura Collett and London 52 make us all feel something again, even at 8 in the morning on three hours of sleep. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We’re neither bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed on this final (early) morning of the Agria FEI European Eventing Championships, but fortunately for morale and word count, we have practically nothing at all to report from the final horse inspection.

41 horses and riders came forward to present to the ground jury of Sandy Phillips, Katrin Eichinger-Kniely, and Valerie Pride — down by one from the end of yesterday’s competition, owing to the withdrawal of Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti and Duke of Champions. They’d acted as pathfinders for the Italian team, and had a mixed bag of fortunes on course: they picked up a flag penalty at fence 10BC, the second of the angled brushes in the main arena, and a MIM activation penalty at 16, the ha-ha oxer after the rollercoaster complex, putting them into 32nd place individually and helping contribute to Italy’s overnight sixth place as a team.

Unfortunately, this withdrawal does mean that Italy now drops out of any meaningful hunt for a placing. After the retirement of Arianna Schivo and First Lady de Belheme, all three remaining finishers’ scores had to count, and Giovanni’s withdrawal will mean they need to count his 1000-point non-completion penalty. There are now five teams truly remaining in the team competition: Germany maintains their nine-and-a-bit rail lead ahead of Ireland in silver position and Switzerland in bronze, while the French are close behind in fourth and Austria sits 16.6 penalties, or just over four rails, behind them in fifth.

Germany’s Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom of the Opera, who delivered the fastest round of the day yesterday and sit in fourth overnight. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Otherwise, everyone who came forward was accepted without a second glance, including our overnight leaders, Laura Collett and London 52, who take a scant 1.7 penalty margin over Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH into today’s showjumping. That’ll begin with the first session at 11.00 a.m. (12.00 p.m. CEST/6.00 a.m. EST), and the second session — which photographer Peter Nixon tells me is “the top twenty, I think” — will commence from 14.00 BST (15.00 CEST/9.00 a.m. EST). We’ll be back once this pony show wraps up to bring you the full story of our new European Champions and the battle they undertook to nab themselves their medals.

In the meantime, you can catch up on all the action — no, literally, all of it — with our full cross-country report and, of course, Cheg’s fantastic live updates blog, which charts the fates and fortunes of each and every starter on Captain Mark Phillips’ influential track yesterday. You can also rewatch the whole competition, and tune in live for today’s finale, on ClipMyHorse.TV — or, if you’re in the UK, on the BBC’s Red Button service, which will show today’s jumping live.

Go Eventing!

The individual leaderboard at the end of cross-country.

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.

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream] [BBC iPlayer Broadcast] [FEI YouTube Streams] [Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

Sunday Links

By on Sep 21, 2025 12:01 am -

Exciting news! You can get up close and personal with Pierre le Goupil’s new MARS Maryland 5 Star cross country course, with an exclusive opportunity available just for attendees. On Friday, October 17 during the lunch break for dressage, you can walk the course with Pierre, who also designed the Paris Olympic course, as well as former designer Ian Stark. The walk will be followed by a Q&A session hosted by EN’s Sally Spickard. Advance tickets must be purchased for this, and you can find them here. Don’t forget, you can save 5% off your admission ticket for MARS Maryland 5 Star using code EVENTINGNATION at checkout. Other special seminars include one with cross country controller Richard Connelly, taking place on Sunday, October 19 at 10 a.m. Tickets for this seminar can be purchased here.

Major International Events

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream] [BBC iPlayer Broadcast] [FEI YouTube Streams] [Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

U.S. Weekend Events

Twin Rivers Fall International (CA): [Website] [Entries/Times/Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]

Heritage Park H.T. (KS): [Website] [Entries/Times] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]

Unionville H.T. (PA): [Website] [Entries/Times] [Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]

University of New Hampshire H.T. (NH): [Website] [Entries/Times] [Scores] [Volunteer]

Links & Reading

We’re teaming up with Sentinel Horse Nutrition to give away a year’s worth of Sentinel Horse Feeds! This sweepstakes is accepting entries until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 6. You can full the full terms and conditions + enter for your chance to win a big break for your bank account here.

Alexis Boxer Made Her ‘Pinch Me’ Dream Come True at the AEC

Tommy Greengard Has Found A ‘Superman’ In That’s Me Z

Recognize Excellence in Eventing: Submit Your USEA Appreciation Award Nominations

Video Break

Learn about the mission that drives the Retired Racehorse Project:

Mummy Can You Come Get Me, I’m Scared: The European Championships Cross-Country Day Debrief

By on Sep 20, 2025 8:30 pm -

Norway’s Yasmin Olsson-Payne and Cos Me Will cross Blenheim’s long water. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

You’ll forgive us, I hope, for the time it’s taken to get this report written up: we were busy checking to see if Mercury’s in retrograde, or a full moon is coming, or if we’d maybe had a weird batch of media centre coffee and had hallucinated through a full day of sport here at the FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim. Now we’ve been signed off by the inspecting vet and deemed fit to continue, we can confirm: no fever dreams here, just a truly, truly bonkers rewriting of the narrative of the week.

Host nation Great Britain could hardly have come into this week on better form: they’ve been gold medallists at the last two Europeans, winners at last year’s Paris Olympics, relentlessly consistent and almost preternaturally competitive on the world stage. The country has the highest medal tally of any nation throughout the history of the European Championships, with just about double the number won by their nearest competitors, the Germans – and this week, on home soil, at a venue this extraordinarily strong line-up knows like the back of their hands, they were fairly expected to walk it. After the close of the dressage phase, they sat pretty in the top spot, though with the merest of margins ahead of – you guessed it! – Germany, and today, the feeling around the packed grounds was that the experienced foursome would widen the gap between themselves and the largely next-generation German contingent.

And hey, look, they did widen the gap – just not in the direction anyone expected. As cross-country day dissolves into the night before showjumping, Great Britain is no longer a part of the team competition at all.

It began early. The day’s pathfinders, Switzerland’s Nadja Minder and Toblerone, overcame a couple of early scrappy efforts to cruise home clear and with 12.8 time penalties, but almost immediately, the plot thickened like day-old custard. Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti and Duke of Champions, the most experienced pair of their country’s line-up, picked up a flag penalty and a MIM penalty, and those riders watching could immediately see just how tricky the forward distances and technical lines would be. There was a yawning gap for them to process that – Belgium’s Senne Vervaecke had withdrawn before the start of the day’s competition, turning the five-minute interval into a long ten-minute one – and then all eyes were on British team pathfinder Yasmin Ingham (9th on 29) who, they knew, would deliver the sort of round they could glean valuable, confidence-building intel from.

Intel, yes. Confidence-building? Well.

The first two-thirds of Yas’s round were bold, confident, and as competent  and efficient as she and Rehy DJ always are, and it looked set to be a galvanising starting point for the home nation. But then, at the top end of the course, it suddenly unravelled: as they jumped through the tough line at 22AB, an open oxer to a right-handed corner on a bending, left-handed turn, ‘Piglet’ caught a hind leg on the corner, ejecting Yas out of the side door. She was quickly back up on her feet and Piglet, who hadn’t fallen, was no worse for wear, but just like that, the Brits didn’t have the benefit of a discard score anymore. Like Austria, who came to this event with just three riders, and Belgium and Sweden, who’d each lost a rider to withdrawals, every step, every stride, and every ride was going to have to count.

British pathfinders Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

At the end of the day, it would be just Austria – the underdog nation of this week’s nine-strong team lineup – that would stay in the hunt.

Run-out after run-out after run-out plagued riders throughout Captain Mark Phillips’s up-to-standard, testing track, with many running into trouble early at the first combination on course. That was fence 6ABC, a dimensionally diminutive pair of skinny triple-bars with a little pond between them, but crucially, the first element was set on top of a short, sharp mound, and because there had been nothing earlier on in the track to force riders to finetune their horses’ adjustability, many found that their mounts came up the mound and then ground to a halt, startled to find a speedbump suddenly in front of them. Nine pairs faulted here; one of them, France’s Astier Nicolas and Alertamalib’or, lost their chance at an overnight bronze medal position as the result of it.

The skinny brush fence that dropped into the first long water crossing, too, took plenty of strong competitors out of the game: four competitors faulted here, and Sweden bid adieu to the team competition when their final rider, Frida Anderson, opted to retire the inexperienced Stonehavens Baby Blue at this fence.

Then, the top water complex at 20ABC, a log drop and a brush corner that’ll no doubt be deported overnight: just moments after Yas’s shock fall the next British rider, individual competitor Caroline Harris and her Pau winner D.Day, picked up 20 penalties at the second element. Two fences later she, too, would fall at exactly the same spot her compatriot did. And then! And then. Britain was up to bat again, and this time with another team rider: 12th-placed Piggy March and the little stallion Halo, who has previously won here at Blenheim, were having a super round, nipping around the track as though on rails. But after a big jump into the water at 20ABC, Halo made a game attempt at taking off early for the corner and, a split second later, realised the gap was too long. He attempted to chip in an extra stride, but it was too late: he scrambled along the front of the fence, and in cleverly staying on his feet, deposited his rider into the pond.

We were barely 90 minutes into a four-and-a-half hour day of cross-country, and Britain was out.

But wait! There’s more!

Poor Bubby Upton was, like her fellow countrymen, having a peach of a ride with the ten-year-old Bramham winner Its Cooley Time when she, too, ran into trouble: again, a rider fall, though this time at fence 19, an angled brush just after the first long lake crossing. Though the team was already out of contention, and though Bubby had, like Caroline, been riding as an individual, it was another harsh blow to morale: four Brits had started, and four Brits had fallen off. Just two remained, and though Laura Collett and London 52 and Tom McEwen and JL Dublin are two of the strongest combinations in the field, they’re also both horses that would leave the start box with something of a question mark over their heads where hilly, stamina-testing tracks are concerned.

In the meantime, while all this was happening, smaller nations were demonstrating the fruits of their labours – the quiet building blocks of progress that don’t always get noticed in the shadows of the major player nations. Austria’s three plucky competitors had all made it home without jumping penalties, with anchor Lea Siegl holding onto the fourth place spot she’d held overnight with Van Helsing P, and Switzerland, whose six-year trajectory has been a clear and upward one, had brought all four riders home, pushing them upward into podium territory. Both Czech competitors came home, steadily, one clear and one with a couple of issues but plenty of experience gained. Turkey’s first-ever European Championships competitor, Kumru Say, rode a sensible, sensitive round to add no jumping penalties and a fair helping of time. The riders who were here to learn, and to grow, were able to do so with the plethora of long educational routes available to them; the countries that have been on the precipice of levelling up on the world stage walked through that door; and Germany, meanwhile, proved the strength in depth it’s cultivating at Warendorf, and duly took over the gold medal position, and four of the top ten individual places.

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Not, crucially, the top one, though. We finished dressage with a German leader in Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH, and we end it with –mercifully for the home side – a British one. Laura Collett and London 52 happily erased any lingering question marks by attacking their way around the track, returning home in a time of 10:16 – 15 seconds over the 10:01 optimum time, but the second fastest round of the day in the first European Championships this millennium in which nobody has made the time.

“I can’t quite believe it, to be honest,” says Laura, who breaks a chain of bad luck at Europeans with today’s round. “We have a great partnership now, and we really needed it out there – it was hard work from start to finish. But he dug so deep.”

Laura’s round came in the final few of the day, and it was “pretty hideous”, she admits, to have to wait through all the British disappointment of the day for her turn.

“I watched the first two and then thought, ‘oh god,’” she says. “But then when I got on him I thought to myself, ‘look, he’s my horse of a lifetime, and he’s given me no reason not to trust him.’ Chris Bartle’s really helped over the last few years by saying, ‘just trust him. Trust his jump, and don’t try to do too much. Just put him on the line and let him do the rest.’ Really, this year, he’s shown me that that’s what he likes.”

She was helped, too, by having at least one compatriot home and clear: Tom McEwen had revitalised the home crowds hopes, laying down an excellent effort with the 2021 European Champion JL Dublin to add just 6.8 time penalties, in what would turn out to be the third-fastest round of the day.

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I had great advice from Tom, who said ‘just save a little bit for the end – don’t use up too much at the start, and really get stuck in,’” says Laura.

It was sage advice, but as Laura left the start box, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stop the three-time five-star champion from using himself too much, too soon.

“He was quite feisty at the start, which sort of put me off a bit because I couldn’t really find a rhythm,” she says. “Halfway through I gave him a terrible ride through the rollercoaster complex [at 15AB], and then I thought ‘right, you’ve got to stop doing that!’ Then he was magic through the top of the course and coming home.”

‘Dan’ made it clear on course that at sixteen, he’s not about to start slowing down – but his gung-ho approach today isn’t just the result of a bit of luck.

“We’ve really worked on his fitness since Luhmühlen, because I felt there that I hadn’t quite got him to the point I’d had him before, whether that’s because he’s older or just a bit more laid back now,” explains Laura. “So we didn’t give him a huge break after Luhmühlen, and although he hasn’t run very much, we kept him really fit, which showed today.”

Laura had to exercise compartmentalisation to get her head in the game for today’s round after the chance of team gold on home soil slipped out of reach.

“There was a tiny bit less pressure not having the team riding on my shoulders, but I’m gutted for them as well – none of us wanted any of that to happen. So it was a bit of a mixed feeling going into it. But once I was on, it was just a job to do – whether that’s as a team or an individual we want the same result, which is clear and fast.” “He owes me nothing and he keeps on giving me more and more and more.”

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Now, Laura will head into tomorrow’s finale with the tiniest of margins as she fights for her first senior individual gold medal: she sits just 1.7 penalties ahead of her nearest competitor, which gives her just a few scant seconds in hand.

“I’m not sure excited is the word I’d use,” laughs Laura, “but ‘Dan’s’ been in these positions before – not at championships, but at five-star, so I have to remember that and think of it as just another day of showjumping, and then what will be will be. He owes me nothing, and he keeps on giving me more and more and more.”

That 1.7 penalty margin sees Laura sit a whisper ahead of our first-phase leaders, Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH, who left the start box just minutes after she did. The pair were classy around the Captain’s course but steadier: whereas London 52 can lengthen and open his stride more readily, the more traditionally continental Chipmunk travels with a bowling, round stride, and his comfortable cruising gallop meant he and Michi would finish ten seconds slower than our leaders.

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Like many riders today, Michi found himself having to dig deep and really ride at the first combination.

“I think every horse was a bit surprised there,” he says. “But he had a great reaction and jumped it well, and everything else went as I wished. I tried to have a smooth round and not push him too much; to just let him gallop and let him breathe in some places. I had a great feeling everywhere.”

As the third-from-last rider, Michi, like Laura, had a long day of waiting – but, he says, that proved to be a great advantage.

“That’s the good thing when you start in the end, and because we’ve been very lucky with the weather, the ground stayed perfect to the end – so [starting late] meant I could get all the information I needed [without also having worse ground],” he says. “For sure, every horse is different, and every horse has different strong and weak parts, but team Germany had a great day [and gave a lot of information].”

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It wasn’t just the riders themselves who contributed to that effort; Arne Bergendahl, here competing in the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S, was stationed up by the palace’s influential early fences, armed with a walky-talky and feeding his observations back to the team at the start.

Here’s Arne Bergendahl and his radio if you need him, you’re welcome.

Once out of the start box, though, it’s every man and horse for himself, and in his usual style, Michi focused on rhythm rather than heroics.

“I tried not to over-ride him in the beginning,” he says. “I tried to keep a good feeling and ride as fast as possible in a few places, but then also on the other side, to let him breathe and try to have the last jumps still under control. The feeling was amazing after the last combination – he was full of running to the last fence and really fit.”

Of the Captain’s track he says, “I think it was a very, very good course, because it wasn’t just one combination that made problems for everyone. Everywhere you can have a flag, or you can have a run-out, and the time was really, really short. It was, I think, a good course.”

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tom McEwen’s excellent effort with JL Dublin sees them retain the third place position they’d held overnight. Like Laura later on, he found himself with a double handful of horse as he set out on course, and a serious venue-wide support system.

“It’s amazing, the English public today,” he grins. “It’s completely full the whole way around, and there are areas where it’s totally packed out. Dubs was just loving it. For me, it was just about settling him down for the first few minutes. Luckily, all the combinations are built on very positive distances, because I was actually holding throughout all of them. He was loving it.”

The course, he says, “suited his way of going, and I could settle him down for the latter part of the course. Mark’s allowed you from beginning to end to be in a flowing rhythm, so the horses really got into that positive state of mind all the way. That meant that actually, the bigger distances later on came up pretty easily.”

Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom of the Opera. Photo by Jan Frohne.

The fastest round of the day went to an individual competitor, rather than a team rider, but Paris reserves Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom of the Opera gave Germany yet another reason to celebrate when they crossed the line bold, fit, and fresh, on a time of 10:15. That was enough to boost them from 16th after dressage to equal fourth tonight.

“It’s my third time here at Blenheim, and I know Phanty inside and out, but already in the previous years it was tough enough to be inside the time,” says an emotional Calvin, who enjoyed a positive, open-strided ride around the track with his little chestnut gelding. “But that’s just his major strength. I’m quite lucky to have him as my partner because he’s bold, and most of the time being able to see those good distances to just leave out a stride in the turn. That’s where I believe he’s saving the time – that, and still being full of running as he comes up that last hill. It’s an unbelievable feeling – despite the fact that he’s been one of the fastest horses today, it just makes me really happy that he comes into the finish with his ears pricked and he isn’t tired at all; he feels like he could do it all over again.”

The 14-year-old Phanty came into his own on Blenheim’s hilly middle section.

“Whenever I give him some rein and say ‘let’s do this’, I don’t even have to say a thing: he’s an absolute galloping machine, and that was the major strength in this course, even though it was really, really technical. If you weren’t on point the whole time, it was so easy to have tiny mistakes.

“He’s always quite keen to go, and especially today. I truly believe that horses in general are very smart; all of my horses have big personalities and are unique, and with him, he knows when it’s important. Normally he’d be very fresh in the dressage, especially in a grass arena, but this week it was like he knew how important it was, and he behaved so well.”

Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom of the Opera. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

24-year-old Calvin has tears in his eyes and his broad grin breaks for a moment as he thinks about his game little white-faced, wall-eyed horse, with whom he’s twice completed Kentucky, finished second at Aachen, and now made his Senior European debut.

“He means the world to me,” he says. “Just being able to have these experiences – of course, it’s amazing to have a good result at the end, but just to live in this moment and have these experiences with him, and to tackle a course like this with a crowd like this, it’s just something that means a lot to me. It’s something that me and my family and my whole team have worked towards for many years now, and I’m very grateful that it’s all coming together now.”

The pair are excellent showjumpers, without a rail to be seen in their last seven FEI jumping rounds, but, says Calvin, “I’m going into tomorrow without any expectations – I’m just grateful for today. Most of the people on the leaderboard around me have been here quite a bit longer than me already, and so I’m just grateful to be here with them – and to have had Phanty by my side today.”

Lea Siegl and Van Helsing P. Photo by Jan Frohne.

Austria’s Lea Siegl and Van Helsing P added 9.2 time penalties to sit equal fourth with Calvin, and secure overnight fifth place for her team, too, in an incredible plot twist for this week’s team leaderboard.

“It was amazing,” she says with a smile. “It was fun to ride, and the audience was incredible, and we just enjoyed it. We had a forward rhythm, and I was so proud of how brave he was.”

Her ride, she continues, went “according to plan” – other than an unexpected hold of a few minutes, while fence repairs were carried out ahead of her.

 “I got stopped at minute four, between fence 13 and 14, and so I tried to cool him down there,” says Lea. “The people standing there were quite nice and had sponges to help cool him down, so he was calm and relaxed. But it’s a bit of a rhythm-breaker if you have a stop in the middle of the course, so we had to make sure to find that forward rhythm again quickly.”

Mélody Johner and Erin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The Swiss team this week is full of experienced riders, all four of whom have been on the last handful of championship teams, but three of the four are riding young, inexperienced, or ‘second string’ horses, in a bid to create strength in depth for the next Olympic cycle. This isn’t a bad start: though both Felix Vogg and Frieda and Robin Godel and Global DHI picked up 20 penalties on course, Nadja Minder’s pathfinder round and the smart, swift clear of Mélody Johner and Erin mean that the team finds itself in bronze medal position overnight. Mélody, for her part, will head into the final day in sixth place, having added 8 time penalties with the ten-year-old Spanish-bred gelding and climbed up from 18th as a result.

On course, she says, he both thrived and learned.

“Everywhere I rode as I’d wanted to, but just at the oxer to the corner at 22, that wasn’t so easy for him,” she says. “He just didn’t really know where he was supposed to go, but he trusted me, so that was good – but he lost a shoe somewhere, and I could feel that he was slipping a little in the turns, which meant I didn’t go as fast as I wanted. Luckily, he’s naturally fast.”

She did, she admits, have a moment of doubt just before heading out onto the influential track.

“We make a crazy sport, I think. When I’m in the starting box, I really ask myself every time why I’m doing this sport,” she laughs. “But when we’re going, it’s such a pleasure and so wonderful to ride that I answer the question for myself.”

Mélody has been entrusted with the ride on Erin by Swiss team cross-country coach Andrew Nicholson, who produced him to CCI3*-L.

“It’s a special one for Andrew, and it’s special for me that he trusts me to ride this horse,” says Mélody, who took the reins in early 2024. “It’s a partnership not just between the horse and me, but between Andrew and I. I think we really have to work the future years together, and that’s really a pleasure.”

The long-term aim for the gelding, she continues, “was always for Aachen next year, and not necessarily the Europeans this year, but we were ready – and so it’s just 100% positive for the future and for the experience. The future looks bright!”

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

Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K have previously won at Blenheim, back in 2022, and so huge hopes rested on their shoulders – and they didn’t disappoint, adding a respectable 14 time penalties to their tally to move from 6th to 7th place, and bolster that German bid for team gold.

“He was so focused on all the technical stuff – I could really ride him, and he really carried me,” says Malin. “I think it’s a really tough course: when we walked the first time we all said, ‘oh, it’s not very big’ – we’ve all ridden five-stars, so it didn’t seem so bad. But there are a lot of angles and technical things, and I spoke to Bettina [Hoy], and she said, ‘that’s typical for the Captain: the technical stuff gets you if you want to ride fast.’ So we all spoke about it and decided it would be a tough course, and it was.”

Her previous form here with ‘Schimmi’ was an enormous confidence boost as she left the start box.

“Three years ago, my horse was really full of power in the finish, so I had that in mind. I just made sure to let him breathe at the top after the water, and let him canter like he wanted to, and then I was able to speed up again when I needed to.”

Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Germany also holds 8th place, thanks to a 13.2 time penalty round from young talent Jérôme Robiné and the crowd favourite Black Ice, whose long stride gobbled up the forward distances in the combinations on course. They had a moment of excitement at the top water at 20ABC when Black Ice opted to make a planned five stride line into four – but there was never a moment in which he wasn’t going to make it to the other side of the fence.

“I’m more than happy,” says Jérôme, who steps up from overnight 15th place. “He’s quite an honest horse – you just point him somewhere and he’ll go over it. In the first minutes I was quite happy with how we were galloping and we were quite good on the time, but the middle bit is quite intense with question after question, and that costs a lot of time.”

A later draw meant the Jérôme could absorb plenty of vital intel and adjust his plan of action – with some insights from a certain teammate, too.

“We could get proper information from the morning. There were some combinations we wanted to ride differently before, and then we realised [from watching] what was the best way. We learned a lot, and I think especially when you have an experienced rider like Michi on your team, it’s good to sit next to him and watch!”

Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Hooney d’Arville. Photo by Jan Frohne.

Belgium is, unfortunately, no longer a contender in the team leaderboard after the withdrawal of Senne Vervaecke and the retirement of Wouter de Cleene, but Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and her Luhmühlen CCI5* winner Hooney d’Arville can continue their bid for individual plaudits after a confident round saw them add 16 time penalties. That drops them down a few places; they were fifth after dressage on a smart score of 27.7.

“She did really well; she tried her heart out for me, and I’m really, really happy,” says Lara, who was initially awarded a flag penalty at the last combination, but swiftly had it removed from her scorecard.

Ian Cassells and Millridge Atlantis. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Ireland’s Ian Cassells rounds out the top ten after closing out our day of competition with a super round aboard Millridge Atlantis, which added 13.6 time penalties to their tally, pushed them well up the rankings from 22nd – and secured Ireland’s overnight silver medal position.

“It’s amazing – this is my second championship, so to be part of the team with a little bit more experience than last time is amazing,” grins Ian. “There was a bit of pressure to put on for the team, but thankfully the orders came through and we’re in silver now, and in the top ten individually.”

Ian’s excellent and team-affirming round came despite a couple of little mishaps on course.

“It didn’t go to plan, as such, and we had to get it done, but that’s cross-country riding. At the rollercoaster I lost my stirrup at the B, and I thought I’d just drop down the hill, and then he drifted left, which caught me by surprise,” he says. Then, “I’d planned to do five in the pond [at 20ABC], but he landed so big that I thought I’d commit and go for the four.”

And, he tells us, the horse also lost a shoe: one of three Irish team horses today to lose the front left one, which is certainly a testament to consistency, anyway.

All the way around, he says, “there was definitely pressure. I wouldn’t think of myself as someone who gets nervous, but I think it’s more the will to do well, and in a team competition that’s heightened by the want to do the best you can for your team.”

Switzerland’s Robin Godel and Global DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Six of the top ten horses and riders after dressage remain in that business-ended bunch after cross-country, and we’ll head into tomorrow’s competition with 42 horses and riders still in the hunt. There’s that very tight margin of just 1.7 penalties between our individual first and second place riders, but in the team leaderboard, the gold is beginning to look pretty well sewn up: Germany boasts an overnight aggregate score of 113.7, 37 penalties (or nine-and-change rails) ahead of Ireland. Switzerland are just over ten penalties behind them in bronze, while France is waiting close behind in fourth place. Austria holds fifth overnight, Italy holds sixth, and everything after that is a thousand or more penalties behind, so we won’t rub salt in the wound by dwelling on that for much longer.

Ireland’s Robbie Kearns and Chance Encounter cross the river while delivering one of the most impressive rounds of the day. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Course designer Captain Mark Phillips ended the day by making a salient point about what the top of our leaderboard means, especially where the conversation about good dressage horses in eventing is concerned.

“There weren’t that many horses here with the possibility of getting around inside the time, but actually, what you saw in the end was three of the best-trained horses, the horses that are the best-trained in dressage [getting close], because it was that training that allowed them to go quicker than nearly anybody else. Look at how economical they could be: it was just another league above most of the others.”

Tomorrow’s competition will get back underway at 8.00 a.m. BST (9.00 a.m. CEST/3.00 a.m. EST) with the final horse inspection. The showjumping will be split into two parts, beginning at 11.00 a.m. BST (12.00 p.m. CEST/6.00 a.m. EST) and resuming at 14.00 BST (15.00 CEST/9.00 a.m. EST). We’ll be back in an actually worryingly short amount of time with the next instalment of all the pertinent news you need from this year’s European Eventing Championships. Until then, Go Eventing!

The individual leaderboard at the end of cross-country.

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.

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream] [BBC iPlayer Broadcast] [FEI YouTube Streams] [Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

Cross Country Day at the Agria FEI Eventing European Championships: Follow Along with EN’s Live Blog

By on Sep 20, 2025 5:47 am -

Just a few of the many Christmas trees out on course. Photo via CrossCountry App.

It’s Championships time once more ENers and I’ll be bringing you live updates of all the cross country action from the Agria FEI Eventing European Championships as 17 nations and 9 teams duke it out on Captain Mark Phillips’ swansong track.

Before we get down to the business of the day, here’s a look at how things stand on the leaderboard following the dressage phase.

Individual Podium Placings:

1️⃣ 🇩🇪 Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH – 18.3.

2️⃣ 🇬🇧 Laura Collett and London 52 – 20.6.

3️⃣ 🇬🇧 Tom McEwen and JL Dublin – 26.2.

You’ll find the full individual scoreboard right here.

Team Podium Placings:

1️⃣ 🇩🇪 Germany – 74.4.

2️⃣ 🇬🇧 Great Britain – 75.8.

3️⃣ 🇫🇷 France – 90.7.

You’ll find the full team scoreboard right here.

Here are the links you need to catch up on all the deets from the dressage:

▶️ Thursday Report
▶️ Friday Report

But we all know that eventing is almost never a dressage competition, so it’s all to play for as the competitors take to the start box for today’s cross country test. You can see what’s in store on the course today here and check out EN’s take on the key combinations right here. As ever, we’ve wrangled the riders for their insights into the track – read their reactions here.

The defending champs and host nation, Great Britain, are fielding an enviably solid team, despite the absence of the reigning individual title holder, such is the strength and depth of the British squad. The team to beat following the first phase though, is the German representation, silver medalists at the last Euros edition and coming for Britain’s crown with everything they’ve got. Currently sitting in third, France took bronze on home soil at Haras du Pin in 2023 and will have the podium set in their sights once more; with plenty of potential within their ranks it’ll be ‘allez’ all the way.

Take a closer look at all the representatives in our Guide to the Nations, which we’ve conveniently placed right here for your perusal.

But as has been proven so many times, nothing’s a dead cert when it comes to eventing and we’ll just have to buckle up and hang on for the ride before we find out just who will be taking home the hardware at the end of play tomorrow. (FYI, the show jumping is scheduled for 1pm BST / 12pm CEST / 8am ET.)

And to make sure you don’t miss a trick, EN has got two sets of boots on the ground at Blenheim Palace, bringing you all of the news straight from the competition site. You’ll find EN’s slightly soggy, windswept content here. And don’t forget to head on over to our Instagram channel @goeventing for even more goodies – follow along here.

There’s just time for a little ‘refresher’ on the no. 1 rule of following EN’s classic live blog: refresh, refresh, refresh – and all will be revealed.

via GIPHY

If you’re catching up with this later and are the type to like things in order, scroll ⬇️ and read ⬆️. If going backwards is more your jam, have at it.

We’ll be going live at 11am BST / 12pm CEST / 6am ET.

The start box beckons. Let’s go eventing!

(* Denotes team member. Euros team credentials are for the past decade, with medals recognized for earlier competitions. Team representations are prioritized.)

________________________________________________________________________________

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.

________________________________________________________________________________

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream] [FEI YouTube Streams] [Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

________________________________________________________________________________

10:40am

So that’s that ENers and what a competition we’ve seen. Huge shake ups in the team standings and a switcheroo in the individual podium.

Just a quick update before we look at those placings: Michael Jung’s flag penalty has been removed.

Individual Podium Placings:

1️⃣ 🇬🇧 Laura Collett and London 52 – 26.6.

2️⃣ 🇩🇪 Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH – 28.3.

3️⃣ 🇬🇧 Tom McEwen and JL Dublin – 33.

You’ll find the full individual scoreboard right here.

Team Podium Placings:

1️⃣ 🇩🇪 Germany – 113.7.

2️⃣ 🇮🇪 Ireland – 150.7.

3️⃣ 🇨🇭 Switzerland – 161.3.

You’ll find the full team scoreboard right here.

Keep it locked on to EN for a full cross country report headed your way as soon as super-humanly possible.

Set your notifications for 1pm BST / 12pm CEST / 8am ET to find out who the European medalists will be.

It’s over and out from me.
Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Until next time… Go eventing!

________________________________________________________________________________

10:30am

🇮🇪* FINAL COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: IAN CASSELLS AND MILLRIDGE ATLANTIS

Dressage Score: 32.6
Place: 22

Euros Credentials: Represented Ireland as an individual at Le Pin Au Haras 2023.

Ian’s showing as having a pending flag at 10 as we catch up with him going a bit sideways after the Roller Coaster combination and into the Ha Ha Oxer at 16. Ian jumps that with just the one pedal. This horse is looking very strong. He’s still bold as he comes to the hollow fence at 25 and Ian has to really bring him back to be careful of the pins on those rails. They’re careful through there as they near home. They clear the final combination at 30 and kick for the finale. They cross the line with 13.6 time and that pending flag.

Astier heads for home and picks up a pending flag penalty at the final combination at 30. He crosses the line with 14.4 time, 11 for the frangible device at 6 and that pending flag.

We catch up with Michael at the bullfinch double at 28 with 30 seconds left on the clock. They go into time as they come into the final combination at 30 and Michael really pushes on as they come out of there and towards the finale. We actually see Michael breath a massive sigh as he rides for the finish. 10 time penalties. A pending flag. He’s dropped into 2nd. Laura Collet and London 52 are in the lead after cross country.

________________________________________________________________________________

10:20am

🇫🇷* PENULTIMATE COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: ASTIER NICOLAS AND ALERTAMALIB’OR

Dressage Score: 29.8
Place: 13

Euros Credentials:
🥉 Team bronze Malmö 2013

Astier has a bit of an up and down jump over the table in the arena at 8 but he kicks on and they continue through there neatly enough. He’s showing as having had a frangible device at the Dew Pond at 6 on the live scoreboard but we didn’t see it on screen.

OK, Michael is showing as having a flag question at 22 on the live scoreboard. I’ll obviously update you with any information asap. We do see it on screen and honestly, from the angle we see it at it’s not really a question, surely? Aside from that, he’s having a storming round. Too quick to keep up with but characteristically beautiful and impressive.

________________________________________________________________________________

10:15am

🇩🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: MICHAEL JUNG AND FISCHERCHIPMUNK FRH

Dressage Score: 18.3
Place: 1

Euros Credentials:
🥈 Team silver Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)
🥈 Team silver Avenches 2021
🥇🥈 Team gold & individual silver Luhmühlen 2019 (horse & rider)
🥈 Individual silver Strzegom 2017
🥇🥇 Team gold & individual gold Blair Castle 2015
🥇🥇 Team gold & individual gold Malmö 2013
🥇🥇 Team gold & individual gold Luhmühlen 2011
🥉 Individual bronze Fontainbleau 2009

Just two more combinations to come after dressage leaders Michael and Chipmunk.

Oh, there’s an early moment when Michael and Chipmunk go in kind of opposite ways over the a element at the Dew Pond at 6, but they’re firmly back together on landing. Just giving us a bit of excitement. They’re very quick into the main arena and Chipmunk is hunting out the flags as they take on the two tables at 8 and 9 and then the double at 10. They’re characteristically fabulous through the combination at 11 and then the two boxes at 12 and 13.

Laura takes a bit of a chance at the final fence and then crosses the finish line with just 6 time penalties, the second quickest of the day so far.

Frieda is showing as having retired after picking up penalties at fence 17.

________________________________________________________________________________

10:10am

🇸🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: FRIDA ANDERSEN AND STONEHAVENS BABY BLUE

Dressage Score: 32
Place: 20

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023
🥈 Team silver Malmö 2013

We pick them up in the main arena where the horse is ears pricked and sweetly popping over the big tables at 8 and 9 before neatly jumping through the double of angled brushes at 10. They’re just as neat through the treble combination at 11 and then through 12 and 13 before heading off into the woods.

London 52’s looking strong as he comes through the Roller Coaster combination at 15 and Laura adds a stride to the Ha Ha Oxer at 16, getting him to listen to her. There’s a little wiggle coming into the brush shoulder at 19 but Laura’s all over it and they’re clear and kicking on. Laura sits back at the FEI Mounds at 22, jumping very boldly through there.

Lara picks up a flag question at the final combination at 30, taking a bit of a chance there. They cross the line with 16 time and that pending flag.

________________________________________________________________________________

10:05am

🇬🇧* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: LAURA COLLETT AND LONDON 52

Dressage Score: 20.6
Place: 2

Euros Credentials:
🥇 Team gold Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)

We’re into the final five combinations to come forward now.

There’s cheers for this pair as they make their way neatly through the Dew Pond at 6. They’re clean through the main arena fences and then easily make the long strides through the combination at 11. All’s well so far for this pair as the rain starts to come down.

Lara’s horse has a little look going into the water at 18 but Lara’s got her leg on. They jump the biggest part of the brush shoulder at 19, just to be absolutely sure. They get a great shot into the water at 20 over the hanging log and then make the distance to the corner at b look easy. Very slick. The horse is strong through the FEI Mounds combinations at 22 but Lara gets her back quickly. She looks back to check the pin but all’s well. They pop through the hollow combination at 25 and head towards home.

________________________________________________________________________________

10am

🇧🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: LARA DE LEIDEKERKE-MEIER AND HOONEY D’ARVILLE

Dressage Score: 27.7
Place: 5

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)
📌 Team member Avenches 2021
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019
📌 Team member Strzegom 2017

We see them through the main arena, with Lara setting up for the big tables at 8 and 9 and then skipping through the double of angled brushes at 10. They’re very neat through the combination at 11, easily making the four strides between the two big corners at the b and c elements. Lovely.

We catch up with Lea as she makes her way through the water crossing and over the brush shoulder at 19. She’d just been held for a little while on course. She gets straight back into her round and easily gets the four strides through the water at 20 to the corner. They knock the flag out but that looks to be fine. Lea takes a short five strides through the FEI Mounds combination at 22, very controlled and ridden quite beautifully. This really does look to be shaping up to be a very impressive round. No worries at all for them at the hollow combination at 25 as they hop over the ditch there and head for home. She clears the final combination at 30 neatly and the runs on for the finale and the finish line. Big pats for ‘Heli’. They finish with 9.6 time. A superb showing from them.

Vittoria crosses the line with 22 time penalties, there’s also that 11 for the frangible device and a pending flag penalty.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:50am

🇦🇹* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: LEA SIEGL AND VAN HELSING P

Dressage Score: 26.9
Place: 4

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)
📌 Team member Avenches 2021 (horse & rider)

Lea sets off meaning business and sees a great shot to the second. The horse looks bold and brave and really keen for his job today. They’re really confident and economical through the Dew Pond at 6. They’re very neat through the combination at 11 and then over the two related fences at 12 and 13. Very elegantly ridden there from this young rider.

Vittoria is neat over the Raging Bull Roller Coaster combination and kicks on confidently. But then Vittoria goes for an extra stride into the oxer at 22a but it doesn’t work out and the frangible device comes down. Vittoria sits tight but that’s 11 penalties for them there. She continues on over the corner clear.

Felix has crossed the line with 28.8 time, 20 jumping and a pending flag penalty.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:45am

🇮🇹* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: VITTORIA PANIZZON AND DHI JACKPOT

Dressage Score: 33.2
Place: 26

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Luhmühlen in 2019
📌 Team member Strzegom 2017
🥉 Team bronze Pratoni 2007

Vittoria has to really drive for the stride into the second corner at the c element of 11 but the horse responds and they make the stride there. We see them pop neatly over the two boxes at 12 and 13 before heading into the woods.

There’s another moment for Felix at the water at 20. They’re good going in over the hanging log but then they get close to the corner in the water and the horse has to squew to get her legs out of the way. Felix sits tight though and they continue on. The opt for the longer route at the hollow at 25 and are looking towards home now.

Janneke takes a real chance through the bullfinch combination at 28, taking both flags at the narrow fences there. That’s come up as a pending penalty. She’s close on the clock as she heads for home and ends up crossing the line with just 7.2 time penalties, as well as that pending flag. She looks delighted with that round and the horse looks great.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:40am

🇨🇭* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: FELIX VOGG AND FRIEDA

Dressage Score: 29.2
Place: 11

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)
📌 Team member Avenches 2021
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019
📌 Team member Strzegom 2017

This is it – we’re into the final team rotation now.

Ooo. We see Felix’s horse being a little naughty as she hops to the side of the skinny rails at 6a. Felix looks a little surprised. They pick up an early 20 and come round to take the long route. Felix rides beautifully through the treble combination at 11, clearly having put that 20 behind them and the horse looking very accomplished.

Janneke pops through the Roller Coaster at 15 and they really look to be having a lot of fun and they get stuck into the course. They’re bold into the water at 18 and are steady through the water crossing and neat over the brush shoulder at 19. Oh, there’s a moment for them at the FEI Mounds at 22. They don’t get a good stride in and are lucky not to have the pin. Janneke’s pitched forward but the speed’s gone so she has time to right herself before going on to jump the corner at the b element. They were lucky there.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:35am

🇬🇧 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: BUBBY UPTON AND ITS COOLEY TIME

Dressage Score: 28.9
Place: 8

Euros Credentials: Making her senior Euros debut.

Just ten more combinations to come after Bubby.

Bubby looks to mean business as she sets off with her lovely gray gelding. He’s fighting her a little through the Dew Pond at 6 but Bubby keeps him on side and they’re neat through there. They’re very quick into the main arena and take the first table at 8 on the angle. But they’re totally on the same page and they make light work of the fences in there. They’re brilliant through the combination at 11, so confident. They’re very brave up and down the hill at the Roller Coaster at 15. He’s looking strong as they come into the water at 17 and 18 but Bubby gets him back and then, oh no. The horse gets too close to the brush shoulder at 19 and trips up. There’s no fighting gravity there for Bubby and she tumbles over his head. What a day for Great Britain on home turf. Goodness.

Pavel is still popping round the course. We haven’t seen a lot of him, sorry. We finally catch up with him at the bullfinch combination at 28, making light work through there and heading towards home.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:35am

🇳🇱NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: JANNEKE BOONZAAIJER AND ACSI CHAMP DE TAILLEUR

Dressage Score: 29.9
Place: 14

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)
📌 Team member Avenches 2021 (horse & rider)

Janneke’s got the course to herself for the time being. They’re very good through the main arena, athletic through the double of angled brushes at 10 and then very neat and tidy over the treble combination at 11 and then again over the related boxes at 12 and 13. A great start for them.

Pavel comes through the final combination at 30 really nicely and then kicks on for the finale, crossing the line with 58 time penalties. The 20 jumping has been taken off. We didn’t see anything on screen, it just came up on the live scoreboard so must have been an error. That’s good news for them.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:30am

🇨🇿 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: PAVEL BREZINA AND TURIN

Dressage Score: 39.1
Place: 50

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Avenches 2021

We see them take on the Dew Pond at 6 nice and neatly and then Pavel puts his foot down as he gets stuck into his round. They opt for the long route at 11, seemingly after picking up a 20 there according to the live scoreboard.

Calvin is still motoring on but the horse is coming back to him when needed. He puts in a huge leap over the LeMieux wedge at 23. He looks at his watch after flying through the two bullfinches at 28 and is heading towards home. The horse is still full of running as they come very quickly through the final combination at 30, but Calvin makes the turn through there. They flash over the last and over the line, quickest of the day, 5.6 time penalties and a pending flag penalty.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:25am

🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: CALVIN BÖCKMANN AND THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Dressage Score: 30.9
Place: 16

Euros Credentials: Making his senior Euros debut.

Calvin gets off to a characteristically quick start. The horse is very keen to get on with the job. The Dew Pond complex at 6 is very fast and furious, but the horse is nimble and quick on his feet and they hunt their way through. They’re super quick through the main arena, going in and out of the fences there in a flash. They’re good through the treble combination at 11 though and make the line through the two related boxes at 12 and 13 really neatly.

Susie gets to the corner at 22b on a half stride but Clever Trick gets her feet out of the way and they make it over but with a pending flag question. And then, oh no, they have a drive by at the LeMieux wedge at 23. That’s a 20 for them, a shame when the looked to be having a great round. They continue on over the longer route and head for home. They pop the final fence neatly and complete with 24.4 time, the 20 penalties and two pending flag penalties.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:20am

🇮🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: SUSANNAH BERRY AND CLEVER TRICK

Dressage Score: 36.4
Place: 40

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)

Susie takes us into the final batch of individual riders.

They make a really neat job of the water complex at the Dew Pond at 6 and look to be very confident as they get their round underway. Susie’s bold through the Raging Bull combination at 15 and the horse has got her ears pricked as they come down the hill towards the water at 17 and 18. They’re very confident through that water complex although they are showing as having a pending flag penalty at fence 10 from the angled brushes in the main arena.

Unfortunately we’re hearing that Aoife has had a fall at fence 20. We see her and Full Monty De Lacense walking away.

Alexis has crossed the finish line with 14.8 time and a pending flag penalty.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:15am

🇮🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: AOIFE CLARK AND FULL MONTY DE LACENSE

Dressage Score: 34.7
Place: 33

Euros Credentials: Making her Euros debut.

We catch up with Aoife as she disappears into the trees on the way to the Roller Coaster combination. They’re really fast up and down the hill there and bold over the rails at 16. It seems that the martingale has snapped and is dangling but the horse doesn’t seem to have noticed. He’s incredibly bold into the water at 18 and Aoife holds him very firmly on the line over the brush shoulder at 19.

Alexis seems to take the long route after a bold jump into the water at 20, although there’s a bit of a query over whether that was plan A, that’ll be for the ground jury to look at although no penalties have come up on the live scoreboard. He’s another one to take the longer route at the hollow at 25. The horse has a good look at the ditch but they’re clear through there.

Jerome has crossed the finish line with Black Ice, 13.2 time penalties for them in what’s been a superb round.

Update on Tom McEwen’s score, his flag penalties have been taken off.

________________________________________________________________________________

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.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:10am

🇫🇷* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: ALEXIS GOURY AND JE’VALL

Dressage Score: 31.9
Place: 19

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019

Alexis is careful through the main arena and they navigate the fences in there very neatly. He asks his horse to wait coming into the treble combination at 11 and they make the distance through there very easily, even holding his horse for the long five there. They’re very neat through the Raging Bull Roller Coaster at 15ab. The horse is quite a long way off the skinny brush into the water at 18 and they get a bit of an up and down jump. The horse is unbalanced on landing but Alexis sits tight and then kicks on for the straight route on the way out. Brave.

Amanda crosses the finish line with huge pats for her horse. 21.2 time penalties for them, and a pending flag penalty.

Yikes, Jerome’s horse slightly lost his balance jumping into the water at 20 but Jerome sits tight and they make the b element without having to add an extra stride. The FEI Mounds at 22 come up beautifully for them. Robin really rides this horse brilliantly. They’re bold and fast and confident but so secure.

________________________________________________________________________________

9:05am

🇩🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: JÉRÔME ROBINÉ AND BLACK ICE

Dressage Score: 30.4
Place: 15

Euros Credentials: Horse and rider represented Germany at Haras du Pin 2023.

Jerome is quick into the main arena and takes a flyer at the table at 8. They balance round the corner to the second table at 9 and then make nothing of the double of angled brushes at 10. The treble combination at 11 is more of the same, easy and super confident. Black Ice jumps the big table at 14 brilliantly before heading off into the woods. They’ve very quick up and down the Roller Coaster combination at 15. This is a very impressive round so far.

Amanda’s horse is very suspicious going into the water at 18 but she makes it happen. They’re on a squiggly line to the brush shoulder on the way out at 19 but her elbows are going and they squeak on through. They opt for the longer option at the hollow at 25. The horse is a bit looky at the ditch at the c element and takes a huge jump over there. But they’re through clear and heading for home.

________________________________________________________________________________

9am

🇸🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: AMANDA STAAM AND CORPOUBET AT

Dressage Score: 35.5
Place: 38

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)

Amanda’s careful through the main arena, popping neatly through the two Joules fences at 8 and 9 and then the double of angled brushes at 10. They’re good through the combination at 11 but then take the flag at 13, that’s a pending penalty there.

Tom picks up a flag question at the FEI Mounds at the corner at 22b. Tom really has to make the stride happen there, relying on the horse’s scope to through there. Those penalties will be pending. He opts for the long route at the hollow at 25 although there’s not much in it, to be honest. He’s looking good on the time. He’s flying for home and Tom’s crouching low. They take the fischer Stick Pile at 29 in their stride and then are as quick as they can be through the final combination at 30. He kicks on and clears the last. Over the line, fastest of the day. 6.8 time penalties, but there’s a pending flag penalty.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:55am

🇬🇧* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: TOM MCEWEN AND JL DUBLIN

Dressage Score: 26.2
Place: 3

Euros Credentials: Horse and rider represented Britain as an individual at Haras du Pin 2023.
🥇🥇 Team gold & individual gold (JL Dublin with Nicola Wilson)

Tom and ‘Dubs’ look to be flying as we see them head off into the woods. They emerge to take on the Roller Coaster fence at 15 and make nothing of the terrain up there. They’re quick over the BE Support Trust fence at 17 and Tom hails a cab into the water at 18. They’re really pushing on and look to be in it for individual glory now that Britain’s out of the team competition.

We catch up with Wouter looking a little sticky through the water crossing heading into the brush shoulder at 19 and then the horse propped on landing over the brush corner in the water at 20 and Wouter’s popped off. He gets wet but is quickly on his feet and the horse looks to be fine. A sad, wet end to their competition.

Katrin has crossed the finish line with 46.8 time penalties and two pending flag penalties. Big pats for Renegade.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:50am

🇧🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: WOUTER DE CLEENE AND QUINTERA

Dressage Score: 33.8
Place: 28

Euros Credentials: Making his senior Euros debut.

Wouter gets off to a strong start, with horse and rider looking confident as they set off for their round. They’re clear through fence 17, although we haven’t seen a lot of his round, sorry.

Katrin is having a great ride. Renegade is strong but she’s riding really well. There are pending flag penalties showing on the live scoreboard for them at 19 and 22. They opt for the longer route at the hollow fence at 25 and make a neat job through there.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:45am

🇦🇹* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: KATRIN KHODDAM-HAZRATI AND RENEGADE

Dressage Score: 35.2
Place: 36

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019

Katrin is careful through the two tables in the main arena at 8 and 9. The horse looks very keen through the two angled brushes at 10ab and then is fighting a little through the combination at 11 but Katrin steers him through there and they head off into the woods.

Robin picks up a flag at the final combination at 30 but that’ll be pending. They continue on to cross the finish line with 18 time penalties, 20 jumping and two pending flag penalties.

Arianna takes a roundabout route at the water complex at 17 and 18. The horse has been backing off a little for the last couple of fences and that culminates in them griding to a halt at 18. Arianna opts to put her hand up.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:40am

🇮🇹* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: ARIANNA SCHIVO AND FIRST LADY DE BELHEME

Dressage Score: 40.4
Place: 53

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019
📌 Team member Strzegom 2017
📌 Team member Blair Castle 2015

Arianna’s showing as having picked up an early 20 at the Dew Pond at 6 as they grind to a halt at the skinny rails at the a element. They come round to continue on, cat jumping over the final element and lucky not to pick up more penalties. They kick on. They take the long route at the combination at 11 and make a neat job through there. They take the flag at 12 but Arianna just catches it with her foot.

Robin seems to have put his early penalties firmly behind him as he comes very boldly into the hollow at 25. Woah, he’s lucky not to have the pin there. But the horse gets his feet out of the way and they head on over the ditch at c.

Sanna squirrels her way through the final combination at 30 and kicks for home. They cross the line carrying that 20 and accruing 27.2 time.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:35am

🇨🇭* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: ROBIN GODEL AND GLOBAL DHI

Dressage Score: 36.5
Place: 42

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023
📌 Team member Avenches 2021
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019

Robin gets us going with the third team rotation.

Oh dear. The problems come early for Robin when he picks up a 20 at the first water a 6. We didn’t see it on screen but it’s showing on the live scoreboard. We catch up with them in the main arena, clearly having put that behind them as they’re neat through the fences in there. They opt for the long route at the treble combination at 11 and then pop through the related fences at 12 and 13 cleanly.

Sanna doesn’t quite get the stride to the corner at 22b and they have to duck out the side, picking up 20 penalties. They put that behind them and gallop on. They’re quick through the bullfinches at 28 and head on towards home.

Noemi has crossed the line with 20.8 time penalties and clear jumping. A great round from them.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:30am

🇫🇮 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: SANNA SILTAKORPI AND BOFEY CLICK

Dressage Score: 34.4
Place: 30

Euros Credentials: Most recently represented Finland as an individual at Avenches 2021, Luhmühlen 2019 and Blair Castle 2015.

Bofey Click sets off very boldly, coming into the combination at 11 very quickly but he’s clever with his feet and they’re quick through there and then through the two related fences at 12 and 13. They make nothing of the Roller Coaster fence at 15 and then are brave into the water at 18. The horse has his ears pricked and looks to be relishing his time out there.

Noemi is having a great round with Piltown Harry, taking the long route at the hollow at 25 very confidently. It looks like they’re having a really fun time together.

Christian takes the long route at the final combination at 30 and full props to this pair for getting it together. For sure the horse has grown in confidence through the round and she looks happy at the end. 49.2 time penalties, 40 jumping and a pending flag penalty.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:25am

🇭🇺 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: NOÉMI VIOLA DOERFER AND PILTOWN HARRY

Dressage Score: 37.6
Place: 49

Euros Credentials: Making her Euros debut.

They opt for the longer route at the treble combination at 11 and then again at the river crossing, taking a wider line into the brush shoulder at 19. Then it’s foot down and on with the job.

Christian gives his mare a huge pat after the water fences at 17 and 18. She’s really started to settle and he’s giving her confidence as they navigate their way together. They pick up a 20 at the FEI Mounds, slipping by the big corner there. Christian seems to be looking around for the alternative route but manages to pick his way through. They take the longer route at the hollow fence at 25, a little look into the ditch but they pop over there.

Jaroslav is headed for home, taking the final combination steadily but neatly enough. They clear the last and Jaroslav is delighted to cross the line. 70 time penalties, plus 40 jumping.

________________________________________________________________________________

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.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:20am

🇱🇺 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: CHRISTIAN CHABOT AND FLORA-B-LUX

Dressage Score: 36
Place: 39

Euros Credentials: Making his Euros debut.

Oh! There’s a real moment at the Peden Flyer fence at 5 for them, the horse is not at all looking like it’s happy at this early stage. There’s some sideways and napping, Christian stays in the plate though but they sidestep the a element of 6 and pick up 20. The napping continues into and around the water but Christian sits tight and tries to instil some confidence in his horse. They continue on and the horse does look to be settling into the round.

Jaroslav has a moment at 22, getting pitched forward but sitting up. They take the longer route round there and then pick up at 20 at the LeMieux Wedge at 23. They come round for the alternative and continue on.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:15am

🇨🇿 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: JAROSLAV ABIK AND MADOCK

Dressage Score: 40
Place: 52

Euros Credentials: Making his Euros debut.

Oh dear, there’s early problems for Jaroslav when the horse grinds to a halt at the a element of the Dew Pond at 6. That’s a 20 for them. They continue on and clear the fences in the main arena before opting for the long route at the treble combination at 11, although the horse looked to fancy the straight route. They put an extra stride between the two related boxes at 12 and 13 but make a neat job of it.

Pietro has picked up 11 penalties for a frangible device at 22b after the horse just caught a knee on the front rail of the big corner there. A good example of how the technology has helped the sport there. They’re neat through the final combination at 30 and then head towards home. 29.6 time penalties plus that 11 for them.

Florinoor makes a neat job of the final combination at 30 and is very positive over the final fence. 18 time penalties and clear jumping. That’s been an impressive round for them.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:10am

🇮🇹 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: PIETRO MAJOLINO AND VITA LOUISE DH Z

Dressage Score: 32.7
Place: 23

Euros Credentials: Making his senior Euros debut.

This 18-year-old horse looks fabulous as he sets out with great confidence, a real credit to the team to see an older horse looking so athletic. They balance up for the tables in the main arena at 8 and 9 and then are neat through the Agria Angles combination at 10. The treble combination comes up perfectly for them at 11 and then it’s more of the same through the related fences at 12 and 13.

Florinoor looks good as she drops into the water at 18 and then makes a very quick line over the brush shoulder at 19 on the way out. They’re foot down and galloping away from their fences.

Yasmin opts for the longer route at the hollow fence at 25, taking in an extra jumping effort. The horse really looks into the ditch at the c element, so that was a smart choice. The continue on to complete carrying that 20 penalties from early on course, 78.4 time and three pending flag penalties. But a completion will have been their goal with this young horse on their championships debut, with lots of experience gained along the way.

________________________________________________________________________________

8:05am

🇳🇱 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: FLORINOOR HOOGLAND AND HONTONI

Dressage Score: 41.7
Place: 55

Euros Credentials: Making her Euros debut.

We see Florinoor through the main arena and they look to have made a steady start to their course. They’re very neat and tidy through the combination at 11, the strides there coming up perfectly for them. They’re equally neat through the two related boxes at 12 and 13. A solid start for them.

Yasmin takes the flags at both the fences at the Raging Bull Rollercoaster at 15, drifting right slightly over each of the skinnies there. There’s a pending penalty there for them. She opts for the longer route at the water at 17 and 18. The horse drifts right again at the log into the water and she has to work hard to stay on track. But they get things back together and continue on to take the long route at the next water at 20.

________________________________________________________________________________

8am

🇳🇴 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: YASMIN OLSSON PAYNE AND COS ME WILL

Dressage Score: 37.2
Place: 46

Euros Credentials: Making her Euros debut.

Oh, Yasmin has had an early problem on course. She’s not quite straight to the skinny wedge rails at 6a and the horse doesn’t really understand the question and ducks to the side. That’s 20 for them. They come back round for the longer route. The horse locks on nicely through the main arena fences, ears pricked and looking for what’s being asked of him. They go for the longer route at the difficult combination at 11 and then pop through the two box fences at 12 and 13 very sweetly.

Kumru has had a great ride and is close to home now. She navigates the final combination at 30 very neatly and kicks on towards the line. Big pats for the horse as they finish and a big smile from Kumru. 61.1 time penalties for them and a pending flag penalty.

Benjamin is also nearing home. They’re still going forward and the horse still looks quite strong as they come into the last. Benjamin is delighted, fist pumps all the way. 14.4 time penalties for them and clear jumping.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:55am

🇫🇷 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: BENJAMIN MASSIE AND FIGARO FONROY

Dressage Score: 32.4
Place: 21

Euros Credentials: Represented France as an individual at Haras du Pin 2023.

Benjamin makes things very clear to Figaro Fonroy at the Subaru Sensation combination at 11, pushing on when the horse slightly questions the c element. He locks on though and they’re clear through that tricky complex before getting a good shot through the two related boxes at 12 and 13. The horse has a good look at the water at 18 and Benjamin reacts very quickly, squeezing him forward and then making the line to the brush shoulder on the way out at 19 actually very neatly.

Kumru opts for another long route at 22, the FEI Mounds, the fences are actually slightly bigger but they’re on flat ground and the lines are much friendlier.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:50am

🇹🇷 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: KUMRU SAY AND BALADIN DE L’OCEAN LA

Dressage Score: 37.1
Place: 45

Euros Credentials: Making her Euros debut.

They’re brave through the main arena, pushing for the big Joules table at 8 and then popping on over the second one at 9 before making the line through the two angled brushes at 10 very neatly. They opt for the long route at 11, a smart decision for their first time. They picked up a pending flag penalty at the double in the arena, fence 10, according to the live scoreboard. They’re very bold into the water at 18 and the horse gets a little distracted as he makes the water crossing so Kumru opts for the longer route into the brush shoulder at 19, more sensible riding. She loses a stirrup through the water at 20 after another big jump but she fiddles for it as they gallop away.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:45am

🇱🇹 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: AISTIS VITKAUSKAS AND COMMANDER VG

Dressage Score: 41.5
Place: 54

Euros Credentials: Most recently represented Lithuania at Avenches 2021 with three previous times at the Euros, including this year’s host venue, Blenheim 2005.

Aistis is the first of the second section of individual riders.

Oh, there’s early problems for Aistis. They pick up 20 at the first water at fence 6, with Commander VG stopping and ducking out to the side of the skinny wedge rails at the a element. Aistis decides to put his hand up.

Robbie Kearns and Chance Encounter have the course to themselves for the minute. They opt for the longer route at the hollow complex at 25, taking an extra jumping effort to separate the a and b elements and then going on to the ditch at c. Oh my, there’s drama at the final combination on course at 30, the horse leaves a knee at the skinny roll top and Robbie has to sit very tight. The horse gets his legs back underneath him and they manage to make their way through the longer route, going on to clear the last and cross the line with 19.2 time penalties. They’ve also got two pending flag penalties on the live scoreboard.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:40am

🇫🇷* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: SEBASTIEN CAVAILLON AND ELIPSO DE LA VIGNE

Dressage Score: 29
Place: 9

Euros Credentials: Making his Euros debut.

Sebastien has to work hard through the Dew Pond at 6, the horse is so bold the strides through there look a little tricky. It’s a similar story through the main arena, really bold jumping making things not so easy for Sebastien. He’s really forward through the combination at 11, pushing for the big corner on the way out. The horse is still strong at the water at 17 and 18. Sebastien’s got his elbows going. They jump the biggest part of the angled shoulder on the way out of the water at 19 and gallop on.

Malin scatters the ducks as she comes through the water crossing to fence 19, but nothing’s stopping this pair. They’ve got a great gallop going. The horse is very bold through the water at 20, the horse completely understood that question and the pair look very confident. They get a huge jump at the corner at the b element of the FEI Mounds at 22, really bold and forward. They make nothing of the bullfinches combination at 28, nearing the end of the course now. She pushes towards the finish line and Malin punches the air over the final fence. 14 time penalties for them.

________________________________________________________________________________

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.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:40am

🇮🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: ROBBIE KEARNS AND CHANCE ENCOUNTER

Dressage Score: 33.3
Place: 27

Euros Credentials: Making his senior Euros team debut.

Robbie completes the second team rotation.

Robbie sets up for the Joules tables in the main arena and navigates the line through there and over the combination of angled brushes at 10 really neatly. Robbie rides the treble combination at 11 really well, pushing for the stride through there and making a confident job of it. Robbie makes a great turn into the skinny fence into the water at 18 and they’re bold into there.

Sebastien opts for the longer route at the hollow fence at 25, taking on an extra jumping effort there but making their way through safely. There’s a pending flag penalty showing for them at fence 23, the wedge arrowhead at the LeMieux fence. He makes his way towards home and asks the horse to gallop on after the final combination at 30. They get a great shot to the last and Sebastien punches the air as he crosses the line. 21.2 time and a pending flag penalty for them.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:35am

🇩🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: MALIN HANSEN-HOTOPP AND CARLITOS QUIDDITCH K

Dressage Score: 27.8
Place: 6

Euros Credentials:
🥈 Team silver Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)

Yikes, it’s a sticky start for them at the second when they get in very close, but Malin hangs on and they motor on. They’ve set out really quickly, fast and furious for sure. She brings him back for the water at 6 but they’re close to the a element and there’s another little moment for them. Heart in the mouth stuff but they stick tight and carry on. They’re better balanced through the main arena and navigate the fences in there neatly and then are totally together through the treble combination at 11 and the strides come up perfectly for them between the two huge corners.

Karin has crossed the line with 30.4 time penalties.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:25am

🇬🇧* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: PIGGY MARCH AND HALO

Dressage Score: 29.4
Place: 12

Euros Credentials:
🥇🥈 Team gold & individual silver Avenches 2021
🥈 Team silver Luhmühlen in 2019
🥉 Team bronze Luhmühlen 2011
🥇🥈 Team gold & individual silver Fontainebleau 2009

Piggy and Halo are beautiful through the main arena, both horse and rider totally focused and concentrating. Piggy rides brilliantly through the combination at 11, shimmying through the line between the two corners at b and c. Very smooth from them at the start of their round. They’re very neat and efficient through the Raging Bull Roller Coaster at 15 and then over the Ha Ha Oxer at 16. They’re wasting not a second. They land a little steeply into the water at 18 but Piggy’s sitting up. There’s a big cheer for them as they clear the brush shoulder on the way out and kick on up the hill.

Oh! Oh! Piggy’s off at fence 20. Halo jumps right out of her hand at the hanging log on the way into the water but tries to make it out over the corner. But things are in a real muddle and he scrambles sideways through the brush on the top of the fence, twisting in his efforts and Piggy’s toppled off the side. A wet ending for her, but she’s up on her feet and the horse looks fine. Great Britain are out. Two eliminations leave them without a complete team.

Karin seems to be reaching down to fix some sort of tack malfunction, perhaps a lost stirrup. We’re not sure but it doesn’t faze her and she gallops on.

We were expecting to see Sweden’s Sofia Sjobörg and Govalent out of the start box next, but they have withdrawn as the gelding isn’t quite feeling himself. That leaves Sweden with a team of three.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:20am

🇧🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: KARIN DONCKERS AND CERES DE LA BRASSERIE

Dressage Score: 34.9
Place: 34

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)
📌 Team member Avenches 2021
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019
📌 Team member Strzegom 2017
📌 Team member Blair Castle 2015
🥉 Team bronze Fontainebleau 2009

All three Belgian riders will be counting scores, with Karin being the first to go for Belgium. She sets off meaning business and and neat through the main arena and then really makes things happen at the treble combination at 11. The mare gets a pat after the jewelry box at 13 after helping Karin out a little when they didn’t quite get the perfect stride into that. Karin’s pitched forward at the Roller Coaster at 15 but stays in tact. The horse has a little look at the water at 18 and then Karin decides to take the slightly longer route on the way out, just to be totally safe at that tricky line.

Harald is nearing home now, clear jumping all the way thus far. There’s a pending flag question on the live scoreboard at fence 30. They’ve crossed the line with 28.4 time.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:15am

🇦🇹* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: HARALD AMBROS AND VITORIO DU MONTET

Dressage Score: 36.8
Place: 43

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Avenches 2021
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019

They come confidently through the main arena with the horse looking very keen to get on with the job. Harald steers his way through the treble combination at 11 and then doesn’t quite get the stride he wanted at the related 12 and 13, squeezing in an extra one there before kicking on down the course. They’re quick through the BE Support Trust Healing Garden at 17 and get a great shot over the skinny into the water at 18 and then over the angled brush shoulder at 19 on the way out.

Melody has crossed the line with Erin the quickest of the day so far, just 8 time penalties for them.

We see Paulo balancing before the last with his lovely young mare. They’ve had a steady round with 27.2 time penalties but Paulo’s really given his horse a very sensitive ride and there will have been lots of experienced gained for this partnership’s future.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:10am

🇮🇹* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: PAOLO TORLONIA AND ZINNY

Dressage Score: 39.8
Place: 51

Euros Credentials: Making his senior Euro team debut although he represented Italy as an individual at Avenches 2021.

We catch up with Paulo at the Dew Pond as he takes the flag following a squeaky jump. He looks back but no penalties have come up on the live scoreboard. They look more together as they come through the main arena and Paulo gives the mare time through there, riding this young horse really sympathetically. He opts for the long route at the treble combination at 11, again letting the horse work things out and supporting her. They navigate the Roller Coaster fences at 15 really neatly. The horse has a little look into the water at 18 but doesn’t back off and she pops over and continues on her way.

Melody’s horse is bold through the water at 17 and 18 and then hops over the road crossing on the way out. She’s really letting him travel and take everything in his stride. This is a really lovely round to watch thus far.

________________________________________________________________________________

7:05am

🇨🇭* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: MÉLODY JOHNER AND ERIN

Dressage Score: 31.5
Place: 18

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023

We’re into the second rider rotation for the teams now.

Melody has got the course to herself for the first part of her round. The horse looks really keen for the job as they set off and they look great as they make their way through the busy main arena fences, very confident and neat through there. More of the same through the treble combination at 11 for them. A good, solid start which must be giving Melody plenty of confidence for the rest of their round.

________________________________________________________________________________

7am

🇮🇹 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: DANIELE BIZZARRO AND STORMHILL RIOT

Dressage Score: 37.2
Place: 46

Euros Credentials: Making his Euros debut.

Oh dear, it’s early problems for Daniele and Stormhill Riot. The horse goes up the mound to the a element at 6 but then grinds to a halt. That’s 20 penalties there for them. They don’t really seem to have things together and Daniele makes a sensible choice to take the long route when he comes back through there. Then there’s further problems at 17 and then horse stops at the brush oxer there. They come back round for the long route (which is numbered at 18) and the horse stops again, this time at the hanging log into the water for the alternative. Daniele’s popped off and lands on his feet, but the three refusals meant elimination for them before that.

Oh. Caroline has been popped off the side. At the same fence Yas Ingham. They don’t quite get the line to the corner at b and the horse pops a little one in and bounces Caroline out of the saddle. She lands on her feet but that’s elimination for them.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:55am

🇬🇧 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: CAROLINE HARRIS AND D. DAY

Dressage Score: 34.4
Place: 30

Euros Credentials: Making her Euros debut.

D. Day is hunting out the flags as he pops his way through the main arena. Caroline does a great job at the Subaru Sensation combination, not quite getting the stride she would have wanted through the first two elements and so pushing on for the big wedge corner at c. D. Day responds and they gallop on up the course.

They’re a bit squeaky through the Raging Bull Rollercoaster, taking the flag there, but Caroline’s got her leg on and the horse is listening to her. She’s having to really ride in places but D. Day is responding.

Timmo and Nicolai have crossed the line with 19.2 time penalties and clear jumping.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:50am

🇩🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: NICOLAI ALDINGER AND TIMMO

Dressage Score: 32.7
Place: 23

Euros Credentials: Horse and rider represented Germany as an individual at Haras du Pin 2023.

We catch Timmo and Nicolai in the main arena. He had to push for the five strides between the two Joules tables at 8 and 9, separately numbered but certainly related, but they make it and then are neat over the two angled brushes at 10. They do a great job through the treble combination at 11 and look to be really settling into their round. They navigate the terrain of the rollercoaster at 15 neatly and then are careful over the Ha Ha Oxer at 16. Nothing funny about that fence, ha ha actually refers to the ditch the oxer is built over.

Gireg decides to take the longer route at the FEI Mounds at 22. The horse is looking a little tired so that seems to be a good decision. They continue on towards home. We see them take the final combination slowly and carefully. The horse is still jumping nicely and they cross the line with 39.6 time penalties and a pending flag penalty.

________________________________________________________________________________

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.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:45am

🇫🇷 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: GIREG LE COZ AND CARAMEL D’ORCHIS

Dressage Score: 34.9
Place: 34

Euros Credentials: Represented France as an individual at Haras du Pin 2023.

We see Gireg through the main arena, making a neat job over the two Joules fences at 8 and 9 and then easily managing the line through the two angled brushes at 10. They easily get the four strides through the Subaru Sensation combination at 11, very confident for them through there.

Sarah’s got a huge grin on her face as her horse gives her absolutely everything over these fences. He’s trying so hard and really doing a great job. They’re heading for home now. They brush through the bullfinches at 28 and Sarah checks her watch after she clears the fischer Stick Pile at 29. They clear the final combination at 30 with a ‘Go on!’ from Sarah and then cross the line with 18 time penalties. A fabulous round from this young horse which much have Sarah very excited.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:40am

🇮🇪 NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: SARAH ENNIS AND DOUROUGH FERRO CLASS ACT

Dressage Score: 31
Place: 17

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019
📌 Team member Strzegom 2017

Sarah is the first of the individuals to go.

We see Sarah through the main arena fences. The horse looks really confident and Sarah takes her time to make sure he’s clear on where he’s going. He’s absolutely trying his heart out for her. They get a super jump through the combination at 11, really honest and on the line. This is a young horse and a very exciting prospect, for sure. They are very solid through the tricky Rollercoaster fence at 15. Sarah makes a very purposeful turn into the Subaru Splash fence into the water at 18. She’s pitched forward slightly on landing but is sat straight back up.

Padraig is coming for home now, clear jumping all the way. They seem to have had a really super ride out there. Padraig hasn’t wasted any time and comes home with 16.8 penalties – that time is tight!

Luc has also crossed the line, carrying those 20 penalties from fence 17. He’s also got two pending flag penalties on the live scoreboard, fences 22 and 30. He finished with 32.4 time.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:35am

🇮🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: PADRAIG MCCARTHY AND POMP N CIRCUMSTANCE

Dressage Score: 35.2
Place: 36

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Avenches 2021
📌 Team member Blair Castle 2015

Padraig completes the first rider rotation for the teams, minus Austria who, with three team members, will join in the next round.

Padraig gets off to a neat start and makes the early part of the course look pretty simple. We see him through the Rollercoaster fence at 15 and they look to be really together and enjoying their time out there. Padraig has to work quite hard at 18, the skinny brush into the water as the horse looks to be backing off a little, but he’s got his leg on and the horse is really listening to him. They don’t quite have the stride Padraig would have wanted at the following water and the horse has to really stretch for the corner coming out, but they make it and gallop on.

Ooo! Luc’s horse takes exception going into the water at 17. He backs off and pops to the side of the skinny brush there, picking up 20 penalties. We see him again at the water at 20 looking a little sticky, but Luc kicks on and they clear the fences there. He opts for the longer route at 25, the CrossCountry App Wooded Hollow, taking two jumping efforts for A and B and then then ditch at C.

Lubussa crosses the line for Germany to cheers carrying 30 time penalties.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:30am

🇫🇷* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: LUC CHATEAU AND COCORICO DE L’EBAT

Dressage Score: 36.4
Place: 41

Euros Credentials: Making his senior Euro team debut although he represented France as an individual at Avenches 2021.

They’re quick through the first water at 6 and then we see them having a straight forward ride through the main arena, neat through there. Luc rides beautifully though the treble combination at 11, putting an extra stride in but the horse clearly trusts him and is super adjustable – they’re clean and tidy through there, a lovely example of a partnership in action.

Libussa is showing as clear through the Brookfield Bullfinch combination at 28, close to home now. We haven’t seen much of the latter part of her round though, sorry.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:25am

🇩🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: LIBUSSA LÜBBEKE AND CARAMIA 34

Dressage Score: 28.3
Place: 7

Euros Credentials: Making her senior Euro team debut.

They get things off to a hairy start with a huge jump at the Suregrow Dew Pond at 6 where Libussa shows off her safety seat. But they’re quickly back together and continue on. They make light work of the fences in the main arena, and then have another flier at the B element of the Subaru Sensation combination at 11. Lubussa does a great job of managing that and they manage to clear the c element and continue on their way.

The live scoreboard is showing problems for Christoffer at the GFS Saddles Water at 20. They pick up a refusal there and we do see them come round for the long route but then the scoreboard is showing further problems at 21, which we didn’t see on screen. They retire there.

News on Yasmin Ingham: She’s recorded as a rider fall. That’s all I know though. If there’s more information, I’ll update you.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:20am

🇸🇪* NEW COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: CHRISTOFFER FORSBERG AND HIPPO’S SAPPORO TSF

Dressage Score: 37.3
Place: 48

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Avenches 2021 (horse & rider)

We see Hippo’s lovely white blaze splash through the first water at 6 as they get stuck into their round. They come steadily enough into the main arena and carefully clear the two Joules tables at 8 and 9 and then are neat through the Agria angled brushes at 10. They decide to take the long route at the Subaru Sensation fence at 11, an extra jumping effort and more time accrued for them.

The live scoreboard is showing the Yasmin and Rehy DJ have been eliminated at fence 22 – the FEI Mounds fence. We haven’t seen anything on screen though. I will update you as soon as we hear anything.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:15am

🇬🇧* THIRD COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: YASMIN INGHAM AND REHY DJ

Dressage Score: 29
Place: 9

Euros Credentials:
🥇 Team gold Haras du Pin 2023

Yas and ‘Piglet’ get off to a very confident start. This is another long-time pairing. Yas is riding forward but carefully and accurately and gives Piglet a pat for his efforts at the early part of the course. They make a very neat job of the Joules fences at 8 and 9 in the main arena and then through the Agria corners at 10. Very smooth and sure. They make the Subaru Sensation treble combination at 11 look super easy. This is shaping up to be a really beautiful ride, very professional, balanced and full of confidence. They come down the hill to the water at 18 and Yas is very clear about where she wants Piglet to go to make the turn to the brush shoulder on the way out at 19.

We’re seeing another flag penalty on the live scoreboard for Giovanni, that’s for the Raging Bull fence at 15. He’s crossed the finish line now, with the horse’s cross country boots seeming to have slipped. They’ve got 19.2 time penalties, a further 11 for the frangible device and those two pending flag penalties.

________________________________________________________________________________

6:05am

🇮🇹* SECOND COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: GIOVANNI UGOLOTTI AND DUKE OF CHAMPIONS

Dressage Score: 32.8
Place: 25

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023
📌 Team member Luhmühlen 2019
📌 Team member Blair Castle 2015

We see Giovanni exiting the first water at 6 then through the main arena. He takes the flag at the second angled brush at 10BC and it’s come up as a pending penalty on the live scoreboard. They go on to have a great ride through the treble combination at 11, Giovanni really making things happen.

Oh boy, there’s a moment for Giovanni at the fence after the Raging Bull Roller Coaster. It’s an oxer over a ditch on a frangible device. They get it wrong going in there and the pin goes. Giovanni’s pitched up the horse’s neck and does really well to right himself. That’s 11 penalties for them but a lucky save from the rider.

Oh, they have another moment at the Estribos table at 24 and Giovanni’s pitched sideways, but that core gets to work again and he hauls himself back into the saddle. They take the long route at the hollow fence at 25, a smart choice after that mishap.

Nadja’s having a super round with Toblerone, this partnership are really showing how fun cross country can be when you’re doing it with your best friend. They come confidently through the finish with a punch of the air. 12.8 time for them and a really solid trailblazing round. They weren’t looking to waste much time so that gives us an indication of just how tight the optimum is.

We were expecting Senne Vervaecke and Google Van Alsingen to come next, but they have withdrawn this morning, leaving Belgium with a team of three.

________________________________________________________________________________

6am

🇨🇭* FIRST COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: NADJA MINDER AND TOBLERONE CH

Euros Credentials:
📌 Team member Haras du Pin 2023 (horse & rider)

Dressage Score: 34.5
Place: 32

And we’re off! Great pals Nadja and Toblerone get cross country day underway and this sweet gelding looks well up for his day of galloping and jumping. There’s cheers as they clear the first and then make their way to the RDA log at fence 2, which they get a great shot at. She takes a pull to make the turn into the oxer at 3 and Toblerone’s ears pricked and looking for the next fence. They take the Peden Flyer ditch and brush in their stride and come round to the first combination. They’re careful over the skinny wedge on the mound and then smooth through the water and over the wedge rails. That’ll have give Nadja confidence as she gets into her round.

They make light work of the Joules fences in the main arena and then gets the distance between the two angled brushes at 10 easily. Nadja goes for an extra stride into the c element of the Subaru Sensation treble combination at 11 but the gelding is totally with her and they make it over the big wedge corner on their way out and continue on their way.

They navigate the tricky terrain at the Raging Bull Roller Coaster at 15 and Nadja works hard to make everything very clear to Toblerone. A great start for them.

________________________________________________________________________________

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.

________________________________________________________________________________

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream] [FEI YouTube Streams] [Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

________________________________________________________________________________

Vittoria Panizzon is Finding Firmer Footing Following Overturned Suspension

By on Sep 20, 2025 4:48 am -

Vittoria Panizzon and DHI Jackpot. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Vittoria Panizzon has ridden at nine senior championships for Italy, including three Olympic Games, but at the beginning of this season it seemed unlikely that she would make it to a 10th. She was entering the second year of a four-year suspension for a missed human dope test that seemed deeply unfair – Vittoria and the representative from Italy’s national anti-doping association (NADO) had failed to find each other at 5am on a very rural property that was difficult to access, with poor phone signal – and Vittoria’s attempts to get her ban lifted were frustrating, unsupported and very expensive.

However, the Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS) finally annulled the ban at the end of April, and she had to put her foot down hard on the throttle to regain her place on the Italian team.

DHI Jackpot, the attractive grey, now 11, whom Vittoria turned to crowdfunding in the winter of 2022 to secure with Paris in mind, had had a couple of national runs with Susie Berry to make sure he was ready to go if Vittoria’s CAS appeal was successful.

“I’m very grateful to Susie – I’d worked him through the winter, but it was hugely helpful that she had him in work and ready to go; we didn’t know what the outcome would be, or how long it would take,” Vittoria said. “And she hadn’t changed my ‘buttons’, which was amazing because that’s a very stressful part of swapping horses and riders around at that level. I was able to hop back on and he went beautifully straight away.”

Vittoria gave DHI Jackpot a quick whizz round the open intermediate at Aston-le-Walls, then went straight to the CCI4*-L at Millstreet in Ireland to get his qualification for this Europeans.

“It was a bit of gamble – there aren’t many horses you can jump on like that and go straight round a four-star long and see the odd stride, but, luckily, it paid off,” said Vittoria with a wry smile.

It isn’t difficult to see the toll the huge stress of the past couple of years and the helplessness she has felt at an intractable and unfair process has taken on Vittoria. Always polite and articulate, she would clearly rather wait, however, until cross-country is over to wax very lyrical about DHI Jackpot’s talent and ability.

“His strengths and weaknesses complement my strengths and weaknesses,” she says, “and he was really concentrating today and trying [they scored 33.2 and lie 26th after dressage]. But we’ve had a short prep and I think he is still at a ‘changing’ sort of age. Some more events this year would have given me more time to figure out everything – what works, what doesn’t work. He is maturing, and he might need a bit more time.”

A good clear cross-country round would begin to give Vittoria a little mental compensation for a fairly dreadful couple of years, and help her find a firmer foothold on the sport and way of life she thought she had lost.

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.

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream] [BBC iPlayer Broadcast] [FEI YouTube Streams] [Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]

Flying Solo at the Top: Meet Turkey’s First European Championships Eventer, Kumru Say

By on Sep 20, 2025 4:34 am -

Kumru Say and Baladin de l’Ocean. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

When I first manage to find the time to sit down for a chat with Turkey’s Kumru Say, one thing is immediately clear: I’ve got to stop whinging about how jam-packed my schedule is. We’re catching up by phone, me nursing a coffee in my living room in England, and she at S International Equestrian Center in Germany, where she’s hunkered down in the tack room, having ridden more horses in a morning than I have in… well, look, who’s counting?

It’s easy, I suspect, to see a new flag appear in the eventing scene and to assume that the person flying it must come from a place of enormous privilege to be able to access the upper levels of the sport. But Kuki, who is giving Turkey its FEI Eventing European Championships debut this week at Blenheim, is swiftly dispelling all those notions.

At 24 years old – she’ll celebrate her 25th birthday next week – she’s already ten years into a career that’s seen her showjump for Turkey at Junior and Children on Horses European Championships before making the swap to eventing just five years ago. To do so, she left home at fifteen to move to Germany and work for every opportunity she could find – while working on finding herself along the way, too.

“After I did the Children on Horses Europeans in Arezzo, I said to my parents, ‘I want to do this forever’. And they were like, ‘okay, what are you going to do about that?’ So I found a showjumping stable in Germany and started working as a flat rider,” she says. “I didn’t speak the language at all, I moved alone, and I had barely any life skills as a fifteen year old – so it was a whole new world for me, but I liked the German way of riding and I figured it out.”

But after a few years of laser focus on jumping, burnout began to set in, and Kuki began to look for ways to get her riding fix out of the competition ring.

As a tonic to the sort of results-driven demands on her – and as a way to fund her riding – she started to pick up work backing young horses. Now, that’s her full-time job, around which she squeezes in eventing a small string of horses helmed by her ride this week, the former Astier Nicolas mount Baladin de l’Ocean. Most days, that means she’s working on the yard from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and then schooling her own horses until 10 p.m.

“I got into backing because I got a bit sick of riding other people’s horses, and I might not be very good at riding, but I’m very good at staying on,” she laughs. “So that’s how it started. I found that with backing three-year-olds it’s much easier to please people than when you’re riding their more experienced horses. When a three-year-old picks up the left canter lead for the first time it’s the highlight of the day – when you pick up the left canter lead on a twelve-year-old, you never even think about it. I found that it was these little things that kept me going.”

Getting back to focusing on the nitty-gritty of training horses was also, she found, a breath of fresh air after the intensity of the youth jumping circuit – but it was her time on that circuit that led her, wholly accidentally, to her new discipline.

“I did the Junior Europeans in Fontainebleau in 2018, and it was the one time, I think, that all the disciplines were held together,” she says. “I was already feeling about sick about the whole thing – all my friends were the fancy rich kids, and no matter how much I faked it, I couldn’t be like them. So I started hanging out with the eventers that week, and then it just happened that I got into eventing myself.”

Kumru Say and Baladin de l’Ocean. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Her first eventer was her Junior jumper, the quirky Hyperion Van Orti.

“He was a little bit of a freaky horse,” she laughs, and I can nearly hear her rolling her eyes when she continues, “I was told I should cross-country school him once to ‘break his spirit’.”

Unsure of where to go schooling, she instead took him straight out to their first event, and they finished on their dressage score, taking second place – even though he’d never so much as seen a water complex. Both horse and rider were hooked – and, even better, totally and completely unbroken in spirit.

It might sound like a seriously bold bit of decision-making but, Kuki says, that’s just kind of who she is.

“I’ve always been super brave, which I think was one of the reasons I didn’t really fit in in the showjumping world: I would take on a horse and enter a huge class and not really care how it goes, as long as we have a good feeling over the fences.”

That feeling-first and horse-first ethos meant that “I felt much more at home in eventing.” But, she concedes with a laugh, “once the eventers started considering me crazy, that’s when I realised how insane I actually am!”

The basis of that insanity? Twelve hours a day of backing horses and mucking out stables; a commitment to taking on horses that other people have passed by; and, perhaps most notably, a tendency to do every job herself – out of necessity rather than choice.

“I loved being part of a team [when I was showjumping], and I always say I’d pay anyone to be able to switch and ride for Germany,” she says. “I absolutely love being part of a team and having someone supervising. I go to Arville, to Boekelo, to all these events, and I’m so jealous of the people who have their matching team jackets, their kits, their trainers, and I don’t have anyone. I don’t even have a groom! I drive the horses myself, I show up on my own, I don’t even have anyone to give me a hand in the showjumping warm-up. Luckily the eventing world is pretty helpful in sharing help in the warm-up, and normally people like me, so they step in and help me out, but being by myself can be quite heavy.”

On the flip side, though, she continues, “everything I do, everything I achieve, everything I fail to do, too, is all my work. So I’m proud of that! I’d love a team, for the security of it all, but I also know I’m okay on my own because it’s been that way for so long.”

As a result, she’s learned adaptability: sometimes, even with all the preparations done and the entries paid for, she can’t even make it to an event because she needs to cover for another staff member at her home base, and so getting to the show feels like the first victory of the week.

“I actually used to be very rigid with how I was managing the horses, and now, if I can’t sit on one for a second time before my dressage test, if that doesn’t fit into the day, then it just doesn’t happen and I’m completely cool with it. I can’t stress too much about these things!”

Kumru Say and Baladin de l’Ocean. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

SEIC is German based but Turkish owned, and Kuki, who spent much of her childhood living in New York, trains with Indian Olympian Fouaad Mirza – so as she trailblazes for her own fledgling sporting nation, she has a mentor in her corner who understands the unique position that puts her in.

“From the very early stages on, we’ve been working together,” she says. “I have a very showjumping background in how I see things, and I still process things in a very showjumping mind. And I remember I watched him at a Nations Cup, I think it was in 2020, and he rode a fantastic round of jumping – one of the best I’d seen from an eventer. After that, I approached him and said, ‘I want to train with you. I really loved the way you ride. I don’t understand so much about dressage or cross country riding, but I would like to learn from you’. We have, like, one and a half hours in between us, but I still try to go there every week during the season. We’ve been working for a long time, and I have to say, everything I learned about eventing, it is from Fouaad.”

The horses she’s ridden along the way, too, have contributed plenty to the occasion – even, or perhaps especially, because they’re often oddballs who require plenty of adaptability and very little ego.

“Every horse I’ve got has a story,” says Kuki. “The Global Orchid horse [who I recently sold], I bought from the field. He was injured in 2019 and was in the field for a long time, and a friend of mine who was grooming for Brian [Morrison] and Chris [Hunt, of Global Eventing], he rang me because he knew I was horseless at the time.”

Kuki watched the horse trot up and then bought him on the spot. That was the beginning of 2023, and the start of a long, slow endeavour to bring the gelding back to fitness.

“It was ten minutes trotting left, ten minutes trotting right, for a long time,” says Kuki.

Jack wasn’t just sent her way because he was a budget-friendly option, though.

“The friend who rang me, he knew that first horse of mine, Hyperion,” says Kuki. “He was a very difficult horse to ride – like, I rode that horse up to 1.45 without jumping a single fence in the warm up, I’d just lunge him before the round. And so he rang me about this Global horse and said ‘he’s very similar’, and that was actually the main reason I got the horse — because I loved that Hyperion horse.”

Kumru Say and Baladin de l’Ocean. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Baladin de l’Ocean joined the team early last year after Kuki spotted him competing with Astier and registered her interest.

“Fouaad gave me a lot of pressure to buy something normal — he said, ‘can you please buy something that is rideable, so that we can school dressage and learn something?!’”

“In fairness,” she concedes, “I actually did need to learn, because I was just surviving four-star cross country — in a very good manner, but I was just surviving cross country up to last year. So he said, ‘let’s go buy something that is nice and rideable’. This horse does that job very well; he’s my school master, basically.”

Now, partnered with Baladin, she’s learned how to develop her skills beyond survival and into the realm of strategy.

“I’ve learned to walk a cross-country course and actually to have a plan on it,” she says. “That’s something I didn’t know how to do. I didn’t grow up eventing, and in my second season I rode my first four-star, so I have a good eye, but that’s what I was relying on. I come from show jumping, and when I’m in doubt, I can showjump cross country, but that’s not cross country riding, sure. I needed the horse to help me learn that, and he’s been the best.”

It was the cold midwinter when Kuki and I chatted through her life story and her horses, and when I pressed her about her future goals as a ‘hobby’ eventer, it was clear she had a game plan.

“The dream is the Europeans,” she says, firmly. “I’ll try to qualify both horses, and we’ll see where it goes, but when you ride for a nation that does not necessarily have a team or is pushing you to go anywhere, the Europeans is just another four long, really!”

And, she continues, “what I want to be is a five-star rider.”

This week, she’s well on her way to ticking box one off her list. She and Baladin de l’Ocean produced their dressage test on Thursday afternoon, earning a 37.1 to sit 44th going into cross-country. And, reassuringly for anyone who might be concerned about Kuki’s energy levels, she’s even got a groom with her this week: freelancer John O’Regan, formerly of Global Event Horses, has become a friend of hers through the Global Orchid connection, and is by her side for every moment of the biggest week of her career so far.

“I’m delighted to be here, and I was delighted with the test,” she says. “He was very composed, very focused, and we had some small mistakes here and there on my side, but there’s plenty to jump on Saturday, and we’re very much looking forward to that.”

Kuki might feel like more of a citizen of the world than a true-blue Turk, but when she heads out onto Blenheim’s cross-country course, she’ll do so with a nod to her heritage close at hand.

“I’m very superstitious,” she grins. “I have the evil eye hanging everywhere, anklets, everywhere.”

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.

Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim: [Website] [Tickets] [Live Stream] [FEI YouTube Streams] [Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [CrossCountry App XC Map] [EN’s Coverage] [Support Our Sponsor: Horsepal]