Classic Eventing Nation

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]

“It’s Really Attacking”: Riders React to the Blenheim European Championships Cross-Country Course

By on Sep 20, 2025 4:19 am -

Never let it be said that we at EN won’t hold our hands up when we issue a retraction: early this week, we printed a preview of this week’s Agria FEI European Eventing Championships in which I, lead reporter Tilly Berendt, happily proclaimed that this year’s track looks “smaller and less intensive” than previous Blenheims.

Okay, okay, for clarity, perhaps we’re not issuing a retraction here, but perhaps a bit more context, and a promise that I, Tilly Berendt, lead reporter on this championship, will stop saying in casual conversation that “some of this looks like an OI”.

Because yes, there are parts of the course where the fences don’t loom large. And there are areas that feel oddly simpler, like, for example, that stalwart coffin complex that doesn’t have a final element this year.

But throughout the week, as we’ve seen the course with its final dressings and spoken to riders who’ve walked it a damn sight more carefully than we have, it’s becoming clear that there are sneaky challenges hidden here that might make this much more of a cross-country competition than we’d initially expected.

This is, after all, Captain Mark Phillips’ swansong before he steps away from course design and into consultant roles, and it’s also his Blenheim debut, so he was always going to have a bit of a crack at it. The biggest crack of all, it would appear, is at the clock – everybody we’ve spoken to has marvelled at how tight the time is, and how tricky it’ll be to catch, so even if each of these fences and combinations is straightforward enough on their own, it’ll be that chasing of the clock that’ll mean silly runouts happen near the end of the course to people and horses who you wouldn’t expect to have them. Think of it like the Aachen effect, wherein the leader is prone to running out just before they come into the main arena and the finish, because they hear the beeping of their watch and lose themselves for a moment.

The terrain, too, will play a part. Blenheim certainly doesn’t have hills like Bramham or Burghley – in effect, its two very flat segments of course connected by a steep interchange, but that hilly middle bit can’t be underestimated. If a horse tires more than anticipated after travelling over it, there’s enough spots in the latter stages of the course where they could find an open door to travel through rather than popping what’s in front of them.

But look, enough from us – we’ve backtracked enough here. Let’s hear more about the challenge to come from the riders who’ll be tackling it — and you can follow along with this great guided course walk from CrossCountry App, featuring insights from the Captain himself on the course.

Michael Jung – Germany (1st on 18.3 with fischerChipmunk FRH)

“It’s a very nice cross-country; a nice hilly place. It’s a beautifully built course with a lot of options for every rider. I think the first water is always a step into the cross-country, and the first combination in the arena [10ABC] is a good preparation for 11ABC. I think that’s a tough line. The second water has a long gallop through and out over an angled brush [19], which is a tough line. The middle part of the course is very intense, and I think we lose a lot of time in that middle part – but if the horse is fit we can make up time in the beginning and in the end.”

Laura Collett – Great Britain (2nd on 20.6 with London 52)

“There’s no let-up, really. The first few fences really lull you into thinking it’s straightforward, and then you’re faced with question after question after question. I think you’re going to have to be on your A-game from start to finish and the horses are going to have to be reactive, because some of the questions are quite twisty and they’re not going to understand what we’re asking them until the last second.”

Tom McEwen – Great Britain (3rd on 26.2 with JL Dublin)

“It’s a flowing course. The distances are big — as in, they’re all quite positive. But with the Captain’s courses, if you can get into his flow and his state of mind, it can really come into a really positive way of going. The ground is perfect. But it’s a consecutive effect of so many combinations and little bits everywhere. I think he’s built a really, really interesting course, and hopefully people on the outside will see it for how good a job he’s done.”

“It was wheeled 10:01, officially, but I would say it feels more like a 10:15 course. So I definitely think time will be a factor. Obviously, two things that are positive is the ground is going to be very good for horses, and also his distances are very positive. So there’ll be a few rounds that I definitely think will make it look as easy as horses should be able to make it look, and then there’ll obviously be some people that will be finding the time a bit harder.”

“I genuinely think you’ll find problems the whole way around, which probably sounds like a bit of a get-out card. The combination by the palace [11ABC, 12, and 13] is big and technical, and the waters are decent, but even the little things like the skinny coming out of the dip [23AB] – it’s meant to be a run and jump fence, but it’s not a run and jump fence. You’ve got to keep your wits about you.”

Lara de Liedekerke-Meier – Belgium (5th on 27.7 with Hooney d’Arville)

“We’ll have to wear brave pants on – it’s really attacking. I had a chat with Captain Mark Phillips yesterday, and he said ‘are you surprised?’ And I said ‘no, I’m not!’ I think he’s really asked for forward riding, but it’s very clear for the horses. So I think if we can trust our horses and the homework we did at home it should be fine, but like always in sport, we need a bit of luck. Hopefully I won’t need too much!”

Malin Hansen-Hotopp – Germany (6th on 27.8 with Carlitos Quidditch K)

“In the first moment I think it’s tough enough, but it’s not too high or technical. Then there are some things where the jumps are angled, and they’re really tough, I think. You have to have the horses very forward, and if you want to be fast at a Europeans and you have these angles, then you need to be on a good line. That, for me, is the tricky part of the course.”

Jérôme Robiné – Germany (15th on 30.4 with Black Ice)

“It’ll be tough, and the time will be tough. I think it’s quite technical. You cannot go a long route, otherwise you won’t catch the time. So it will be interesting, and I think it will change a bit the scores. Every course suits him; he’s quite an honest horse, probably the most honest horse I’ve ever ridden or will ever ride. He’s quite amazing on cross country, and hopefully he’s a bit faster than last year.”

Alexis Goury – France (19th on 31.9 with Je’Vall)

“We went to Bramham to prepare for this event, because the ground is similar. It’s really intense, and I think there’s not a lot of space to gallop – it’s a lot of fences, and not too long of a cross. I think it’s intense and difficult; not big, but very technical. I think the time will not be easy.”

Aoife Clarke – Ireland (33rd on 34.7 with Full Monty de la Cense)

“He’s an amazing cross-country horse, and he’s fast, so it should suit him. It’s definitely a decent track, like, it’s a championship track. Everyone keeps saying ‘you need to know your horse well at these combinations’, and I’m going, ‘god, I’ve had three runs at four-star on him!’ It’s the sort of track where you might not be on the perfect stride – you might be on your line, but they have to be quick-footed to react.”

Padraig McCarthy – Ireland (36th on 35.2 with Pomp N Circumstance)

“I think it’s a pretty serious track, to be honest. I think it’s an easy enough start, but then it’s very typical Mark Phillips: he puts you on one line and you have to accept a lot of angle and there’s no deviation from it, so I think we’re going to see plenty of mistakes. But it’s a championship, so I think it’s going to be good sport.”

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]

Saturday Links from World Equestrian Brands

By on Sep 20, 2025 12:01 am -

Congratulations to Canadian Olympic eventer Jessica Phoenix, who took home a big win in the show jumping arena at Angelstone this week with none other than her Paris horse, Freedom GS! Jessie and Freedom claimed victory in the $10,000 Open Welcome, presented by Sprucewood Tack, proof that eventers are always versatile!

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.

Applications for the 2026 Annie Goodwin Rising Star Award Close on September 30

The Most Underrated Sport in the Global Economy? Let’s Talk Horse Sports

Captain Mark Phillips Celebrated at the Blenheim Palace Reception

Sponsor Corner: World Equestrian Brands

We’re all guilty of skipping the saddle fitter, let’s be honest. But even a quick check on your saddle’s fit can tell a lot about how your horse is feeling, and whether or not any changes are needed. World Equestrian Brands works with a team of expert saddle fitters who can come to you for a check-in or to help kit you out for a new option. Learn more and book your appointment here.

Video Break

Watch Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH score a mind-blowing 18.3 to take the individual and team lead for Germany at European Championships yesterday:

A Sub-20 and an Amazon Order of Flying Changes: Inside the Michi + Laura European Championships Dressage Match Race

By on Sep 19, 2025 5:26 pm -

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The second day of dressage at the 2025 Agria FEI European Championships at Blenheim Palace brought a few key elements to the table: glorious sunshine (a bit reflective on the plastic sheeting covering the palace, mind you); a soporific soundtrack that was giving “10 hour lo-fi study vibes YouTube video”; and, yes, okay, of course, a sub-20 dressage score.

We knew it would happen, didn’t we? Of course we did. The only mystery ahead of today’s competition circled around which rider might do it: Great Britain’s Laura Collett, of doing-a-17-at-the-Olympics fame, or Germany’s Michael Jung, of, um, also-doing-a-17-at-the-Olympics fame.

 Today, though, ended up being the Michael Jung show – which is a nice change of circumstances for a man who has so seldom enjoyed his moment in the spotlight in our sport.

Lol, jk, obvs: Michi comes into this European Championships as the reigning Olympic gold medallist with fischerChipmunk FRH, and he’s also one of just two riders to win the European title three times consecutively, and he’s got a Grand Slam, and has been World Champion, and somehow doesn’t make the thrusty bit of the extended walk look embarrassing, which is actually the highest praise we can offer up. The fact that the pair put an 18.3 on the board today is no surprise at all, and even though it’s Michi’s first time here at Blenheim, the curious undulations of the main arena didn’t break his flow for even a moment.

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

That 18.3 sets a new Blenheim record, and it’s Michi’s own European Championships personal best, too, which is reassuring if you were worried that maybe he’d run out of things to achieve.

“I am really excited and very proud of fischerChipmunk — he’s just an amazing horse,” says Michi. “It’s just lovely to ride this horse, and he was really good today, listening, and very good in the collected work at the beginning.

“I think the centreline was a good start; he was really in front of me and I could always ride him with my legs [on]. There’s just a few things to [work on], but I think there is always something! So far so good, and I am very happy to have got those marks from the judges.”

While this is Michi’s Blenheim debut, it’s not Chipmunk’s: he finished third in the CCI4*-L here back in 2017 with Julia Krajewski in the irons, adding nothing in the cross-country phase but tipping two rails on the final day.

“I’m excited for the cross-country,” says Michi, who will ride to put the 2023 Europeans, where he and Chipmunk had a shock late fall on course, behind him. “We’re in England, and it’s a country with great history in the sport, and horse people, and I love to compete here. It’s a beautiful course and the ground is perfect, and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

 Just minutes prior to Michi’s show of dominance, Paris team gold medallists – and individual bronze medallists — Laura Collett and London 52 had earned themselves a nearly six-mark lead in the field when they earned themselves a 20.6 that brought the packed grandstands to a roaring cheer. Though they were nudged into second place two tests later, that scant margin of just 2.3 penalties – or just shy of six seconds on the clock – means that the Michi and Laura match race is well and truly underway.

“There are huge expectations when you’re on a horse like him, but luckily, he absolutely loves showing off to a crowd,” says Laura of the sixteen-year-old ‘Dan’, previously a winner here in the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S in 2018. “So to have the home crowd cheering for him before he even entered the arena just lifted him. He loves to get to show off, and he was an absolute joy to ride just like he was in Paris last year.”

Just as he did in Paris, Dan stepped everything up a notch in the ring today.

“He hasn’t really given me that really ‘wow’ special feeling since Paris – every time he comes out he does a really nice test, but to get that wow feeling he apparently has to have a palace and a lot of people around! He knows when it really matters, and he’s just an unbelievable horse.”

Laura Collett and London 52. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

But, she says, that feeling never quite felt guaranteed: “I had a lesson on Tuesday where I lost every flying change and had a complete meltdown – it was a complete disaster! Ian [Woodhead] said, ‘don’t worry, I’ve ordered twenty flying changes on Amazon Special Delivery. I was having a serious breakdown about the whole situation. He’s quite a character still, and he’s cheeky out [in the warm-up]. Just as I went to go in to [the arena] he grabbed the bit and went to run off. Then he goes in there and it’s like butter wouldn’t melt – he’s like ‘everyone’s watching — I’m ready!'”

Could the pair have changed anything in the ring to catch Michi? Laura reckons so.

“It’s always possible to get more – that last centre line, as he’s done this test so many times, he’s got a bit wise to it so he thinks ‘we could halt at X’. I tried to keep him going but he knew the halt was coming! The rest he felt so with me and rideable, with a smile on his face, enjoying being in front of the palace with lots of people, which is where he thinks he belongs.”

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Laura and Dan’s Paris teammates Tom McEwen and JL Dublin slot into third place, a handful of marks behind their compatriots on a score of 26.2. Their otherwise polished test was marred by one mistake: in the second canter half-pass, the gelding suffered a momentary loss of balance and broke to trot to regather himself, earning the pair a string of 4s for the movement.

“Dubs was fantastic and delivered another great test – it’s just a shame about the very obvious mistake after the half-pass,” says Tom. “But he showed himself again to be the most amazing dressage horse. This test is all about collection, working and expressing, which he does find a little more difficult, but he tries very hard. It’s quite a hard test for these big-moving horses; it’s all so packed in and collected, because the D test is meant to be a bit quicker and more efficient, so where in a five-star test you have some time to make the marks back up after a mistake, in this one it’s like, bang-bang-bang.”

But, he says, “[Dubs] loves the dressage, so I always know that it’s just up to me to make sure we get everything polished.”

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tom and Dubs were part of the gold medal winning British effort in Paris last year, and Dubs has previously been the individual European Champion, winning at Avenches in 2021 with Nicola Wilson aboard. Now, returning to home soil and, like Michi, getting the chance to put a shock fall at the 2023 Europeans behind them, feels particularly special.

“It’s a privilege,” smiles Tom. “Paris was unbelievable – you wouldn’t know we were abroad, because there was French flair but English passion and Union Jacks everywhere. Whereas today, competing on home soil in front of a home crowd is a dream come true, really, and a privilege and an honour.”

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

Austria’s Lea Siegl rode the test of her life this afternoon, earning herself a four-star personal best of 26.9 en route to overnight fourth place with Van Helsing P.

 “He was just amazing. He came in and really tried his best – I’m so proud of him,” beams Lea. “I had problems in the flying changes at Luhmühlen this year; he was really good in the trot work, but we lost lots of points in the canter work because of the changes, so we’ve done a lot since and really improved them.

“I knew he could be really good in the dressage, but I also knew I had to be on point to get a good score. Of course I wanted to come here and try my best, but I wasn’t expecting this.”

Van Helsing P, or Heli, looked totally at home in the busiest of the day’s atmosphere, and that’s something that came as no surprise to his rider.

“When he enters the arena and there’s a lot of people and a big audience, he really enjoys it – he wants to be the superstar,” says Lea. “He’s really the kind of horse who’s made for competitions and gives 120%. I can always count on him, and he’s actually even better than at home. Years ago, we had some problems where he would get too excited, but now that he’s a bit older and more experienced, he’s calm and totally focused.”

For Lea, riding under pressure on the world stage is nothing new: she finished 15th at the Tokyo Olympics with DSP Fighting Line at the age of just 23. Part of the key to success? Compartmentalisation – and that’s something she’ll be practising tomorrow.

“I’ll try to forget [my placing] tomorrow and just focus on the cross,” she laughs. “But it’s amazing to be at the Europeans and deliver such a good test. I’m just super happy with my horse and so grateful to everyone who’s involved – my team, my trainers, and everyone who supports me. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”

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

Belgian Olympian Lara de Liedekerke-Meier halted, saluted, and finished her test on her 2024 Luhmühlen CCI5* winner Hooney d’Arville, and then dropped her reins and wrapped her arms around the mare’s neck in gratitude. Rightly so, too: the pair had danced their way to a 27.7, just a tenth of a penalty off the homebred mare’s best-ever score at four-star. That’s enough to put them into fifth as we head into tomorrow’s cross-country.

“I’m so, so proud of her,” says Lara, who piloted Hooney’s dam, Nooney Blue, around her own Senior Championship debut back in 2010. “She’s not a dressage talent, and she really tries so hard, but everything needs to happen the right way in the right moment [for a test to come off]. Today, it fell the right way.”

Lara’s test came just after Lea Siegl’s, which turned out to be a great bonus for her.

 “After Lea came out, the atmosphere felt a touch electric, and in the end that helped me, because Hooney got a little bit up [in her frame] – and that’s the image the judges really want to see now,” says Lara. “But she stayed with me, which was really, really nice – and it was our test. There’s still so much more to come, but today I’m over the moon.”

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

Hooney, who was also a top-fifteen finisher at Badminton this year, was never necessarily intended to be one of Lara’s team mounts – but while she’s game and available to fulfil that role, Lara hopes to use her to contribute to the ongoing Belgian building efforts.

“She was my fifth choice [for Paris] last year, but at the moment we have some horses out of action, and so she’s my number one,” says Lara. “I’m not sure how long she’ll be number one, because of the younger generation coming up, but she is the full package. She doesn’t excel in one particular phase, so I think if one day I want to grab a medal I might need a touch extra in the dressage, but if I don’t mess up she should be able to keep on this dressage score. She’s really a horse I want to do more five-stars on – she challenges me and gets better and better.”

Yesterday’s leaders, Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K, now sits sixth on her score of 27.8, while fellow countryman and team pathfinder Libussa Lübbeke and Caramia 34 will go into cross-country in seventh on 28.3.

Bubby Upton and Its Cooley Time. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Bubby Upton, who is one of two individual competitors for Great Britain this week, made an early bid for medal contention aboard the ten-year-old Its Cooley Time, with whom she won Bramham’s CCI4*-L this summer. The very consistent first-phase performers posted a 28.9 – the horse’s sixth four-star sub-30 in as many tests – to slot into eighth place as we head into tomorrow’s feature day of competition.

For Bubby, who rode for Great Britain at Pony, Junior, and Young Rider Europeans, taking individual gold at the Junior level in 2017, this week represents a Senior championship debut – and she’s determined to make the most of every moment.

“It’s so special – it’s been a dream of mine forever,” says Bubby. “I grew up watching people like Pippa and Piggy doing all the championships, and I’ve been pushing like mad for the last few years to try to get here myself. We’ve come close a few times, and been a bit unlucky with the timings of accidents and things like that, which have kind of prevented the dream from coming true. So to be here is just incredible, and to do it on home soil is even more special.”

Bubby has produced Its Cooley Time throughout his career, and so she knew that entering the pressure-cooker atmosphere in the arena this afternoon would test his quick and quirky brain – but some essential environmental preparation helped the gelding to tackle the occasion without any dramatics.

 “He’s a very sharp, sensitive horse, so the timing of the warm-up is very important with him,” says Bubby. “We were lucky enough to have some test practice with him at Burghley a couple of weeks ago [when the British squad did a test demonstration], which was incredible because we were able to work out what we need to do more or less of, and I feel like as a result, we really got it right today. He was fantastic in there.”

Bubby Upton and Its Cooley Time. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

She has, she explains, been working closely with coach Amy Woodhead throughout the young horse’s career.

“I’m so grateful to her for everything she’s done – she’s seen him right from the start, and knows where we’ve come from to get here.”

Their smart test keeps them in a very competitive position overnight, but a slightly higher post on the leaderboard was precluded by a couple of trips – moments that analytical Bubby is quick to unpack to aid in their future efforts.

“He had a very big stumble into his halt, which was a real shame because the trot halts are a big highlight for him,” she says. “That obviously interrupted the halt, and then the reinback as well, which is a shame but no fault of his own.”

Then, she continues, “in the medium canter he saw the crowds and was like, ‘oh!’. But I’m just so proud of him – it’s a fine line with him because of his sharpness and sensitivity. So I’m thrilled with how he coped, and I think it’s so exciting for the future with him.”

The top ten is rounded out at the end of the first phase by two of yesterday’s competitors, who share ninth place overnight: Great Britain’s Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ sit flush with France’s Sebastien Cavaillon and Elipso de la Vigne on a score of 29.

Tomorrow’s cross-country day begins at 11.00 a.m. BST (12.00 p.m. CEST/6.00 a.m. EST), and already, we’ve sadly seen our field thinned by one: Sweden’s Sofia Sjoborg, who was sitting 43rd with Govalent, has opted to withdraw after feeling that the young gelding wasn’t quite himself. That means we’ll take 54 horses and riders into the next phase, and just 20 penalties covers the top 49 – so with tomorrow’s tight time and technical, stamina-testing track ahead of them, there’s plenty of plot twists on the cards.

The margins are achingly tight at the top of the team leaderboard, too: Germany leads the way at the close of the first phase on an aggregate score of 74.4, just 1.4 penalties – or three seconds and change – ahead of Great Britain on a 75.8. Bronze is currently held by France, though they sit some margin behind: on a first-phase aggregate of 90.7, they have 14.9 penalties between them and the Brits. Switzerland are close behind in fourth on 95.2, while Belgium are breathing down their necks on a 95.3 in fifth place. Austria, with their three-rider team, are sixth on 98.9, and Ireland currently hold seventh on 110.6. Sweden are eighth on 104.8, and Italy closes out the leaderboard in ninth on 105.8.

We’ll be bringing you plenty of rider insights into the course to come, and you can have an early look at some of the key combinations in our preview here, or walk the course via the CrossCountry App here. The cross-country times can be found here. Keep it locked on EN for plenty more coverage to come from the 2025 FEI European Eventing Championships, and as always, Go Eventing!

The top ten at the end of dressage at the FEI European Eventing Championships.

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]

Freida Enjoys ‘the Number One Spot’ with Felix Vogg at Agria FEI Eventing European Championships

By on Sep 19, 2025 1:08 pm -

Felix Vogg finishes up his European Championships test with Freida. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I like a challenge,” said Felix Vogg in his deadpan manner.

His Blenheim Europeans ride Frieda has certainly been that; for the 12-year-old Casalito mare even to be here will have surprised people, and for her to have scored 29.2 and to be 11th after dressage is a victory in itself.

“A couple of years ago, she did nearly nothing, because she’s a bit difficult,” said Felix. “And at the beginning of the year when I said she should come here, a lot of people laughed.”

Felix bought Frieda as a five-year-old from British rider Willa Newton: “We saw her at one show, went to try her and really liked her. She had all the qualities you need [for eventing at a high level].”

There’s a “but”, though.

“She’s very horse-shy. And a bit long in the body and unbalanced, so it was quite tricky. She was always good at the lower levels, like two- and three-star, but it came to a point where it didn’t make sense to go four-star,” said the Swiss rider. “We got to the stage where there wasn’t any more progress.”

Felix Vogg and Freida. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Felix doesn’t really seem the “try anything, up to and including witchcraft” type, but apparently he is.

“We tried different stuff, like cowboys so that she isn’t horse-shy, and these horse-whisperers and the like – we tried everything, but she doesn’t want that, so we gave her away.”

I think he means “sent” rather than “gave”, although I cannot be sure. Anyway, Bettina Hoy, the great German multiple medallist and CCI5* winner, had Frieda for six months.

“She only had two horses and she had time all day long; at the time I was taking on a farm and I didn’t have so much time,” said Felix.

Time, patience and individual attention were clearly what Frieda needed. When she came back to Felix, she was still some way down his equine list of priorities, with the likes of Cartania, Colero and so on hogging the top spots as the build-up to the Paris Olympics began.

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“So this year I said, I have got to give her the chance and give her everything so that she can actually succeed. So she has the number one spot,” Felix explained. “I thought a lot about it, coming out of the winter, what I would do with her. So I ride her first in the morning, really early, when no one is there, so there are no distractions for her.”

He says that she finds dressage the hardest phase, so it will be interesting to watch Frieda over the next two days in the jumping phases.

Frieda has done well to be here at Blenheim, but so has Felix. He had a fall in the water at Saulieu in France in late August, hit some stones with his shoulder and was left with his arm “completely paralysed – it didn’t move anymore”, missing Burghley as a result.

“I had four hours of physio every day, stuff like that. It is quite painful, but Frieda is light to ride across country. She isn’t used to this many spectators – that’s why I took her to Aachen this year, and she was a little bit unsure there – and that can be energy-sapping for horses, so tomorrow I will ride her depending on how she feels, how she takes to it.”

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]

From Vaulting to the World Stage: Hungary’s Noémi Doerfer Steps into the Spotlight at Blenheim

By on Sep 19, 2025 11:46 am -

Noémi Doerfer and Piltown Harry. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

More often than not, the path to riding at a senior championship is stony, steep and slow. Occasionally — aand cheeringly — it is not. Hungarian competitor Noémi Doerfer did her first 90cm class when eventing restarted following the first Covid lockdown in July 2020, and five years and two months later, here she is at a European Championship.

Noémi, who speaks accentless English but is also fluent in Hungarian (her mother still will speak nothing else to her) and German, explains — sort of.

“I had a little Haflinger mare, and for some reason I kept saying that I wanted to jump over wooden fences, but she wouldn’t really want to go,” she rattles off with a big smile. “And I got a dressage horse that ended up doing eventing up to four-star, so I kind of got into it with him, and it just kept rolling from there.”

Noémi grew up in Germany, and her first equestrian experience was in the world of vaulting.

“When I was six I said that I wanted to ride, and my mum said, ‘Great, but you’ve got to be able to tack up your own horse — I’m not helping.’ So she sent me vaulting, which was a great foundation. You develop super feel for the horse and you’re really balanced. When I was 10 I was allowed to ride ‘properly’. From the get-go I had a really good seat, and it all came together quite quickly.”

After leaving school she undertook an apprenticeship, and then went to Hong Kong to work in a riding school.

“My boss was British and so were a couple of colleagues, and when I said, ‘I want to event’, they said, ‘Well, go to England.’”

Fortunately, Noémi based herself at Irish rider Austin O’Connor’s Oxfordshire yard, and she gives Austin, his wife Amy and trainers Gill Watson and Tracie Robinson great credit for helping her get to where she is.

“I’ve basically learnt everything from them,” she says.

Noémi Doerfer and Piltown Harry. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

She was “lucky enough” to take over Piltown Harry, the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse by Harlequin Du Carel on whom she scored 37.6 in the dressage today, from Austin.

“He’s an absolute machine across country. As long as he sees the fences, he knows where he’s going. He’s not the biggest mover and he’s not the biggest fan of dressage; his little quirk, I’d say, is that you have to make him think it’s his idea, and then he will do the movements within his ability,” Noémi says.

She is now based back in Germany, in a showjumping yard half an hour north of Hamburg.

“At the beginning of 2023 I was talking through my plan for the 2024 Olympics and how to qualify for that as an individual. My plan was to do a lot of European events, so it made sense to be based there,” she says. Though the Paris dream wasn’t to be, she’s been able to gain valuable mileage in competitive fields at Luhmühlen, Sopot, and Arville.

Her family aren’t particularly horsey — “my sister can ride if I tack up the horse, twice a year, and my mum says she is too old now” — but they are very supportive.

“My dad is driver and videographer, my mum does a bit of the grooming…” says Noémi.

It’s her 27th birthday tomorrow, on cross-country day; we’re looking forward to cheering her on as she gives herself good reason to celebrate that night.

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]

Friday News & Notes from Stable View

By on Sep 19, 2025 12:01 am -

Here’s a great volunteering incentive designed just for Young Riders in Area II! Athletes who volunteer at Old Tavern in The Plains, VA will earn a spot into an exclusive clinic with U.S. Olympian and EA21 coach David O’Connor — an opportunity definitely not to be missed. If you’re thinking of volunteering at Maryland 5 Star, you’ll get up close and personal to one of the biggest events in the country and one of just seven CCI5* events in the world.

For answers to your questions or to express interest, please visit the Area II Facebook page and send them a message!

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]

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.

Carolina Horse Park has just wrapped up its inaugural Classic Three-Day Event during Five Points H.T., and one winner brought a varied background with her to take home the Novice Three-Day victory. Emily Chiles grew up on horseback, participating as a young rider in a wide variety of disciplines and programs, from U.S. Pony Club to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, and dressage to spending a year as a working student under a 5* rider Ashley Adams. Emily sees a lot of similarity in fox-hunting and competing in a classic long format, and you can read more about the parallels and her background here.

If you’re seeking some funding assistance this year, look no further than the whole range of USEA Foundation Grants that are currently open for applications. Some of them operate on rolling deadlines, while others are closing applications next month. The USEA Foundation provides funding opportunities for areas such as licensed official training, developing riders, adult amateur education, course design and much more. See the full list here.

Gemma Stevens took the day one lead in the GFS Saddles 8/9-Year-Old CCI4*-S at Blenheim yesterday, earning a 22.9 with Cooley Park Muze, a horse she also partnered with to win the Eventer’s Challenge at the Hickstead Derby. This 4*-S is running concurrently with the Agria FEI Eventing European Championships, and you can read more about Gemma’s day here. Several U.S. riders are competing in this division, so be sure to follow along with scores here and with the Horse & Country live stream here.

Sponsor Corner: Stable View

Photo by Christine Quinn Photography.

This year’s Stable View Oktoberfest will have plenty to see on cross country, particularly in the CCI4*-S and CCI3*-S, which will now utilize parts of the arenas on site as part of the track. In addition, Stable View has added a CCI1*-S level for the first time, giving riders even more opportunities to compete at an FEI level. Of course, National divisions are still on offer, with Beginner Novice up to Advanced available. View more and plan your visit here.

Video Break

Cassie Sanger stops by the Jon and Rick Show, fresh out of Defender Burghley:

EN’s Ultimate Guide to the 2025 Agria FEI Eventing European Championships for Seniors

By on Sep 18, 2025 9:38 pm -

It’s high championship season for European riders this summer, and we’re all set to go with the final FEI Eventing European Championships, this time for Senior riders. The Europeans return to Great Britain for the first time in 20 years at Blenheim Palace, located in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. Alongside the European Championships is also a CCI4*-S for 8- and 9-year-old horses, held in a different part of the park and over a cross country course designed by David Evans.

We’ll have much more coverage coming to you from Blenheim thanks to the knowledgeable duo of Tilly Berendt and Catherine Austen, with Cheg Darlington running a cross country live blog on Saturday. A handy way to keep up with our coverage each day is to keep this Ultimate Guide bookmarked, as we’ll add our article links to the bottom of this post. Below, you’ll also find useful links for things like the live stream and scores, as well as a preview of the field, the officials and more.

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]

The Schedule

Wednesday, September 17
12:00 p.m. BST | | 1:00 p.m. CEST | 7:00 a.m. EST | 4:00 a.m. PST – First Horse Inspection

Thursday, September 18 and Friday, September 19
10:30 a.m. BST | 11:30 a.m. CEST | 5:30 a.m. EST | 2:30 a.m. PST – Dressage

Saturday, September 20
11:00 a.m. BST | 12:00 p.m. CEST | 6:00 a.m. EST | 3:00 a.m. PST – Cross Country

Sunday, September 21
8:00 a.m. BST | 9:00 a.m. CEST | 3:00 a.m. EST | 12:00 a.m. PST – Final Horse Inspection
11:00 a.m. BST | 12:00 p.m. CEST | 6:00 a.m. EST | 3:00 a.m. PST – Jumping Session 1
2:00 p.m. BST | 3:00 p.m. CEST | 9:00 a.m. EST | 6:00 a.m. PST – Jumping Session 2, followed by award ceremony

How to Watch

This week, ClipMyHorse.TV has the live stream, though some of the event will be shown on the FEI YouTube channel free of charge. As this publishes, the First Horse Inspection and the Opening Ceremony are scheduled on the FEI page — click here to view the streams.

You will need a ClipMyHorse.TV subscription to view the full live stream/replays. Click here to bookmark the stream for this weekend.

For those in the UK, there will also be live coverage broadcast on BBC for all phases of competition. The content will also be available on demand for 30 days. Here’s the information:

The European Eventing Championships will be broadcast live on BBC Sport across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, and the app. Coverage will also be available on demand for 30 days after the event.

Broadcast schedule (all times BST, subject to change):

Saturday 20th September – 10:45 to 15:30

Sunday 21st September – 10:50 to 12:10 (Jumping – Group 1)

Sunday 21st September – 13:50 to 15:00 (Jumping – Group 2)

Watch on BBC iPlayer

Horse & Country will be live streaming the GFS Saddles 8 & 9 Year Old Class throughout the week. Watch on Horse & Country here.

Full broadcast and live stream information can be found here.

The Players

Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

17 nations are represented this week, with nine of them fielding teams. Germany and Great Britain are the most historically dominant countries, duking it out for the gold medals dating well back into the 90s, but there are a few countries who’ve really been on the up and up of late who could pose a threat to the dynasty. There are also some really cool storylines to follow, not only amongst the heavy hitters but also from nations that are sending individual riders. Turkey, for example, is making its first appearance at a Senior Championships, and Norway is another rarely-represented nation on the roster.

You can view the full field of entries here [note: this list is subject to change]. Tilly Berendt has also primed us right up with her Form Guide to all nations and teams here.

This week’s Officials include (the full list can be found here):

Ground Jury President: Sandy Phillips (GBR) | Ground Jury Members: Katrin Eichinger-Kiniley (AUT) and Valerie Pride (USA)
Technical Delegate: Andrew Temkin (USA)
Cross Country Designer: Capt. Mark Phillips (GBR), assisted by Jay Hambly (CAN), Helen West (GBR) and David Evans (GBR)
Show Jumping Designer: Paul Connor (GBR)
Chief Steward: Nicola Salmon (GBR)

Social Media Channels and Hashtags

Blenheim Palace: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | X

FEI Eventing: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Equiratings: Prediction Center | Eventing Manager Game | Instagram | Podcast

EN’s Coverage

Nicolas Touzaint and Absolut Gold HDC jump clear to be the best of the French at the 2023 European Championships. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

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

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

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

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

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

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

Vittoria Panizzon is Finding Firmer Footing Following Overturned Suspension

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

“It’s Really Attacking”: Riders React to the Blenheim European Championships Cross-Country Course

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

A Sub-20 and an Amazon Order of Flying Changes: Inside the Michi + Laura European Championships Dressage Match Race

Freida Enjoys ‘the Number One Spot’ with Felix Vogg at Agria FEI Eventing European Championships

From Vaulting to the World Stage: Hungary’s Noémi Doerfer Steps into the Spotlight at Blenheim

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

“Nothing Can Beat That Week”: Former Blenheim Winner Leads the Way on Day One of European Championships

The Future is Bright for Norway as Yasmin Olsson Payne Makes Senior Debut at FEI Eventing European Championships

“It Keeps Me Fit, It Keeps Me Passionate, It Keeps Me Motivated”: Karin Donckers on 15th Appearance at FEI Eventing European Championships

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

And We’re Off! All Horses Pass FEI Eventing European Championships First Inspection

PRE-EVENT COVERAGE

Podium Places and Building Blocks: Unpacking the Teams for the 2025 FEI European Championships

CrossCountryApp Guided Course Preview

A Tight Time, A Wet Weekend, and a Palace Under Wraps: What to Expect from the 2025 Agria FEI Eventing European Championships

An Official Rider: Valerie Pride’s Judging Journey to the Heights of European Eventing

World Champions, Olympians and First-Timers to Take On 2025 Agria FEI Eventing European Championships at Blenheim

Experienced Irish Squad Named for Eventing European Championships in Blenheim

Golds Galore for French Young Guns at FEI Eventing European Championships for Juniors/Young Riders

German Squad Named for Agria FEI Eventing European Championships

Belgium Unveils Agria FEI Eventing European Championships Roster

Swiss Team Announced for Agria FEI Eventing European Championships

Great Britain Announces Six-Member Squad for Agria FEI Eventing European Championships for Seniors

Another European Championships Contender Bows Out Ahead of Entry Deadline

France Reveals Nominated List for FEI Eventing European Championships at Blenheim

Baby On Board! Gold Medal Favourite Bows Out of European Championships Selection

Germany Names Long List for 2025 FEI Eventing European Championships

British Equestrian Announces Nominated Entries for Agria FEI Eventing European Championship 2025

Tickets On Sale + Capt. Mark Phillips Unveiled as Course Designer for Agria Blenheim Palace International and FEI European Championships

“Nothing Can Beat That Week”: Former Blenheim Winner Leads the Way on Day One of European Championships

By on Sep 18, 2025 6:21 pm -

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

In the autumn of 2022, while much of the eventing world turned its attention to the World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro, a German uprising was underway in the grounds of Blenheim Palace. And at the end of a weeklong battle for glory? One very smiley, unassuming woman and her lanky grey gelding walked away with the spoils.

That was Malin Hansen-Hotopp and the then-ten-year-old Carlitos Quidditch K, a pair who had been making themselves known on the continent for several seasons – but it was that Blenheim win that catapulted them onto the world stage. They would go on to represent Germany in the European Championships the following summer, winning team silver and finishing nineteenth individually, and then, a fourth-place finish at Kentucky last spring would follow. Placing after placing after placing, week after week after week: but still, although Malin loved the idea of returning to her happiest hunting ground, she kept on keeping on without any expectations of being named for the German team this week.

But here she is, not just part of team Germany at this year’s Agria FEI European Eventing Championships at Blenheim – she’s also at the top of the leaderboard at the end of day one of dressage.

“It’s really special [to be back],” says Malin. “I didn’t have the pressure before [the selection] to be on the team or not, because I thought, ‘I was a winner here already, so it doesn’t matter if I come back or not, because it can’t be better than that!’ I had a fabulous week here – along with Kentucky last year, it was one of my greatest competition weeks. So I’ve really looked forward to coming back, but I don’t feel the pressure at all.”

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

Malin and the thirteen-year-old Carlitos Quidditch K, or ‘Schimmi’, posted a 27.8 in this afternoon’s session to take the top spot – an effort that also helps situate the German team in gold medal position at the halfway point of the team rotations.

But, says Malin, moments before her test, some tiny doubts began to creep in.

“I was a little afraid that he was too ‘on’, because when I was coming down, he was just getting up and up with his head and really looking around,” she says. “But then I really pushed him a little forward, and then it was okay, I think.”

Then, she continues, “he was really good in the half-passes, and he was just really up in front. I just wanted to open the neck a little bit more, but I think that was because he was so powerful.”

With the hard work behind him, she laughs, Schimmi can enjoy spending the rest of the day settling into his home away from home at Blenheim. For Malin and the team and family effort around the horse, making sure he’s enjoying himself is priority number one.

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

“He’s like Mr President: he’s grumpy if he doesn’t want you around, and he’s very friendly with everyone if that’s what he wants. He shows us exactly what he likes or not, and he knows if something’s happening. [After his test] he’ll eat and get comfortable, and you’ll know he’s happy,” says Malin with a smile.

Malin and Schimmi’s excellent effort mean that teammate and German pathfinder Libussa Lübbeke and her homebred Caramia 34 have to settle for second overnight on their score of 28.3 – but there’s no room for disappointment amid the celebrations in Camp Caramia. This is the pair’s third trip to Blenheim – they’ve previously jumped clear around the CCI4*-L here in 2024 and 2023 – and their best test yet at the venue.

Libussa Lübbeke and Caramia 34. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I’m really pleased,” says 24-year-old Libussa, who rides as part of the Warendorf training system for young German talent. “I was really happy with the walk, and with how concentrated the horse was. It’s just a pleasure to be here with her.”

15-year-old Caramia and Libussa have been competing together since 2019, but their relationship goes back much further than that: Libussa’s parents, Annelie and Martin, bred the mare, and bred her mother, Floretta, too, from a mare given to them as a wedding present. Libussa’s brother, Fritz, initially campaigned Caramia while Libussa gained mileage in the Pony classes, and when he went to university, it was time for the Lübbeke women to come together.

The fact that they’ve made it to the top of the sport together, with accolades that include a tenth place finish at Kentucky this spring? Just a bonus – and certainly not something they’d planned for.

“We were growing over the years, and we all know her so well, and she knows us – so it’s like a dream come true to go up the levels over the years,” says Libussa. “It feels like there’s no limit, and I’ve definitely never found it yet. She’s so honest; she always tries, so there’s never been a cross-country that she did not complete, which is just amazing. She always brings me home and tries her best, and she always fights.”

This week, Libussa will act as pathfinder for the Germans, while also making her Senior Championship debut after success at Pony and Young Rider levels.

A pressured situation? Sure. But most of all, she reckons, it’s a privilege to take on one of the most crucial roles of the week.

“I didn’t expect [to be here], to be honest, but it’s great. It’s a pleasure to be the first one to go and to have the others trust me, so I just have to try my best,” she smiles.

Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Reigning World Champion Yasmin Ingham gave the enthusiastic home crowd – and the vibrant Isle of Man support side – something to celebrate this morning when she and Rehy DJ, or Piglet, popped a 29 on the board to take an early lead. As the day came to a close, that would be enough for equal third with France’s Sebastien Cavaillon and Elipse de la Vigne.

Though we’ve seen Piglet nip down to the mid-20s at five-star, we’ve also seen him creep up into the 30s, too, and so to lay down a test that’s pretty much bang-on his projected score was a super start for Yas – and for the British team, who sit second in the provisional standings at this very early stage.

“He was fabulous — I was delighted with his test,” says Yas, who’s twice finished on the podium at Luhmühlen CCI5* with the fifteen-year-old. “There was lots of highlights in there and he tried super, super hard.”

Their performance, she explains, comes off the back of some intensive training – and an understanding of what to prioritise between the boards.

“We’ve been working super hard with Chris Bartle and Sarah Higgins on the flat. They’ve been instrumental in my dressage training and just trying to gain those small margins, because of course that’s all it takes! It can be an extra half percent here or there, and then you’re sort of down into where you want to be. With him, I’m trying to be as accurate as possible, because I’m not riding a big, flashy horse, so I have to try to maximise each mark for each movement.”

Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

For Yas, who won the World Championships while riding as an individual in 2022, being back at a Championship is always something to cherish – but doing so on home soil at Blenheim, an event she won back in 2021, is even better.

“This is where I had my first major win as a senior on Banzai du Loir, and our trajectory went upwards from there, so it’s an incredibly special place,” she says. “It’s an iconic venue: I remember when I was very, very small, watching Zara Tindall win the European Championships here. So it’s definitely one that I’d love us one of us British lot to win, to maintain that British European title.”

And, of course, being here with a horse she’s so long partnered, who makes his own Senior championship debut this week, is no small detail.

“It’s so special. I’ve had him for many, many years now, and I feel incredibly lucky to have such a special partnership with him,” says Yas. “We’ve been to many five-stars now, and he’s an absolute stalwart, so it’s very special to be given the opportunity to ride for the team here at Blenheim. I’ve had Piglet since he was six, and we’ve gone all the way up the levels together. We actually represented Great Britian Young Rider Europeans and Fontainebleau in 2018, so to be here at our first senior championship to as a pair together as feels like a long journey, but he’s just been the most fantastic horse.”

Sebastien Cavaillon and Elipso de la Vigne. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Sharing third place is France’s Sebastien Cavaillon, who piloted Elipso de la Vigne to a 29 – but while he was happy with his horse’s work, he was disappointed with the score on the board.

“The score and the marks were not good for me – 29 is a bad score for him! This year, he made a 26 in Bramham, and he felt better here today, so I’m a little bit disappointed. He made a very good test, and he’s a very good horse for that.”

This test, he continues, was “more uphill in the trot and the canter – the canter is amazing on this horse. I didn’t see the marks for the canter but I did look at the big screen after the trot work, and he was under 70% — I couldn’t understand why, but that’s sport!”

Elipso, who’s a full brother to Vinci de la Vigne, bronze medallist for Japan at the Paris Olympics, has certainly shown range en route to Blenheim: he posted a 23.4 at Saumur CCI4*-L last summer, and a 26.9 at Bramham CCI4*-S this summer, but has also scored in the thirties on eight of his ten four-star starts, so on a reasonably tough-marking day, it’s not a shabby start to the competition. And, as Sebastien tells us, his season – and that of the rest of the French team – has been entirely focused on preparing for Blenheim’s single serious hill on Saturday, making les bleus a formidable force in this week’s competition.

“We came to Bramham to prepare for this event, and the French camp was in Saumur, so we tried to prepare the horses with uphills and downhills to come here. It’s a big test here on the cross-country,” says Sebastien.

Piggy March and Halo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Piggy March sits in fifth position going into the second day of dressage with the diminutive stallion Halo, who earned a 29.4 with a charismatic test that had a few minor faults, including a break to trot in the canter work.

“I made a few very uncharacteristic mistakes, and [it’s frustrating, because] he’s felt fantastic today,” rues Piggy, who won the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S here with Halo in 2022. “ There were some great bits and some uncharacteristic bits: I missed a square halt, and he’s always done brilliant halts; he just felt so on the button and so when it slips away like that at something like that, when you felt so at the races, it is a bit disappointing.”

But, she concedes, “it’s still a 29, it’s still sub-30. There’s still a lot such a long way to go and I’m here on the team, which is really exciting. I haven’t done that for a while! So I can have my ten minute moan and then try to move on. He’s a lovely little horse; there were frustrating mistakes, but a mark to like.”

Sarah Ennis and Dourough Ferro Class Act. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Ireland’s Sarah Ennis is well known for coming out on a tough cross-country day and throwing down one of the swiftest rounds of the day to climb, climb, and climb again – we’re still recovering from the whiplash of watching her nearly make the time at the last Europeans, when everyone slogged their way home with a minute’s worth of time penalties.

This week, though, she seems bound and determined not to have to exercise quite so much upward mobility, and begins her competition in provisional sixth place on a score of 31 with the ten-year-old Dourough Ferro Class Act.

“I’m really pleased with him,” beams Sarah. “He’s a really sweet horse — he really wants to please you, and he really tries. Sometimes he tries a bit too hard, and you have to say ‘it’s okay!’ But I couldn’t have asked any more in there. He was such a star.”

Though even a high-mileage ten year old would come into an event like this on the greener end of the spectrum, Dourough Ferro Class Act, who we have got to find out the stable name for, please, is actually even lighter on experience than his fellow 2015 babies.

“He’s very inexperienced,” says Sarah, who’s coaxed a sub-30 out of the gelding once at four-star, but often finds herself sitting on a mid-30s first-phase score. “He’s ten, but we struggled with a splint as an eight year old, which actually took near a year to settle it down, so he’s missing a lot of mileage. So to go in there and perform like that, I’m over the moon. It’s just building blocks from here — perfecting and asking a bit more.

“He’s a sharp horse; he’s no fool,” she continues. “Like, you wouldn’t get into the stable with him lying down, ever. He springs up. He’s very loving, but he’s always really wary of everything. I think when I got kind of midway through my test, and I think when he felt so rideable, I felt like I could breathe. And I was like, ‘this is okay, Keep going!’”

Mélody Johner and Erin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Switzerland’s Mélody Johner is best known for her partnership with the great grey Toubleu du Rueire, with whom she competed at Paris last year, but this week, we’re seeing an heir apparent to Toubleu’s throne in new ride Erin. She took the reins on the now-ten-year-old gelding at the beginning of last year from Great Britain’s Max Warburton; previously, he’d been produced and campaigned by his former owner, Andrew Nicholson, who is the Swiss cross-country coach.

In 15 FEI starts together, they’ve already notched up ten placings and two wins – so it’s evidently a fortuitous bit of match-making from Cilla Black Nicholson, although this week will be a major step up for the young gelding, who won on his sole CCI4*-L start at Strzegom this spring. They start the week, though, on excellent form: their 31.5 sees them sit seventh overnight.

“We always want to do better, and of course much better when we are at a European championships — but I think with the horse, I haven’t had him as long, so this is really good,” says Mélody. “He can be so, so on fire, as we saw yesterday in the horse inspection, so I think he was really with me and polite – it was a good moment.”

Benjamin Massie and Figaro Fonroy. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

France, who sit third in the team standings, has a second entry in the top ten thanks to individual competitors Benjamin Massie and Figaro Fonroy. The pair put a 32.4 on the board, earning eighth place at the end of day one.

“My feeling is quite good,” says Benjamin, a man of few words and also maybe few feelings. “He’s a good horse in the three tests, but especially in the dressage test. He was, today, like every day, and so I’m happy with him and happy to be here.”

Nicolai Aldinger and Timmo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

German individual competitors Nicolai Aldinger and Timmo are ninth overnight after putting a 32.7 up on their return to Blenheim for the first time since 2022, when they finished fifteenth.

“It was pretty good, but the beginning was not the best,” says Nico. “The first halt was a bit… he was a bit nervous, but after that, I could ride him really well. He was focused. I had one more little mistake when starting the canter, but I was really happy.”

Giovanni Ugolotti and Duke of Champions. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Finally, Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti and Duke of Champions round out the top ten on their score of 32.8, which also pops Italy into fifth place in the team standings, behind Switzerland. Ireland sit sixth, while Belgium is seventh and Austria, who had just one of their three combinations today, is eighth.

“He’s a very cool horse. He’s usually quite quiet, can’t really be bothered to do anything,” says Giovanni of the fourteen-year-old Duke of Champions, with whom he competed at the 2022 World Championships, finishing 37th. “ And then you take him to a show and he actually lights up, and he’s just sometimes even too exuberant. But it’s a good problem to have!”

Tomorrow takes us into day two of dressage here at the Agria FEI European Eventing Championships, with competition once again beginning at the very sociable hour of 10.30 BST (11.30 CEST/5.30 a.m. EST). Our first competitors in the ring will be Italian individuals Pietro Majolino and Vita Louise DH Z, followed by the first of our Czech individuals, Jaroslav Abik and Madock. You can tune in to all the action on ClipMyHorse.TV, and keep it locked on EN for plenty more stories to come from between the boards.

Go Eventing!

The top ten after day one of dressage at the Agria FEI European Eventing Championships.

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