Classic Eventing Nation

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 15^th 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 43^rd 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]

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 37^th. “ 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.

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]