Welcome to the 2025 Agria FEI Eventing European Championships at Blenheim Palace, and your most immediate opportunity to practice some light-hearted patriotism (even if the team you end up supporting isn’t the one from your own country!). We’ve got a jam-packed week ahead of us, with 17 nations and nine teams coming forward to fight for a podium place — but who’s fighting for gold, and who’s got their focus simply on those finish flags? Join us for a deep dive into each team, its lineup, and what might be in store for them over the next five days…
Chef d’equipe:
Riders:
- Harald Ambros and Vitorio du Montet
- Katrin Khoddam-Hazrati and Renegade
- Lea Siegl and Van Helsing P
What’s their form like? The main issue that Austria’s been fighting against is a lack of strength in depth: they have talented riders with a couple of top horses, but they rarely have enough riders to make up a full team. This week is no different – they come in with three competitors, which is just enough to create a team, but with no margin for error at all and no drop score. They had the same lineup of riders, though different horses, for the 2022 World Championships in Pratoni, where they finished 15th out of 16 teams after Katrin was eliminated on cross-country, incurring 1000 penalties.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? Similarly, they had just three riders on that occasion, and none completed cross-country in the tough conditions, so they finished tenth of ten teams.
Where will they end up? If they can clone Lea before the first horse inspection, they’ve got a fighting chance – but it’s hard to put your money on a three-berth team. Their goal won’t be a specific placing but rather, getting every horse and rider home with a score to put on the board and experience to take into the future. Certainly, there is a future to be planning for: Lea, at just 27, is a seriously experienced championship rider and was 15th on her Olympic debut in Tokyo, Harald is reasonably newly well-mounted on the former Maxime Livio ride Vitorio, and Katrin has been committedly gaining mileage year on year, so once they can attract some more riders and owners, they have the skeleton of a team that can work on a real upward trajectory.
Chef d’equipe: Kai-Steffen Meier
Riders:
- Wouter de Cleene and Quintera
- Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Hooney d’Arville
- Karin Donckers and Ceres de la Brasserie
- Senne Vervaecke and Google Van Alsingen
What’s their form like? Consistently on the up and up – but with a few plot twists along the way. Since their last Europeans appearance, Belgium has crowned its first-ever CCI5* champions (Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and team ride Hooney d’Arville, who won Luhmühlen in 2024) and finished achingly close to the podium at the Paris Olympics, too. In our hearts, that fourth-place finish remains firmly in situ – in reality, it was technically stripped from them retroactively when one of the horses on the team failed a dope test due to some contaminants in her feed. Still: the aftermath doesn’t change that the team still bested so many of their competitors and proved that the multi-year trajectory they’ve been on hasn’t been a string of flukes.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? That was a great week for the Belgians on their upward trajectory: they took one of the two Paris qualifications at Haras du Pin when they finished seventh and best of the as-then-unqualified nations.
Where will they end up? Belgium’s riders are still hurting, no doubt, from the long post-Paris winter – but if they can compartmentalise and keep looking forward this week, there’s no reason they can’t put in a serious bid for a podium finish. They nearly did it against a global field and – dare we say it – over a much tougher course at Paris; here, they’ll need to start strong in a field of dressage heavy-hitters, but they’re ready to assert their dominance. Convincing themselves of that is their final hurdle.
Chef d’equipe: Thierry Touzaint
Riders:
- Sebastien Cavaillon and Elipse de la Vigne
- Luc Chateau and Cocorico de l’Ebat
- Alexis Goury and Je’vall
- Benjamin Massie and Figaro Fonroy
- Astier Nicolas and Alertamalib’or
- Nicolas Touzaint and Absolut Gold HDC Replaced by Gireg le Coz and Caramel d’Orchis
What’s their form like? They’re never to be overlooked at a championship, even if we see relatively little of the French otherwise – they tend to travel the Channel for Bramham, where they like to gain experience over serious terrain, and otherwise, they largely do their work on the continent. They took team silver in Paris last year, bronze at the Haras du Pin Euros two years ago, and the same at Tokyo in 2021 – though they did have a bit of a disaster at the 2022 World Championships, finishing 14th out of 16 teams. Still, this is a strong line-up and they’ve done a lot of the right things this year to ensure their horses are all terrain specialists ahead of this week.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? Our previous Euros hosts took the bronze medal in Haras du Pin, overcoming some seriously tricky conditions to step onto the podium – but then, as in Paris, they couldn’t quite nab the gold in front of the home crowd. That was an honour reserved for the Brits – so perhaps it’s time to play swapsies. On that occasion, as on so many, the helmsman of the team was Nicolas Touzaint on the very experienced Absolut Gold HDC – but this year, he’s a late withdrawal from France’s efforts, and will be replaced by the capable Gireg le Coz and his championship debutant Caramel d’Orchis.
Where will they end up? While it’s a fun daydream to imagine them allez-allezing their way to the gold medal that’s eluded them since the 2016 Rio Olympics, realistically, they’ll struggle to get ahead of the Brits in the first phase – and with a course that walks relatively soft, it doesn’t seem as though there’ll be enough of a margin for error to allow them to slip ahead. But a podium finish is absolutely within their grasp, and really, they shouldn’t be aiming for anything else. As a ‘Big Six’ nation, the French team are never here just to take part.
Chef d’equipe: Peter Thomsen
Riders:
- Nicolai Aldinger and Timmo
- Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom of the Opera
- Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K
- Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH
- Libussa Lübbeka and Caramia 34
- Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice
What’s their form like? Just, honestly, silly good as always. You have to go all the way back to 1993 to find the last time a team other than Germany or Great Britain won the gold medal at the Europeans, and that double-handed dominance spans right back to the start of these championships in the 1950s (although back then, they were a force to be reckoned with as West Germany – unified German success didn’t come until David Hasselhoff knocked down the Berlin Wall in 1989, obliterating the Iron Curtain through the power of pop music). They’re currently the holders of the team gold medal at the World Championships, won in Pratoni in 2022. They did, admittedly, have a pretty bruising go of it at the Paris Olympics last year: while Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk happily won the individual gold, Germany as a team finished in a surprise 13th place out of 16 teams. But it would be naïve to expect that to slow them down this week, especially as this is a ‘pressure off’ Europeans – with no qualifications to be gained for the next Olympics, they can focus on giving their ‘next gen’ line-up valuable experience. None of them should be underestimated, and nearly all of them have excellent Blenheim form.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? Team silver, although with a plot twist nobody could have foreseen: Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk didn’t complete after tipping up in the final water. Just he and Malin return from that week’s team line-up, though Jérome and Black Ice and Nico and Timmo both competed as individuals. Jérome finished seventh; Nico, too, had a horse fall in the extraordinarily tough conditions.
Where will they end up? Take your pick: gold or silver. Anything else will feel like a bitter disappointment for these riders. While this is largely a younger team without the old hats that are Julia Krajewski, Christoph Wahler, or Sandra Auffarth, it’s a serious one: Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K were on the team at Haras du Pin and have also been winners in Blenheim’s CCI4*-L back in 2022; Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice finished third in that same class last year after starting on a career-best score of 22.8; Calvin and The Phantom of the Opera were fifth here last year; Libussa and Caramia had a steady run for 25th but it helped set them up for 10th in the CCI5* in Kentucky this spring. Only Nico Aldinger and Timmo and Michi and Chipmunk don’t have previous Blenheim form, but come in looking strong: Nico was tenth in a tough final selection trial at Arville against much of this week’s field, and Michi and Chipmunk are… Michi and Chipmunk.
Chef d’equipe: Chris Bartle
Riders:
- Laura Collett and London 52
- Caroline Harris and D.Day
- Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ
- Piggy March and Halo
- Tom McEwen and JL Dublin
- Bubby Upton and Its Cooley Time
What’s their form like? Oh, boy. Well, they’re far and away the most successful nation in European Championships history, with 90 total medals won since 1953. To contextualise that, the second most successful team, Germany, has won 44 total medals, which is the same number of golds the Brits have won. They come into this week as hosts, reigning champions on both the individual and team podiums, and Olympic team champions, too.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? Top of the podium, baby, thanks to Laura and London 52, Yas Ingham and Banzai du Loir, who she will not ride this week, and Kitty King and Ros Canter, who won individual silver and gold, respectively, but aren’t here this week due to horse injury and personal pregnancy, also respectively.
Where will they end up? There’s only one goal, and that’s gold. They don’t need to win this week – this year’s Europeans doesn’t count towards Olympic qualifications – so in theory, they could use it to build up a strong, next-gen team, but winning on home soil is a great galvaniser and a brilliant way to build interest in the sport, both from spectators and potential financial backers, so the pressure is on. And actually, in some ways they are building up some new riders: this is a senior team debut for both Bubby Upton and Caroline Harris, though both are exceptionally well-established competitors. Bubby and Its Cooley Time won Bramham this year, while Caroline and D.Day won the CCI5* at Pau last season. Beyond that, we’ve got reigning World Champ Yas Ingham, whose Rehy DJ has consistently been a podium finisher at five-star; team stalwart Tom McEwen and his Paris partner JL Dublin, with whom he won team gold and individual fourth on that occasion – and who, crucially, has already been European Champion back in 2021 when ridden by Nicola Wilson; three-time five-star victors Laura Collett and London 52, also team gold medallists at Paris and individual bronze medallists, too; and the return of the reliable Piggy March to the British team, riding the smart little stallion Halo, with whom she won Burgham CCI4*-S this summer.
Chef d’equipe: Dag Albert
Riders:
- Susie Berry and Clever Trick
- Ian Cassells and Millridge Atlantis
- Aoife Clarke and Full Monty de la Cense
- Sarah Ennis and Dourough Ferro Class Act
- Robbie Kearns and Chance Encounter
- Padraig McCarthy and Pomp and Circumstance
What’s their form like? The upper end of middling, despite being a nation of very good riders. They finished eighth at the Paris Olympics and fifth at the 2022 World Championships, although we saw them take both team and individual silver at the 2018 World Championships in Tryon, so they certainly have got the goods. They’re missing their crown jewel this week in Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue, who went to Burghley instead and finished second, but Susie Berry and Clever Trick return from the 2023 team and the consistently speedy Sarah Ennis, too, is back in business, though riding a different horse this time.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? Just off the podium in fourth place, which is a frustrating place to be – so close to a medal! – but felt like a huge moment for the Irish, who’ve often struggled to pull it all together at championships. An enormously tough cross-country day in difficult conditions certainly played to their strengths, and this week’s team will similarly be hoping for an influential Saturday.
Where will they end up? It’ll depend, really, on the course and the weather. If the course rides a lot tougher than it walks and the time is tight – and that rain keeps falling – the Irish will be smiling, and they’ll be climbing, too. If it ends up being a dressage competition, we’ll likely see them sit, again, in the top part of the middle half of the pack. Their galvanising moment is coming, but whether Blenheim will offer enough of a challenge to deliver it remains very much to be seen.
Chef d’equipe:
Riders:
- Daniele Bizzarro and Stormhill Riot
- Pietro Majolino and Vita Louise DH Z
- Vittoria Panizzon and DHI Jackpot
- Arianna Schivo and First Lady de Belheme
- Paolo Torlonia and Zinny
- Giovanni Ugolotti and Duke of Champions
What’s their form like? Italy’s a nation that’s still in the process of finding itself on the world stage. We saw them finish in ninth out of sixteen teams at the 2022 World Championships and twelfth of sixteen at last year’s Olympics, which they qualified for by securing the final team ticket in the FEI Nations Cup series.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? Ninth out of ten teams, after two of their riders didn’t complete cross-country. Best of the Italians that week was Giovanni Ugolotti, who returns this time around with a different horse in Duke of Champions. The next Europeans, at Avenches in 2027, will be a crucial moment for scooping up qualifications for the LA Olympics, and so all eyes will be on being able to be strong enough as a team to get the job done there, if not at next year’s World Championships, where the top teams will earn direct qualifications.
Where will they end up? While it’s unlikely that we’ll see Italy fighting for a medal, this week will be a hugely valuable building block for them: without the pressure of trying to qualify for an Olympics this year, they can get their heads down and focus on finding the magic formula that brings them results. With Italy’s riders based around Europe and the UK, it’s a rare opportunity to come together and build that competitive dynamic. They’ll be hoping to find their way into the top half of the nine teams, which is a solid goal for them.
Chef d’equipe: Fred Bergendorff
Riders:
- Frida Anderson and Stonehavens Baby Blue
- Christoffer Forsberg and Hippo’s Sapporo TSF
- Sofia Sjoborg and Govalent
- Amanda Staam and Corpoubet AT
What’s their form like? A work in progress, though one that has perhaps felt like its had a slower upward trajectory than the likes of Switzerland or Belgium. The Swedes have always been able to do consistency in the long-term – they’re very good at winning, for example, the Nations Cup series, because they keep showing up and doing the job at every leg – but that can fall apart a bit on the world stage. But the Olympics last year marked an important new chapter, even if it’s not one that’s immediately obvious on paper: the team finished an impressive fifth out of sixteen, but Sofia Sjoborg was one of a handful of riders given a very contentious 15 penalties for a flag that looked, to any human eye, as though it should have been removed. Had it been, they’d have been bronze medallists. Another huge moment for them in the Paris cycle? They qualified directly by finishing sixth at the 2022 World Championships – a huge step up from previous cycles in which they’d been forced to fight for the final tickets in the Nations Cup and Europeans qualifications routes.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? Sixth of ten. All four team members completed in those awful conditions, though only one horse returns for this team – that’s Amanda Staam’s Corpoubet.
Where will they end up? They’re down one serious heavy-hitter: Louise Romeike and the exceptional Caspian have been on the best form of the horse’s career this season, but like Ros Canter, Louise is sitting out the Europeans as she’s pregnant. We’ll miss seeing them, and the team will miss having them in their number – but it’s a great chance for new faces and young horses to gain experience ahead of the next three years of championships. Both Sofia Sjoborg and Frida Anderson bring forward championship debutants, though they themselves have masses of mileage, and there are two long-term partnerships in Christoffer and Hippo’s Sapporo and Amanda and the exciting Corpoubet. If they can ride their Paris high into this week, they should be aiming for as close to the podium as they can get, but certainly the top half of the field.
Chef d’equipe: Dominik Berger
Riders:
- Robin Godel and Global DHI
- Mélody Johner and Erin
- Nadja Minder and Toblerone
- Felix Vogg and Frieda
What’s their form like? Like Sweden and Belgium, they’re a nation that’s been on an upward trajectory over the last two Olympic cycles – though like both those nations, too, they only have four riders to bring this week, and no individual competitors, which is a shame and a missed opportunity to develop strength in depth. But: it is what it is! These things take time, and the Swiss have certainly been putting in the time. They really revolutionised their system pre-Tokyo, bringing in Andrew Nicholson to help them ride more assertively across the country, and over the last six years or so, we’ve seen them qualify directly for Paris at the 2022 World Championships, where they finished seventh, and take fourth place at the Olympics last year, too (though that is, in part, because they moved up a place after Belgium’s disqualification). They’re no longer showing up just to take part.
How’d they finish at the 2023 Europeans? A respectable fifth in the worst of conditions. The team was, rider-wise, exactly the same as we’re seeing this week – but only Nadja remains on the same horse as in Haras du Pin. Actually, the same can be said for at the 2022 Worlds, and last year in Paris, where Nadja was the travelling reserve, so the Swiss have certainly been focusing their efforts on creating a competitive, supportive dynamic between these four competitors so they can operate as a well-oiled machine at the championships.
Where will they end up? Though all four riders are very experienced team competitors, this year’s equine line-up feels quite developmental: Frieda and Erin are both debutant horses, and Global DHI has always been Robin’s second string horse behind Grandeur de Lully. Only Nadja feels top-string mounted, but this might all be quite tactical: finally, the Swiss don’t need to scramble, and they can use this year to build these horses ahead of their next round of major goals. With half the team on young horses, a podium finish feels a bit less likely, but as a nation, it’s time for them to elbow their way into a bronze.
THE OTHER NATIONS
Just nine countries bring forward teams this year, the same as in 2023 – but 17 in total will come forth this week, thanks to eight countries’ worth of individuals. At least one of these is a major surprise: the Netherlands fields just two individual competitors, rather than a full team, and the Czech Republic is one short of a team, too, with both the country’s Olympians sitting this week out. Turkey makes its first appearance at a Senior Eventing championship thanks to Kumru Say, and Norway pulls a new representative to the upper levels in British-based Yasmin Olsson Payne. Lithuania and Luxembourg boast one competitor apiece, as do Hungary – who had a late withdrawal, but initially had two – and Finland. Poland, who had a team at last year’s Olympics, will not take part in any capacity this year.
Of course, the squads above who have more than four riders listed will have to make a decision about which four will ride on the team, and who will compete as an individual – and those decisions will be made and announced on Wednesday. That’ll be a busy day of sport here at Blenheim: in the morning, we’ll see the draw of nations take place, followed by the horse inspection at 12.00 BST and the Opening Ceremony in the afternoon. Keep it locked on EN for everything you need to know as the 2025 Agria FEI European Eventing Championships get underway, and Go Eventing!
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