42nd European Championship gold for the German U21 riders
The German U21 women's quartet has won gold. At the FEI European Young Riders Championships at the Schafhof in Kronberg, the German team secured victory in the Prize of iWEST-Tierernährung Dr Meyer GmbH & Co KG with 217.029 percentage points, the 42nd team gold in the history of the European Championships. Silver went to Team Netherlands with 215.853 and the bronze medallists were the Danes with 212.206 percentage points.
"It was really exciting right down to the last horse," said show director Matthias Rath, rubbing his hands in delight. "The last rider had gold or silver in her hand - wow - that was exciting for everyone: spectators, riders and, of course, the judges." But in the end, Team Germany won with a cohesive performance, with all four riders scoring over 70 per cent. "We experienced some really great sport!"
Gold for Germany
The team manager of the gold team, Cornelia Albrecht, was beaming: "We had very reliable partners in our team and also a new pairing with Rose and Don Domingo. They all put in great performances and that makes me proud." And then the team boss added: "I am also particularly pleased that our national coach Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen has once again done a fantastic job. That is the basis for this success." Team Netherlands emerged from day one as the overnight leader - did that give them an 'extra tingle'? "If it did, the young people didn't let it show, but I was tingling," laughs Albrecht.
Celestine Kindler on Quotenkönig and Rose Oatley on Don Domingo had already collected points for the home team on day one. Celestine set a new personal best with 70.765 per cent points, while Rose scored 70.382 per cent - paving the way for day two.
"That was incredibly great for her and for the horse," said the national coach enthusiastically after Lana-Pinou Baumgürtel's ride. The 20-year-old was the third team rider to enter the arena for the German young rider team and completed a clear round at a very high level. With 74.294 per cent, she not only came out on top of the field, she also surpassed herself by setting a new personal best. "I was very pleased that they were able to show an even calmer and more collected canter. That was great," praised Meyer zu Strohen.
The final rider for the German team was Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel and ZINQ Hugo FH. "Lucie is extremely strict with herself," summarised Meyer zu Strohen. "The preparation for her test went perfectly, she had a very good feeling. In the test, she had incredible highlights - especially in the canter pirouettes. In the flying changes, she lost a little bit of support in the horse, which resulted in one mistake. Otherwise it was perfect riding, super contact and a top seat." And what does the national coach have to say about the team's overall performance on the two team days: "We are very satisfied all round."
Silver for the Netherlands
"Super, super, I'm super proud of my girls," Dutch team manager Monique Peutz-Vegter gushed after winning the silver medal. "They rode so well and there was a real team spirit. I'm incredibly happy!" It was close, gold would still have been possible on the last ride. "Yes, I've heard that it was close, but I don't want to do the maths. I'm here for the children and want to help them ride as well as possible - that's important. And then we'll see what comes out in the end."
Anniek van Dulst and Micky Schelstraete had laid the foundations for the Dutch success on day one. The 20-year-old Anniek had delivered the best score of 71.853 percentage points on the day with My First Choice-Dutopia, while the 20-year-old Micky achieved 70.618 percentage points with Venicia OLD.
18-year-old Yasmin Westerink and 13-year-old Amphitryon OLD - the pair were highly successful at the 2024 European Junior Championships, winning team bronze, individual bronze and freestyle silver. This year, they have now celebrated their young rider premiere and with success. With an uncertain opening salute and a somewhat shaky walk, but otherwise plenty of highlights, Yasmin scored 70.794 percent and thus contributed a valuable result for the team. Final rider Tessa Kole would have had to score 74.383 percentage points to deny the German team the gold medal. And she was not far away. In the end it was 73.206 percent, a personal best and the second best result of all 54 participants. And this despite the fact that Tessa's Everdale son Hexagon's Nachtwacht is just seven years old, having been trained by herself. The 20-year-old Tessa was already part of the Dutch silver team at last year's European Young Rider Championships, back then still in the saddle of Hexagon's King Robert, with whom she also secured freestyle silver.
Bronze for Denmark
Team Denmark with team manager Jeanett Andreasaen was under particular pressure because they were only competing with three team riders, so they could not afford to drop a result. “We were already one down before the competition even started,” Andreasaen looked back. One of the team's horses was not fully fit on site. "None of our three riders had ever ridden in an U21 European Championships, and for one of them it was the first European Championships ever. They are all still pretty ‘green’ in this area. So, we are very happy."
Michella Skovsager started day one with 69.853 percent on Blue Hors Elliott. The 19-year-old was part of the Danish silver team in the juniors last year with Blue Hors Zampalo. Anna Teibel Raben started day two for the Danes - one day after her 19th birthday - with an extremely successful round on the eight-year-old Sparaday: 72.559 percent. These two are also competing in the Young Riders for the first time and were Michella's silver team colleagues in 2024.
Julie Dam Jensen on Finale Melody was the team's final rider to complete the Danish European Championship package. In her absolute European Championship premiere, Julie delivered a fantastic trot tour, but then had to record a few faults and ended up with 69.794 percent.
'Silver wedding anniversary' for Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen
National coach Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen has been in charge of the German young riders' team since 2001. This means that at the European Championships in Kronberg, he celebrated his ‘silver wedding anniversary’ with the U21 riders and crowned this jubilee once again with team gold. Under his aegis alone, the U21 team has won gold 17 times and silver eight times. What an incredible record. The passion, empathy and expertise of this man are exemplary!