Hoped for almost 27 hours – and won
After a very long wait of 26 hours and 57 minutes, Rose Oatley had her seventh European Championship gold medal hanging around her neck at the FEI European Dressage Junior Championships at Schafhof. There were 26 hours and 57 minutes between the announcement of their own result and the last one after 70 participants in the junior individual task, the prize from peiker CEE GmbH.
“For more than a day I was just hoping that it would all work out for me in the end,” the 16-year-old admits with a laugh. “Sommi (Sommernacht) was so focused in the test yesterday, I actually just had to ride through it. I really didn’t expect that I would be here at the top of the podium.” With a personal best result of 78.030 percent, the daughter of four-time Olympian Kristy Oatley secured her first individual medal in the junior class, the gold medal, with her eight-year-old mare Sommernacht.
In 2021, Rose and Daddy Moon became three-time European champion pony riders, and a year earlier it was team gold. Last year she was part of the golden junior team with Veneno, two days ago there was another team gold medal at the Schafhof and now the individual gold medal. Rose's biggest fan and co-owner of her champion mare Sommernacht, grandmother Rosalind, came from Australia. “The other part of Summer Night belongs to my great-grandmother Valerie Oatley,” Rose announces, beaming. This gold medal was an absolute family success.
The silver medal went to Allegra Schmitz-Morkramer and the eleven-year-old stallion Libertad. “On Thursday we still had our problems in the arena because Libertad was a bit scared,” says the silver winner. “Today he was super motivated but focused at the same time. He is a rather shy horse to deal with and you don't even think that he is a stallion. But in the arena he flips the switch and is there.” As with the winner, everyone agreed on the ranking of the vice-European champion and awarded a score of 76.794 percent. The 17-year-old already won double gold at the Junior European Championships last year, where she was also in the saddle of Londontime's son. In 2019 she came home with triple gold from the European Children's Championships, and one year she already won team gold with the juniors - in these two years she sat on Lavissaro.
With 74.088 percent, Lana-Pinou Baumgurt and her nine-year-old Emma landed in bronze. “Emma is still a very young horse,” sums up the 18-year-old. “We have had them since 2021 and I immediately got off with a smile after my first ride. She performed great today, I’m very proud of her.”
European Junior Dressage Championships have been held since 1973. For the 29th time in Kronberg the individual gold medal went to a German couple. For the seventh time, the German dressage juniors have occupied the entire podium. Since 2001, Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen has been responsible for the U18 riders as national coach; under his aegis alone, all medals in the individual competition went to his protégés for the fourth time.
Splinters on the edge:
Stallion owner Ingo Pape was also a guest in Kronberg and beamed - for two reasons: he is the breeder of the victorious Sommernacht and co-owner of the second-placed Libertad.
The medal ladies' outlook on the European Freestyle
Rose Oatley: “We have a really great Robin Hood freestyle, my mother and I chose the music together. Tomorrow I’ll be riding this freestyle for the first time and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Allegra Schmitz-Morkramer: “My freestyle has no special motto, the music just fits the horse perfectly. My mother helped me a lot with the freestyle, she does have a little say, after all, Libertad belongs to her (laughs).”
Lana-Pinou: Our freestyle is based on the style of the 80s and also contains a lot of my own favorite music. In addition, a friend of our family did the freestyle for us, so it really is a real family project.
Organizer trio very satisfied
After four out of five days of the European Championship or after eight out of nine tournament days, if you include last week's four-star tournament, the organizing family Linsenhoff-Rath draws its first conclusion.
It is the fourth European Youth Championship to be held at the Schafhof - after the European Championships in 1981 and 1984, the married couple Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff and Klaus-Martin Rath were in charge of the tournament for the first time at Euro 2010. In 2023, responsibility for the European Championship was in the hands of Matthias Alexander Rath for the first time. The 38-year-old father of three was happy about the sporting achievements of the U18 and U14 riders, but also enjoyed - or even a little more - the happy togetherness among the riders from 28 nations. “Of course, the super strong performances of the young German riders are particularly impressive, but we also saw many other nations that showed great tests: Denmark, Great Britain, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, France - a lot of nations had and still have really good pairs at the start here. This promotes our sport immensely. In addition, the way the nations treat each other is simply great. We're meeting in the stable tent for a cross-national barbecue at the truck parking lot and I've already seen one or two creative Tik-Tok videos," says Rath happily. “And the nations evening was an absolute highlight for me. I was really happy about the exuberant atmosphere, including the pool party in our fountain, and it once again highlighted the spirit of a European Championship.” Of course, two weeks of the tournament in a row are exhausting, the construction started three weeks ago, “...but we really have a great team that pulled together from the start. So the event has been running really smoothly so far.”
Rath has full support in his actions from his own family. Stepmother Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff beams when she thinks about the past few days: “I am particularly happy about the great cooperation between the nations. At the Nations Evening, all countries put on a small performance and brought typical food and drinks with them. That was great. We didn't actually plan a party afterward, but it ended up being a very lively party (laughs)."
The handing over of the baton had particular meaning, not least for father Klaus-Martin Rath: “It is of course always difficult when the parents create a big event and the children then have to continue it. You can't force your children to pursue this lifelong dream. Luckily, Matthias wanted this from the start and the event is a complete success. And he also applied for the U21 and U25 European Championships in two years and was accepted. I think that’s great.”
(KiK/pe&pa)