Piaff-Förderpreis inspection with competition test in Warendorf

For the second time since 2024, Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel (22) took part in the selection course for the Piaff-Förderpreis and this time she outshone all her competitors. Riding her self-trained Hanoverian mare First Vienna by Vitalis, Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel secured the U25 Grand Prix with 71.008 percent ahead of Fiona Serafina Lukas on Aragorn T (70.155) and Sophia Gerlach in the saddle on Amaru T (70.078).

Golden Girl

Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel has been a permanent fixture in German young dressage sport since 2016. She was twelve years young at the time when she won three European Championship gold medals with her pony Massimiliano. They repeated this success in 2017 and won team gold for the third time in 2018. In 2020, Baumgürtel broke the previous world record in the freestyle at a pony championship with Nasdaq and crowned the end of her U16 era with another three titles.

She was able to seamlessly build on her successes in the junior camp. Baumgürtel secured three gold medals at the U18 European Championships in 2021 with Hugo, who was once qualified for the Burg Pokal Final by Marcus Hermes. In 2022, she won team gold as well as silver and bronze in the individual competition for young riders. With Ferati, she won silver with the U21 team the following year. In 2024, she left the competition behind in all three competitions with Hugo. At her last U21 European Championships in Kronberg in 2025, she once again took gold with the team on Hugo and in the freestyle, the pair were only beaten by Lucie’s younger sister Lana-Pinou on Emma.

At the same time, Baumgürtel built up a horse for the grand tour with the ten-year-old Hanoverian mare First Vienna. She took over the mare in 2021 at the age of five. In 2022, the pair finished third in the final of the Bundeschampionat. The first advanced (S) level placings followed at the age of seven and in 2024 the pair were able to recommend themselves for the Nuremberg Burg Cup Final in Frankfurt.

Her career continued just as straightforward at S*** level with victories in Stars von Morgen qualifiers and numerous other placings.

The pair are now looking forward to their first Piaff Prize season together, after Lucie had already competed once with Damien Hirst in 2024.

Dream team from the Ländle

The pair in second place have also known each other for years: Fiona Serafina Lukas and Aragorn T. Unlike Baumgürtel, however, the 22-year-old from Baden-Württemberg does not have a medal list several meters long from her childhood. A year ago, she was awarded the Golden Riding Badge, which she is just as entitled to as her four-legged partner Aragorn T.

In 2018, Lukas, whose family runs a riding stable in Schönfeld, took over the then five-year-old Oldenburg gelding, an Ampere grandson by Antango out of a Rubin-Royal dam. From their first competition in a novice class dressage test for young horses (score: 7.0), the pair have gradually moved into the limelight at regional shows. In 2021, they competed at the German Junior Championships for the first time and finished tenth. In 2022, they celebrated their first advanced (S) level successes. In 2024, they competed at S*** level for the first time.

Last year, they also competed in the Piaff-Förderpreis inspection, but finished with 63.915 percent. As a result, they missed out on a ticket for the major tournaments in Mannheim, Balve etc. Instead, they were able to gain experience at three-star level at regional level and got better and better. Today they have passed another milestone on their journey together.

Hemmer’s model pupil

For 24-year-old Sophia Gerlach from Sauerland, this is the first time she has taken part in the Piaff-Förderpreis and it is her second season at three-star level. Her twelve-year-old Amaru is also an Ampere grandson, albeit Westphalian-bred out of a Fiano-Ehrentusch dam (breeder: Georg Fulhorst).

Amaru was five years old when he came to Sophia. Their first show together was a novice class dressage test, which they won with a score of 8.0. This was followed by their first elementary and medium (L) level successes until they ventured into the advanced class in 2022. In 2023, they took part in the German Young Rider Championships. By 2025, they had collected enough yellow ribbons at advanced (S) level to be awarded their Golden Riding Badge and, with this on the lapel of their tails, they ventured into the advanced (S***) class. With success, as we saw today.

Incidentally, the pair from Sauerland are trained by European team champion Katharina Hemmer.

An overview of the qualified pairs

A total of 13 pairs from the selection course were able to recommend themselves for the 2026 Piaff-Förderpreis season. In addition to the three mentioned, there are the following:

• Nele Klaus with Van Tastic (69.264 percent in the sighting test)
  
  > Nele is 19 years young and competes for the Berlin-Brandenburg state association. She rode her first E-level dressage test exactly ten years ago. In 2020, she won her first novice class dressage test with her current successful horse Van Tastic. The now ten-year-old gelding was only five years old at the time and was competing in his first show. Two years later, the pair were nominated for the German Junior Championships and had their first advanced level placings under their belts. Last year, Nele won DJM gold in the Young Riders category, albeit with her second horse Bonfire. She also presented Van Tastic 2025 in both of her first S*** tests and won several ribbons straight away. Today was the fifth S*** test.


• Anna Schölermann with First Romance (67,907)
  
  > Anna Schölermann is a rider at Hubertus Schmidt’s stables. With Springborgs Guardian (see below), who she trained, she became European Champion in the U25 Grand Prix last year, having already made a significant contribution to the team gold medal. Like Springborg’s Guardian, the nine-year-old First Romance belongs to the Kindler family and has been ridden by Celestine in the first dressage tests for young horses since 2022. Schölermann took over the riding of the Westphalian For Romance II son when he moved up to medium (M) level and supported him until he was ready for Grand Prix.


• Annabelle Josephine Steffens with Habouche (66.938)
  
  > The 24-year-old Annabelle is a horse farmer from Fritzlar in Hesse. One of the reasons she became famous was because she took over Hubertus Schmidt’s Imperio as a trainer in 2019 and also showed him at advanced (S) level under Schmidt’s aegis, but not for long before the stallion returned to the main and state stud in Schwaiganger. Steffens took the step towards S*** with her current partner Habouche, who incidentally is a direct Ampere daughter. The grey mare had been trained in Great Britain and presented internationally by Anna Ross, including at the CHIO Aachen 2024, before joining Steffens last year.


• Henriette Schmidt with Feengold (66.628)
  
  > The 24-year-old comes from Naumburg in Saxony-Anhalt and was nominated for the Piaff-Förderpreis last year with her second horse, Freundschaft. While she has been competing at S*** level with this horse for several years, she only took over the eleven-year-old Hanoverian mare Feengold by Fürst Romancier from Ronald Lüders in the middle of last year, who trained her up to S*** level and presented her successfully. Today was only the third show with piaffe and passage for the pair.


• Lynn Greta Suckow with DSP Dun Dee (66.628)
  
  > 2026 will be the first Piaff-Förderpreis year for the 21-year-old Rhinelander. The 13-year-old Württemberg Dimaggio son DSP Dun Dee was the first horse she rode in advanced (S***) level competitions. The gelding was previously successful at Grand Prix level with his trainer Alexandra Sessler. Suckow got him under the saddle last year and has already won several ribbons in Intermédiaire and short Grand Prix competitions with him.


• Vanessa Sachs with Bright Diamond NRW (66.279)
  
  > Vanessa Sachs, 23, is flying the Bavarian flag in the 2026 Piaff Prize. She is also a new face on the circuit. She only rode her first advanced (S) level tests two years ago. At that time, she already had the 14-year-old Westphalian Bordeaux son Bright Diamond NRW under the saddle. He had been trained from the ground up by Natascha Hülsey and was winning at advanced (S***) level when Sachs took him on in 2024. They then competed in the U25 tour in 2025, placing internationally in Ornago and at the Bavarian Championships. Today was their first start in 2026.


• Franziska Haase with Livorno (65.698)
  
  > The 22-year-old from Schleswig-Holstein is a familiar face in the Piaff-Förderpreis. She was third in the final in 2024 and also took part last year, albeit in the saddle of De Nino, with whom she also competed in the series last year. Instead of the now 18-year-old professor, she now has a newcomer in the race with the eleven-year-old Livorno. The Hanoverian Livaldon son has been with Haase for six years, who presented him as a five, six and seven-year-old at the Bundeschampionat and ventured into his first S*** competitions last year.


• Celestine Kindler with Springborgs Guardian (65,310)
  
  > The 22-year-old Kindler is actually from Bavaria, but trains at Hubertus Schmidt’s stables. In 2023, she took over the former World Championships dressage horse competitor and Bundeschampionat medal winner Quotenkönig, with whom she celebrated numerous fine advanced (S) level successes and who she also presented at Grand Prix level last year. Springborg’s Guardian has belonged to the Kindler family for a long time and Celestine initially presented him herself up to medium (M) level. The twelve-year-old Danish Hotline son then made the step up to advanced level and beyond with Anna Schölermann, see above.


• Marie Sohler with Queolito (65,116)
  
  > At the age of 18, Marie, who was also born in Bavaria, is the youngest participant in the starting field. She was European Junior Champion in 2024 with the former dressage horse world champion Global Player OLD. For the step towards the U25 camp, she has been given Queolito by Quaterhall, who has already been successful at international Grand Prix level. The 14-year-old Hanoverian was trained by Nicole Kudernak and was presented in the 2022 Louisdor Prize Final, among others. He then went to Bianca Nowag-Aulenbrock in 2023, who rode him until 2025 before he went to Sohler. Until then, she had worked with the Werndls in Aubenhausen, but has been training with Nowag-Aulenbrock ever since.


• Isabelle Rüdiger with Florestino (65.0)
  
  > The 22-year-old Isabelle Rüdiger comes from Immenhausen in Hesse. This will also be her first Piaff-Förderpreis season. She has had the Hanoverian Floriscount son Florestino (14) under the saddle since 2020. Back then, she rode him at medium level. A year later, they competed in their first advanced (S) level dressage test, and in 2025 in their first tests with piaffe and passage.

Henri Schamburg and Lordswood Dancing Diamond, the former Bundeschampion and World Champion of Young Dressage Horses, who competed with Schamburg for the first time under show conditions after a four-year absence, were unable to recommend themselves. The pair came last this time with 61.667 percent.

Members of the U25 squad are eligible to take part anyway:

• Luca Sophia Collin with Bonamour


• Pia-Carlotta Gagel with Riccio


• Anna Schölermann with Bon Scolari and Superstar


• Katharina Schuster with Qence L


• Moritz Treffinger with Cadeau Noir, Fiderdance and Morricone


• Elisabeth von Wulffen with Triple A and Vis a Vis

These are the stages of the 2026 Piaff Prize

• 29.04.-05.05.2026 Mannheim


• 04.-07.06.2026 Balve (DM U25) with freestyle


• 30.07.-02.08.2026 Elmlohe


• 04.-06.09.2026 Anakenenhof, Pinneberg


• 02.-06.12.2026 Aachen – Final

Incidentally, the winner of the 2025 final was Moritz Treffinger, who also became European U25 champion and is now looking forward to his first World Cup final. We visited him today. More of this soon.