Children Win Their Fourth Team Gold Medal at the European Dressage Championships for Young Riders in Olomouc

Fourth team title, fourth gold medal for Germany at the 2026 European Junior and Young Rider Dressage Championships. Following the U21 and U25 teams in Pilisjaszfalu, the juniors were the first to win European titles in Olomouc, and today the children followed suit.

Team ranking

Even after the warm-up round, it was clear that the toughest competition for German riders aged 12 to 14 on full-size horses would come from Belgium. But even though it was a Belgian rider who won the individual classification in the team event, in the team standings there was no getting past the German quartet, which prevailed with 234.093 percent over Belgium (229.142) and Great Britain (226.751) percent.

The Danes, who are usually so strong, did not field a team. Compared to the European Junior and Young Rider Championships, the Children’s category is still a relatively new age group. The first European Championship for U14 riders was held in 2015. Germany fielded a team for the first time in 2018 and has since won gold three times—including for the third time in 2026, marking a major success for the team.

The Individual Results

The riding performance (seat, control, precision, overall impression) was judged by Maarten van der Heijden and Alban Tissot. Three other judges awarded individual scores for the technical execution of the L-level test, which included, among other things, extending the circle at a trot.

Against this backdrop, Linda Schuchmann (14) in particular stood out among the German team with her eight-year-old Fürstenball son, Figo des Hallers. The judges in Group E awarded her 87.750 percent, bringing her total score to 80.009 percent. That was the second-best overall result. The pair still has room for improvement in terms of posture, but otherwise they delivered a very beautiful, harmonious performance.

Cecilie Marie Hohl (14) rides Saluna W OLD, a daughter of Secret who is only seven years old. The judges awarded Cecilie a score of 84.250 percent for her riding performance. She, too, delivered a harmonious performance with good seat and subtle yet effective aids. There were two minor mistakes in the test. During the short turn, the mare failed to follow once, and during the second simple serpentine at a canter, she briefly dropped into a trot; otherwise, it was a mature performance that earned them 77.525 percent, placing them fourth.

Antonia Hausmeyer, just 13 years old, presented her charming chestnut gelding, Gentle van Wittenstein, in a wonderfully even trot with excellent contact. She still has some work to do on collection in the canter. In the second simple line of figures, Gentle briefly lost his balance and stumbled. That cost her points, but the judges still awarded her 83.250 percent for the rest of the test, bringing her total to 76.559 percent and placing her seventh.

Jasper Rasche, riding Limoncello—a son of Lord Loxley—was the unlucky one in the group. Jasper, who isn’t quite 13 yet, sits very low and supple in the saddle, completely independent of the reins, and rides with great sensitivity—which is also the reason he managed to complete the course today at all. His horse, Limoncello, apparently had his tongue over the bit during the first half of the test. In any case, he kept sticking it far out of his mouth every now and then. With admirable composure and great skill, he guided his gelding through the test, and after the walk sequence, the problem seemed to have largely resolved itself, allowing the pair to present a few highlights in the canter, such as the simple changes. All in all, however, today’s result was a low score of 68.692 percent and 27th place.

Future Champions Flashback

Just as at the final European Championship qualifier, the Future Champions in Hagen, it was once again the daughter of Polish Olympic rider Sandra Sysojeva (Maxima Bella), competing for Belgium, Emilija Rucinskaite, riding her eight-year-old KWPN gelding Nice Guy, who left the competition in the dust. Riding her powerful Just Wimphof son, she scored 81.850 percent, with 89.50 percent for her riding performance.

You can find all the results here.