Leni-Sophie Gosmann Wins Her First Individual Title at the European Pony Championships in Le Mans

Yesterday, Leni-Sophie Gosmann had already taken the lead in the FEI Individual Pony Dressage Test at the European Championships in Le Mans with her long-time partner, Diamantini EA WE. And since she had already outperformed her toughest competitors on that occasion, it wasn’t really to be expected that the order at the top of the standings would change much today after the second half of the riders had competed. And indeed, it didn’t. Gosmann won her first individual gold medal in her third and final European Championship appearance in the pony division.

With a score of 75.567 percent, she relegated Denmark’s Filippa Jæger Jensen, riding Sir Sansibar, to second place (75.514). In her first European Championship, Lilly Kasselmann took home the bronze medal on Nasdaq FH (74.919).

For the other two German team riders, Victoria Winkmann on Peach and Lilli von Helldorff on Nabucco HW, the question was also which of the two would advance to the freestyle tomorrow as the third German pair. In the team competition, Victoria and Peach were still the discard score. But today they turned the tables. With a score of 74.432 percent, they secured fifth place behind Steffanie Victoria Horsted Dyrlund on Cosmo Callidus, thereby earning a spot in tomorrow’s final medal round in the arena.

Lilli von Helldorff and Nabucco also delivered a strong performance, but with a score of 73.081 percent, they had to settle for sixth place and will be cheering on their teammates from the stands tomorrow.

Versatility – Two Bronze Medals Within Reach

The day at Le Mans began this morning at 8:30 a.m. with the European Eventing Championships. The German team’s lead after the dressage was razor-thin, and today they lost it in the cross-country. Or, to put it another way, they held on to a medal position.

From Germany’s perspective, the competition got off to an inauspicious start with the elimination of Justus Hayessen and Miss Windsor. At obstacle four, the pair refused to jump. Justus fell at jump 5b. That marked the end of the competition for them. After that, all the pressure was on the three remaining pairs, and they all fought their way through to the finish.

Anna von Helldorff and Marlon did the best job of this. After the dressage, the pair was still in 16th place. With a fast, clear cross-country ride—which resulted in only 2.4 penalty points for exceeding the time limit—they moved up 13 places to take the bronze medal. A valuable result for the team!

Lea Brügger and Golden Girl’s Nelly were in the lead after the dressage and were lightning-fast on the cross-country course today, but they had a rider pass them, resulting in 20 penalty points. That cost them dearly. They are currently in 19th place.

The third German team leader, Charlotte Eilers riding Nadeshi, was in 11th place after the dressage and played it safe in the cross-country. As a result, she finished without any jumping faults but with eight time faults. They are now in 13th place, making them the second-best German pair in the overall standings.

Individual rider Greta Marie Löhr, who had delivered a fantastic dressage performance on her horse Rathcline Dream (finishing third with 27.1 penalty points), crossed the finish line without any jumping faults but with 23 penalty points for exceeding the time limit. That currently puts her in 22nd place.

The second individual rider, Franziska Niehoff riding Metallica SGN, had refusals on the first element of both the Complex 7 and Complex 16, but managed to finish the course.

Team Standings

France had already been lying in wait after the dressage and, following today’s cross-country stage, managed to work its way to the top of the field with 108.5 penalty points.

However, Team Tricolore cannot afford a single jumping error if the Irish ride a clear round. The quartet from the Emerald Isle (though one of their team riders was also eliminated in the cross-country) is hot on France’s heels with 111.8 penalty points.

The German team trails the teams ahead of it by a much wider margin. With 120.2 penalty points, the bronze medal is currently within reach. However, they also have a comfortable lead over the fourth-place British team, which finished the course with 147.4 penalty points.

You can find all the results from Le Mans here.