Decision in the eventing competition at the European Pony Championships in Le Mans, featuring a challenging jumping course and a bronze medal for Germany

France ahead of Ireland ahead of Germany—that was the ranking in the eventing competition at the European Pony Championships in Le Mans yesterday after the cross-country, and it remained the same today after the show jumping. Although there were still a few challenges to overcome here.

Double Gold for the Hosts

The French riders were the most successful in this regard, adding twelve penalty points to their 108.5 penalty points after the cross-country. Emilie Aunax on Uriel de Tassine (47.7, 14th place) knocked down two poles, while Louane Achard on Hold Up Graviere (24.0, 7th place) knocked down one. Noa Pelle and Gin GT La Templerie remained clear of faults.

The 16-year-old and his stallion—ten years his junior—were thus able to celebrate a gold medal at their first and last European Championships together. They started the cross-country in second place with 26.8 penalty points after the dressage, incurred only four time penalties there—which turned out to be a fast time—and went on to cross the finish line today.

The French gold medal team was rounded out by Lou Cravedi and Celeste du Montier, who were the lowest-scoring riders in all three phases but still finished the course.

Silver for Ireland

France remained the only team that did not suffer any “losses” on the cross-country course. All other teams had at least one pair that was eliminated. For the Irish, that pair was Kitty Cullen on Greenaun Russel. But the talented riders from the Emerald Isle proved to be strong on the course. Lillymai Walsh, riding Chapel Hill Dark Spark, started 21st in the cross-country and finished the competition in fourth place after just six time penalties and a flawless jumping round.

Anna Radford and Essenar Double Dutch had worked their way up from ninth place after the dressage—with just 3.6 time penalties—to second place yesterday, and were able to defend that position today with a clear round in the jumping. Last year, the pair competed for the first time at the European Championships in Le Mans, finishing 27th after a refusal during the cross-country. Today, they stood on the podium.

The twelve penalty points that Ireland earned today were scored by Tadgh O’Haire riding Ballinagore Hero, who finished the tournament in 18th place.

The Irish team’s total score was thus 123.8 penalty points.

Bronze for Germany

If Germany’s penalty score had remained at 120.2 after yesterday’s competition, there would theoretically have been a chance to overtake Ireland. But the remaining trio incurred 24 faults on the course following Justus Hayessen’s elimination on Miss Windsor. Charlotte Eilers and Nadeshi accumulated eight penalty points (47.7, 15th place).

Anna von Helldorff must be incredibly disappointed; she and her horse Marlon were in third place and in medal contention after a fantastic cross-country ride. But 16 faults dashed their dreams of a podium finish. They ended up in 19th place.

Only Lea Brügger and Golden Girl’s Nelly finished without any faults, moving up to tenth place despite a refusal in the cross-country section. This made them the team’s top pair.

The bronze medal in the individual competition went instead to Italian rider Isabella Giovannoni on Clonberne Leedy, with 39.2 penalty points. Isabella is 16, so she’s also in her final year of pony competition. Le Mans was her first appearance at the European Championships—a huge success!

The two German individual riders, Greta Marie Löhr riding Rathcline Dream and Franziska Niehoff riding Metallica SGN, both had one knockdown on the course and finished 20th and 33rd, respectively, in the overall standings.

Show Jumping: The British and Irish Are in a League of Their Own

Just as Germany—and Denmark, to a lesser extent—dominated the action in the dressage arena at Le Mans, the Irish and British riders were equally dominant on the show jumping course. With only one finalist and last place in the team standings, Germany still has some catching up to do.

The new European champion in pony show jumping comes from Great Britain and is named Sophia Rogers. Riding her pony Neil, she completed the course twice without any faults in the individual final, securing the individual gold medal to go along with her team gold.

However, she benefited from a mistake by her closest competitor: Ireland’s Ted Fagan, who had started the tournament with his horse Ballyfore Rosie as the winner of the speed jumping class with a perfect score of zero penalty points and managed to maintain that score until the final course. But there, a rail came down. As a result, just as in the team competition, she took home the silver medal.

Lucia, Nicole, Caroline, and Holly Blue—another British duo—were delighted to take home the bronze. They, too, finished the European Championships with a perfect record in terms of jumping faults.

Henry Leggott and Blossom’s Big Calm secured fourth place for Great Britain. Behind them were the two Irish team riders, Sam Widger on BP Bon Jovi and Charlie Flynn riding Montana, followed by another British duo, Raphaela Dawson and Woody Allen van Duyversputten. What a triumphant run by the riders from the British Isles!

The only German rider to make it to the individual final was Janne Neumann, riding Hegerie de Lanlore. The pair put up a valiant effort and finished in 15th place.

You can find all the results from Le Mans here.