Introduction of the German Contenders at the World Championships for Young Eventing Horses in Lion d'Angers

It has been four years since a German pair last won a medal at the World Championships for Young Eventing Horses. In 2022, Anna Lena Schaaf and her Oldenburg mare Lagona OLD successfully defended their title. The mare was sold afterward, and little has been heard from her since. Last year, the Hanoverian Helios, ridden by Lara de Liedekerke-Meier, took the silver medal in the seven-year-old class, though he competed under the Belgian flag. This year, 13 German pairs qualified for the World Championships in Lion d’Angers, France, which begin on Wednesday.

Six-Year-Olds

The six-year-olds will compete in a CCI2*-L in Lion d’Angers. To qualify for this event, riders must have placed in a CCI2*-S competition, with the horses having completed the cross-country course without any jumping faults and having no more than one knockdown in the show jumping. Eight German pairs are now on the list of “nominated entries” for 2026:

Ann-Catrin Bierlein with Daisy Dynamite

Daisy Dynamite is a Westphalian daughter of Diacontinus out of a Casall-Polydor dam. The mare’s breeder and owner is veterinarian Dr. Rolf Wilcken, the grandfather of Ann-Catrin Bierlein, who watched Daisy Dynamite grow up. The gray mare competed in her first shows last year, first under the Italian rider Paolo Mario de Simone, then under Bierlein, who, as is well known, also U25 World Championship Silver Medal who had won with the team and had already enjoyed success with ACSI Diacondiva in Lion d’Angers in previous years. Bierlein placed Daisy Dynamite 2025 fourth at the Bundeschampionat, and they would have been in the finals this year as well, though they did not compete here. The mare earned the necessary international results in Arville and Langenhagen, where she placed fourth in dressage on both occasions and improved her dressage score by three percent between the first and second events.

Andreas Dibowski with Codero

The Holsteiner Codero is by Corfu de la Vie out of a Rocadero-Sacramento Song xx dam. This representative of the “Cardento and Quintender line” was bred by Thorsten Groeneveld, and is owned by the Dibowski family’s Irenenhof stud farm. Codero also competed in last year’s Bundeschampionat final, finishing in 15th place. This year, in five starts, he secured three top-ten finishes in CCI2*-S. On two occasions, he completed the course based on his dressage score. His current best score in the dressage arena is 32.6 penalty points.

Alina Dibowski with MaMa’s Vaiana

The first name “MaMa” of the Hanoverian mare Vaiana, bred by Mareike Leers-Schreiber, is derived from her owners, the “MaMa’s Breeding Association.” This daughter of Vidar (dam of El Bundy) also grew up in the Dibowski family’s stable and developed into a competitive horse. Last year, Alina Dibowski, the 2022 World Championship individual rider, rode her from Class E cross-country to the Bundeschampionat final, where they qualified in ninth place. This year, they competed in six CCI2* events, achieving their best result of the season so far with a 13th-place finish at the Lion d’Angers dressage test, the CCI2*-L in Strzegom last weekend. That was also the first time the mare had no knockdowns on the course. Otherwise, they had accumulated four penalty points each time.

Felix Etzel with Royal Novellist

Royal Novellist is a son of Rocky Lee, a dressage sire with a distinguished bloodline, out of a Thoroughbred dam. Ferdinand Leve, an architect from Warendorf who also breeds and keeps Thoroughbreds, is the breeder and owner. Felix Etzel has been riding the Hanoverian since his first eventing competition; he competed with him at the Bundeschampionat in 2025 and introduced him to his first international tournaments this year. Their best result so far was 14th place in Ostbevern in May.

Sven Lux with Berlioz TSF

Michael Jung’s stable rider, Sven Lux, has two horses in the running among the six-year-olds. A major prospect is the Trakehner stallion Berlioz by Zauberdeyk out of Berlinale by Heuberger-Suchard, from the highly successful Sylvia line, who is being trained by Monika Mittermeyer. Notable offspring include the international show jumper Balisto, owned by Judy-Ann Melchior; Balsamico, who competed successfully up to Inter I level and later won European Championship gold for Germany in the Children’s class; the licensed stallion Blancor; Basmati, who competed successfully up to CCI4* level; and many others. The Marbach State Stud secured these genes early on, placing the stallion in training with Lux after he achieved his first competition successes in 2024 with stud owner Eva-Maria Lühr. Last year, he was the Trakehner cross-country champion and placed sixth at the National Championships. This year, Lux focused on international competition with him and placed him in the top ten three times in four CCI2* starts—even though they never completed a clear round. However, in four out of five starts, they finished with zero penalties and within the time limit on the cross-country course and almost always posted a dressage score under 30.

Sven Lux with De Johnny

Lux’s second horse is the licensed Holsteiner half-blood De Johnny, who combines the world’s best cross-country sire, Diarado, on his sire’s side with a Thoroughbred dam. Berenice Weber is the breeder and owner. Unlike Berlioz, De Johnny has only been competing with Sven Lux in the saddle since this season. Previously, he was ridden by Lena Reinstorf, who managed to advance with him to the finals of the Bundeschampionat in 2025. Lux has competed the stallion twice at the CCI2* level so far, including once in a young horse class. In both cross-country rounds, he completed the course without any jumping faults, but he did incur four penalty points in jumping on each start.

Anna Lena Schaaf with Barcley FRH

Anna Lena

Schaaf, the former two-time world champion (see above) and multiple medalist at the junior level, now works as a trainer for Felix Vogg in action. However, she once again qualified for Lion d’Angers with a horse from the successful breeding program of her grandfather, Gerd Neukäter: the Hanoverian Barcley FRH by Buster Moon-Cascadello. Like so many horses before him, Schaaf trained him herself from the ground up, with the title at the 2025 Bundeschampionat marking the highlight of their career together so far. The pair skipped the young horse competition in Warendorf this year. Instead, Schaaf competed internationally with her promising young horse. They won one CCI1* Intro event and placed third in another. At the two-star level, their best result was fifth place in July in Avenches. In the four competitions where they completed the cross-country course without any jumping faults, they were among the leaders every time. However, they also had three instances of a horse running past a fence. On the jumping course, Barcley proved to be a reliable clear-round jumper. Only during the dress rehearsal in Wesel did two poles fall.

Jandrik Markus Tech with Equitech’s Diacello FRH

Monika and Carsten Tech have produced two World Championship qualifiers from their own stable: their son Jandrik Markus and his four-legged partner, Equitech’s Diacello FRH by Diamant de Plaisir. Jandrik Markus Tech owes his first international eventing successes to the dam of the World Championship contender, Roccella by Rabino. Riding Diacello, he placed twelfth at the 2025 National Championships and sensationally won bronze this year. The pair also demonstrated just how well they’re in form last weekend in Strzegom, where they finished fifth in the CCI2*-L with their dressage score.

Update

The FEI has since updated the list of nominated entries for the six-year-olds. Three pairs remain from Germany: Ann-Catrin Bierlein with Daisy Dynamite, Andreas Dibowski with Codero, and Sven Lux with Berlioz.

Seven-Year-Olds

The seven-year-olds must meet two minimum requirements. They must each have completed at least one CCI2*-L and one CCI3*-S event without any jumping faults in the cross-country and with a maximum of four penalty points. In Lion d’Angers, they will then compete in a CCI3*-L event. Five pairs from Germany have made the cut.

Caro Hoffrichter with Archie CC

Germany’s team in the seven-year-old division is led by the German Amateur Champions, Caro Hoffrichter and Archie CC by Alaba-Lancer II. The two are a well-coordinated team. Archie was bred by the family. The Düsseldorf-based attorney had already enjoyed success in cross-country with Archie’s dam. As a five-year-old, Archie won bronze at the Bundeschampionat, and this year he was successful not only at the DAM in Langenhagen at the CCI3* level, but also previously in Strzegom.

Ben Leuwer with Alf PH

Ben Leuwer is having a great season with his young horses. Road2LA candidate Zuccini placed second in the CCI4*-L in Strzegom last weekend. And now she’s heading to the World Championships with Alf PH, a Hanoverian also descended from Alaba (breeder and owner: Katrin Ackermans-Voelkel). Until her maternity leave, Pia Leuwer was still riding the dark chestnut and competed him at tournaments alongside Johanna Voelkel-Hinrichs. The latter placed third with him at the 2025 German Amateur Eventing Championship. Pia Leuwer rode the gelding to sixth place at the National Championships in 2024. Now it’s off to the World Championships with Ben Leuwer. The pair has earned their spot with, among other things, a fourth-place finish in the CCI2*-L at Saulieu, where they were able to complete the course based on their dressage score. Their best CCI3* result was 10th place in Strzegom at the end of July.

Christin Schulz with Heho Dennis

Christin Schulz, from Schleswig-Holstein, qualified a representative of a highly prominent eventing bloodline for Lion d’Angers with the Hanoverian Heho Dennis (by D’Olympic). This is the dam line that produced Ingrid Klimke’s Olympic champion Butts Abraxxas. And the CCI5*-L hero of Luhmühlen, Aspen T. Doja Hacker is the breeder of Heho Dennis; she combined the Thoroughbred genes of the dam’s line with those of the Redefiner state stud stallion D’Olympic on the sire’s side—which carries Donnerhall and Cor de la Bryère blood—and added top show jumping genetics through Canstakko by Canturo. The result of these breeding efforts was successfully presented by Christin Schulz in her first eventing competitions in 2024. In 2025, the pair competed at the Bundeschampionat and gained their first international experience. They were able to build on that this year with, among other things, a sixth-place finish in the CCI2*-L in Sahrendorf and a three-star qualifying result in Hamm. On cross-country, the gelding had trouble with a jump only once—during his debut. Otherwise, he always cleared the course. On the show jumping course, the record isn’t quite as good: two clear rounds out of eight starts.

Anna Siemer with Eliope

Anna Siemer is also a regular supplier of Lion d’Angers horses. This year, she is presenting the Estonian Trakehner mare Eliope, a daughter of Chromas, who has enjoyed success at the 1.60-meter level. Andres Kiieve from Estonia is Eliope’s breeder and sold her as a foal through an online auction. Today, Reitsport und Pferdezucht Klüter is listed as the owner. The mare made her debut in show jumping classes at age four under Katrin Metz. Anna Siemer has been competing her since early 2025. In their first season, the pair competed in four CCI1* events and finished in the top ten twice. This year, among other achievements, they placed third in the CCI2*-L in Westerstede and secured their World Championship berth with a 13th-place finish at the CCI3*-S in Hambach.

Jule Wewer with Deena

The Hanoverian mare Deena is a direct daughter of WBFSH top sire Diarado—here bred by Stefan Aust—combined with a Contendro-Frappant dam. This mare line has produced equally successful show jumpers and dressage horses. Deena, however, is the first versatile talent. She is now owned by Jasper Düx, who has entrusted her training to former German Junior Champion Jule Wewer. Wewer presented the mare—who already has a foal—at the 2024 Bundeschampionat and in her first international competitions last year. Wewer and Deena earned their World Championship qualifying results in June in Westerstede (19th place in the CCI3*-S) and in July in Luhmühlen (34th place in the CCI2*-L).

Other German horses

Some of the other nations are also riding German horses. Among the six-year-olds, there are a total of 81 horses on the starting list; including the German pairs, 20 of them come from German breeding regions.

Of Australia’s seven pairs alone, three riders are competing on horses from German breeding regions: Capture 2 ( Hanoverian by Clarimo, breeder: Gerald Wiese) ridden by Jasmine Fordham, Elton 80 ( Mecklenburg by Action Blue, breeder: Bodo Bathke) ridden by Katja Weimann, and Caspari ( Holsteiner by Colcannon, breeder: Herbert Ulonska) ridden by Emma McNab.

Two pairs have been entered for Austria. Daniel Dunst is presenting a Trakehner gelding named Isselhook’s Federation TSF by Fidelio de Donjon (breeder: Siegfried Lask).

Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier is riding two horses in the six-year-old class, including the Hanoverian Herakles by Herald (breeder: Christina Sendagorta).

Of the three horses competing for the Czech Republic, one was bred in Germany: Cascaritas by Cascadello-Favoritas (breeder: Norbert Frings), owned by Miroslav Trunda.

Spain is represented by two pairs, including Nuria Lladonosa Peiretó riding the Holsteiner mare Soel’rings Laya by Colcannon (breeder: Heidi Schurek).

Finnish U18 European Championship competitor Mikko Moisala rides a Hanoverian named Locked In K by Karajan (breeder: Thomas Ahrens).

Of the eight Dutch pairs, Bente Bartels is riding Miss Marley BB by Perigueux (breeder: Elke Freistedt), a DSP mare, while Merel Blom-Hulsman is banking on Holsteiner power with Dream Levisto by Zinedream (breeder: ZG Wieck) and Proud Mary by Santos (breeder: Erja Aholainen).

Switzerland, too, has Holsteiner bloodlines to offer, thanks to Nadja Minder’s Concert March by Conthargos (breeder: March Stud Limited).

Seven-Year-Olds

Among the seven-year-olds, the proportion of German horses is significantly lower, with seven out of 61 starters on the list. In addition to the German riders, Italy’s Pietro Grandis is also banking on “German Horse Quality”—though he is, of course, based in Germany. He has entered the Hanoverian Daylight B 5, a daughter of Duke of Hearts xx, for the Lion d’Angers competition (breeder: Henning Brandt).

Other than that, there is only one other Holsteiner competing for the U.S. with Philipp Dutton: Darwinn by Denver, bred by Dirk Ahlmann.