German-Danish Dominance in Team and Individual Standings at the U21 European Championships in Pilisjaszfalu

After the first day of the U21 European Championships in Pilisjaszfalu, where the first two riders from each team were allowed into the arena for the FEI Young Riders Team Test, the German team is in the lead. But that doesn’t mean anything yet.

As early as 8 a.m. this morning, the young riders kicked off the European Championships in Pilisjaszfalu. Third to compete was three-time defending champion Lana-Pinou Baumgürtel—not with her usual partner Emma, but with another Escolar daughter, the 11-year-old Oldenburg mare Escalla. The pair delivered a cleanly ridden test with highlights in the canter sequence, such as the pirouettes—especially the first one to the left—and perfectly straight flying changes. With a score of 70.941 percent, they took the lead.

They held onto the lead until it was the turn of the Danish rider Anna Have Larsen-Ledet, riding her 12-year-old Danish Franklin son, Finnigan-Vitz. The dark bay appeared even more collected and composed than Escalla, though he tended to be a bit tight. With a score of 71.088 percent, they narrowly edged out Baumgürtel. Incidentally, like many other pairs, the two were riding with a snaffle bit. It was their first championship appearance.

This year’s European Championships are also taking place for the second German rider, Nele Klaus and Bonfire. With a personal best of 70.735 percent, they cemented Germany’s lead, while the second Danish rider, Andrea Hamann Sand, riding the ten-year-old Blue Hors Victor, fell well short of the 70.735 percent they had already achieved this year. The pair, who had been part of Denmark’s junior European Championship team last year, scored 68.529 percent.

The top three are neck and neck

If you add up the scores of the first two contestants, Germany has 141.676 points. That currently puts them in the lead. Denmark is in second place with 139.617 points, closely followed by the Netherlands with 139.353 points. So things could still change quite a bit tomorrow.

The riders who scored points for the Netherlands were Esmee Broers, riding her nine-year-old Ferdeaux son Montreux, and Dominique van Dalsen on Just Johnson, who is not only named that but is in fact descended from the Dutch Olympic stallion and WBFSH top sire Johnson.

The action continues early tomorrow morning for the young riders. The competition begins at 8:00 a.m. Marie Sohler and Askehavens Beau Sancy will be the first and third pairs, respectively, to enter the arena for Germany at 8:24 a.m. The final pair will be Julie Sofie Schmitz-Heinen and Attractive at 11:12 a.m.—last year’s three-time European Junior Champions. Incidentally, Attractive was bred by Stephan Borgmann and sold at his farm auction. Anyone still looking for a great young horse should check out the current collection.

You can find all the results here.