Clara Kohoutek Wins Junior European Dressage Championship in Olomouc

With two riders out, the outlook for the German team at the European Junior Dressage Championships in Olomouc, Czech Republic, didn’t seem particularly promising going in. Yet the four riders—none of whom had ever competed in a U18 European Championship before— delivered outstanding performances in the team competition, with personal bests from both substitutes and a round by Clara Kohoutek and Dark Dancer that rightfully secured them the lead in the overall team standings. The four riders also confirmed their strong showing in the individual competition.

Gold and Bronze

Once again, all four German riders scored over 70 percent, and three of them set new personal bests in the FEI Individual Test for Juniors. Once again, Clara Kohoutek and Dark Dancer outperformed everyone else. Although luck wasn’t exactly on their side with their starting position in the first group on the first day, But they impressed the judges with a very precise performance, and Clara’s execution of the transitions deserves special mention. She presented the 11-year-old son of Danone with exceptional collection, keeping his hind leg consistently under his center of gravity—supporting when it needed to and pushing when it wanted to. This resulted in a very beautiful side view—although her mouth wasn’t always closed, and one might have wished for more extension on the bit when she was allowed to chew on the reins. Nevertheless, with 74.647 percent, they took the lead. Now the 17-year-old had to wait anxiously for more than 24 hours. Then it was confirmed: it was enough for the victory. This makes the rider from Baden-Württemberg and Dark Dancer double European champions.

The rankings for the two places behind also remained the same as in the team event. In her European Championship debut, Denmark’s Isa Bøllingtoft Asmussen celebrated her second silver medal riding Gozzip, a daughter of Sezuan who is also 11 years old. With a score of 74.265 percent, they came dangerously close to the winning pair.

The bronze medal, with a score of 72.765 percent, went to Greta Louise Wagner and Vanessa H, who could hardly have justified their late nomination any better than with this second personal best, which earned them their first European Championship individual medal.

Fifth and seventh place for Niessing and Raupach

Birte Niessing and her handsome gray horse Destino by Destano are the second German pair to be added to the roster. In the team standings, their score was initially discarded—though it was still over 70 percent. Today, they placed fifth with 72.441 percent—the third-best German result—and thus qualified for the freestyle.

This also means that the competition has come to an end for Martha Raupach and her Franklin-sired son, Francis Drake OLD, in the individual standings. The ten-year-old Oldenburg, who placed under Leonie Richter at the Bundeschampionat and the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses, seemed a bit on edge during the individual competition and didn’t quite make things easy for 18-year-old Martha, who then also lost her balance. But they also had some great moments, especially in the canter sequence. In the end, after deductions, the pair scored 71.618 percent.