Piaff-Förderpreis inspection with competition test in Warendorf

For the second time since 2024, Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel (22) took part in the selection course for the Piaff-Förderpreis and this time she outshone all her competitors. Riding her self-trained Hanoverian mare First Vienna by Vitalis, Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel secured the U25 Grand Prix with 71.008 percent ahead of Fiona Serafina Lukas on Aragorn T (70.155) and Sophia Gerlach in the saddle on Amaru T (70.078).

Golden Girl

Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel has been a permanent fixture in German young dressage sport since 2016. She was twelve years young at the time when she won three European Championship gold medals with her pony Massimiliano. They repeated this success in 2017 and won team gold for the third time in 2018. In 2020, Baumgürtel broke the previous world record in the freestyle at a pony championship with Nasdaq and crowned the end of her U16 era with another three titles.

She was able to seamlessly build on her successes in the junior camp. Baumgürtel secured three gold medals at the U18 European Championships in 2021 with Hugo, who was once qualified for the Burg Pokal Final by Marcus Hermes. In 2022, she won team gold as well as silver and bronze in the individual competition for young riders. With Ferati, she won silver with the U21 team the following year. In 2024, she left the competition behind in all three competitions with Hugo. At her last U21 European Championships in Kronberg in 2025, she once again took gold with the team on Hugo and in the freestyle, the pair were only beaten by Lucie’s younger sister Lana-Pinou on Emma.

At the same time, Baumgürtel built up a horse for the grand tour with the ten-year-old Hanoverian mare First Vienna. She took over the mare in 2021 at the age of five. In 2022, the pair finished third in the final of the Bundeschampionat. The first advanced (S) level placings followed at the age of seven and in 2024 the pair were able to recommend themselves for the Nuremberg Burg Cup Final in Frankfurt.

Her career continued just as straightforward at S*** level with victories in Stars von Morgen qualifiers and numerous other placings.

The pair are now looking forward to their first Piaff Prize season together, after Lucie had already competed once with Damien Hirst in 2024.

Dream team from the Ländle

The pair in second place have also known each other for years: Fiona Serafina Lukas and Aragorn T. Unlike Baumgürtel, however, the 22-year-old from Baden-Württemberg does not have a medal list several meters long from her childhood. A year ago, she was awarded the Golden Riding Badge, which she is just as entitled to as her four-legged partner Aragorn T.

In 2018, Lukas, whose family runs a riding stable in Schönfeld, took over the then five-year-old Oldenburg gelding, an Ampere grandson by Antango out of a Rubin-Royal dam. From their first competition in a novice class dressage test for young horses (score: 7.0), the pair have gradually moved into the limelight at regional shows. In 2021, they competed at the German Junior Championships for the first time and finished tenth. In 2022, they celebrated their first advanced (S) level successes. In 2024, they competed at S*** level for the first time.

Last year, they also competed in the Piaff-Förderpreis inspection, but finished with 63.915 percent. As a result, they missed out on a ticket for the major tournaments in Mannheim, Balve etc. Instead, they were able to gain experience at three-star level at regional level and got better and better. Today they have passed another milestone on their journey together.

Hemmer’s model pupil

For 24-year-old Sophia Gerlach from Sauerland, this is the first time she has taken part in the Piaff-Förderpreis and it is her second season at three-star level. Her twelve-year-old Amaru is also an Ampere grandson, albeit Westphalian-bred out of a Fiano-Ehrentusch dam (breeder: Georg Fulhorst).

Amaru was five years old when he came to Sophia. Their first show together was a novice class dressage test, which they won with a score of 8.0. This was followed by their first elementary and medium (L) level successes until they ventured into the advanced class in 2022. In 2023, they took part in the German Young Rider Championships. By 2025, they had collected enough yellow ribbons at advanced (S) level to be awarded their Golden Riding Badge and, with this on the lapel of their tails, they ventured into the advanced (S***) class. With success, as we saw today.

Incidentally, the pair from Sauerland are trained by European team champion Katharina Hemmer.

An overview of the qualified pairs

A total of 13 pairs from the selection course were able to recommend themselves for the 2026 Piaff-Förderpreis season. In addition to the three mentioned, there are the following:

• Nele Klaus with Van Tastic (69.264 percent in the sighting test)


• Anna Schölermann with First Romance (67,907)


• Annabelle Josephine Steffens with Habouche (66.938)


• Henriette Schmidt with Feengold (66.628)


• Lynn Greta Suckow with DSP Dun Dee (66.628)


• Vanessa Sachs with Bright Diamond NRW (66.279)


• Franziska Haase with Livorno (65.698)


• Celestine Kindler with Springborgs Guardian (65,310)


• Marie Sohler with Queolito (65,116)


• Isabelle Rüdiger with Florestino (65.0)

Henri Schamburg and Lordswood Dancing Diamond, the former Bundeschampion and World Champion of Young Dressage Horses, who competed with Schamburg for the first time under show conditions after a four-year absence, were unable to recommend themselves. The pair came last this time with 61.667 percent.

Members of the U25 squad are eligible to take part anyway:

• Luca Sophia Collin with Bonamour


• Pia-Carlotta Gagel with Riccio


• Anna Schölermann with Bon Scolari and Superstar


• Katharina Schuster with Qence L


• Moritz Treffinger with Cadeau Noir, Fiderdance and Morricone


• Elisabeth von Wulffen with Triple A and Vis a Vis

These are the stages of the 2026 Piaff Prize

• 29.04.-05.05.2026 Mannheim


• 04.-07.06.2026 Balve (DM U25) with freestyle


• 30.07.-02.08.2026 Elmlohe


• 04.-06.09.2026 Anakenenhof, Pinneberg


• 02.-06.12.2026 Aachen – Final

Incidentally, the winner of the 2025 final was Moritz Treffinger, who also became European U25 champion and is now looking forward to his first World Cup final. We visited him today. More of this soon.