Team Gold for the Netherlands at the European Young Riders Show Jumping Championships; Germany Finishes Sixth

That’s what you’d call a runaway victory. From day one, the Dutch dominated the action at the European Young Riders Show Jumping Championships in Hagen, and they maintained their form right through to the end to ultimately secure the team gold. The outcome for the silver medal was similarly clear-cut for Ireland, while the battle for bronze remained exciting right up to the end. Course designer Christian Wiegand played a part in this, placing a triple combination on the final line for the U21 pairs today—a spot where many riders were already running low on energy and concentration.

The Dutch riders didn’t have that problem. With Thijmen Vos riding Cadillac Z and Liesje Vrolijk in the saddle of Detective Vive Z, they achieved two double and triple clear rounds, respectively, since—like their teammates—they had already ridden clear rounds in the speed class and thus also hold first and third place in the individual standings.

Rounding out Vincent Voorn’s winning team were Logan Fiechter on Lieverella (0/4) and Finn Boerekamp on Danny Boy (4/8), who, in theory, didn’t even have to ride today.

Final score for the “oranjen” Gold Riders: 5.8 penalty points.

Silver for Ireland

The Irish team’s performance was just as commanding. They, too, were on track for silver from day one and never strayed from that course. In his final year as a Young Rider, Tom Wachman is riding Do It Easy, trained by Kendra Claricia Brinkop, who has so far lived up to his name with clear rounds in all three competitions.

The heroine of the moment for the Irish is Tabitha Kyle, riding the 18-year-old bundle of energy Desterly. Tabitha rode the Tolan R. daughter—who isn’t exactly easy to handle—with admirable composure, also finishing three times without any penalty points.

As for the role of the combined score, Coen Williams on Dominante Z and Ben Walsh on Zenith vd Donkhoeve Z took turns. The former had eight and four faults, while the latter had four and nine.

Final score: 11.11 penalty points.

Battle for Bronze

Going into the final, the British team was on course for a medal and the Belgians were in fourth place. Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele and Lotti Blue Z were the heroes of the moment, keeping the team in contention with a clear round as the last pair in the final and putting pressure on the British rider closing out the competition. That rider was Rachel Proudly, riding the OS mare Capri, bred by the Rothenberger family. Whether it was the pressure or simply bad luck, the pair had one knockdown, securing the bronze medal for Belgium.

Rounding out the winning quartet were Lauranne Spits on Parel van het Russeltveld (0/4), Paris Vandousselaere on Chacco’s Girl (0/16), and Louise Ameeuw riding Kaliber (0/4).

Tough break for Germany

It wasn’t meant to be for Peter Teeuwen’s German team at this European Championship. After only Max Paschertz and Cathilde finished the speed jumping round without faults, Romy Rosalie Tietje and Casdadino, Tjade Carstensen with Lintero, Emma Bachl and Condolcessa, and Paschertz and Cathilde all posted three strong clear rounds yesterday. But apart from Romy, no one else was able to maintain that form today.

U25 Jumping Cup champion Tjade Carstensen once again racked up eight penalty points. That could have been his discard score again. But Emma Bachl and Condolcessa racked up a total of ten faults. Paschertz and Cathilde looked just as confident right up to the last jump before the triple as they had on the previous days. But then three poles fell.

Final result: Sixth place for the team. A small consolation: With 5.22 penalty points, Romy Rosalie Tietje is still within striking distance of the top spots. None of the pairs in the top six have made a jumping error. So there’s still plenty that could happen.

Tomorrow at Hof Haunhorst, the junior team competition—in which Germany is in the lead—and the final of the children’s individual competition will take place.