Hickstead Nations Cup: Sixth Place for the German Team; Great Britain Wins Ahead of Ireland and Canada

Hans-Dieter Dreher and Elysium were the first riders for the German team at the Nations Cup in Hickstead. They finished the first round with nine points. Hope began to rise when Philipp Weishaupt completed the challenging course clear of faults on the nine-year-old Lady Concern du Rezidal by Emerald. However, when Kendra Claricia Brinkop, riding the equally nine-year-old Replay van’t Paradijs, also finished with two knockdowns, it was already clear that those eight points would count.

Now there were only three left

But what no one could have anticipated at that point was that Marcus Ehning’s Priam du Roset—a 15-year-old with international experience—simply could not get used to the water jump. His refusal was so persistent that Ehning gave up after the first attempt and withdrew the horse from the second round. However, the water jump was also set to cause problems for other rider-horse combinations.

“Hansi” Dreher and the Holsteiner Elysium had three knockdowns in the second round. Philipp Weishaupt had one “net roll,” and Kendra Claricia Brinkop managed a clear round. With 33 penalty points, they finished in sixth place.

Philipp Weishaupt was the third-best rider overall in this Nations Cup at Hickstead. There were only two riders to post double clear rounds: Ireland’s Conor Swail on Clontherm Obolensky and Britain’s Tim Gredley on the Belgian gelding Medoc de Toxandria both achieved the coveted “clear round” in both rounds.

Brits Win Thanks to Ben Maher

Alongside Gredley, the host nation’s winning team included Jessica Mendoza/Summerhouse (0/4) and Adrian Whiteway, who, riding Chacco Volo, provided the discard score twice (20/8). Here, too, the water jump proved to be the source of errors—just as it had been for Ben Maher riding the Holsteiner Catelly by Catalido in the first round. In the second round, Maher was the wild card (4/0). His clear round secured the top spot on the podium for the British rider.

The team from Ireland came up short. Alongside Conor Swail, Shane Breen/Scarteen (8/0), Lt. Michaeli Byrne/Claregalway (4/8), and David Simpson/Pjotr van de Kruishoeve (8/4) competed. With 16 points, they finished in second place.

The Canadians took third place on the podium. Nicole Walker/Panther JVH (0/4) posted the team’s best result. Chris Pratt/Ideaal (8/0), Kyle King/Kayenne Z (8/4), and Amy Millar/Gaiete d’Elle (12/5) rounded out the team.

Results of the 2026 Hickstead Nations Cup