FEI Dressage European Championships in Oliva Nova: Recap and Results

The FEI Dressage European Championships took place last week at the Centro Ecuestre Oliva Nova in Spain. Europe’s finest rising dressage stars competed in the Young Rider, Junior, and Children divisions for the chance to take home a medal. The Dutch, German, and Danish teams came out on top with some outstanding rides.

Young Riders

In the Individual competition, Dutch rider Marten Luiten came out on top with an overall score of 79.617%. He was riding Fynona, an 11-year-old KWPN mare by Ampere. Another rider from the Netherlands, Thalia Rockx, took second atop her 12-year-old KWPN gelding, Golden Dancer De La Fazenda (Bretton Woods/Florestan I). Rockx had an overall score of 73.765%. Rounding out the top three, German rider Luca Sophia Collin and her 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Descolari (Desperados FRH/Weltmeyer), placed third with a score of 73.470%.

In the Freestyle to Music, Dutch riders Marten Luiten and Thalia Rockx also took the top two placings. Marten Luiten and Fynona placed first with a score of 83.155%. Thalia Rockx and Golden Dancer De La Fazenda placed second with a score of 78.050%. Another Dutch rider, Milou Dees, claimed third place with a score of 78.005%. She was riding Francesco (Florencio/IPS Crack C), an 11-year-old KWPN gelding.

The Dutch team (Marten Luiten, Milou Dees, Thalia Rockx, and Quinty Vossers) took gold in the team competition with an overall score of 225.530. Germany earned silver and their team’s (Luca Sophia Collin, Helena Schmitz-Morkramer, Anna Middelberg, and Elisabeth Von Wulffen) overall score was 216.294. Denmark’s team (Sara Aagaard Hyrm, Laura Jarlkvist Rasmussen, Sofie K. Hansen, and Victoria Cecilie Bonefeld) came in third and earned the bronze medal with an overall score of 211.295.

Besides their bronze medal, the Danish team also had some great placings in the Individual and Freestyle Young Rider competitions. Notably, Sara Aagaard Hyrm and her 2006 Danish Warmblood stallion, Skovborgs Romadinov (Romanov/Mago XX), scored 73.853% and clinched fifth place in the Individual competition. Hyrm also placed seventh in the Freestyle with a score of 73.790%. Additionally, Laura Jarlkvist Rasmussen and her 17-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding, Aatoftens Dornier (De Noir/Rambo), earned tenth place with a score of 73.385%.

The Danish team also did well in the individual results of the team competition. Sara Aagaard Hyrm placed sixth with a score of 71.5% and Laura Jarlkvist Rasmussen placed eighth with a score of 70.883%. Sofie K. Hansen also made the top fifteen on her 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Dieu D’amour (Dimaggio/Rotspon), with a score of 68.912%.

Juniors

German rider Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel and her 9-year-old KWPN gelding Zinq Hugo FH (Spielberg/San Remo) placed first in the Individual Juniors competition with a score of 76.529%. Second place with a score of 75.382% went to Annabella Pidgley of Great Britain and her 2011 Hanoverian gelding, Sultan Des Paluds FRH (Soliman/De Niro). Paul Jöbstl of Austria and his 2009 Hanoverian gelding, Bodyguard 49 (Burlington/Pik L), came in third place with a score of 74.647%.

The Juniors Freestyle to Music had the same top three. Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel (Germany) placed first with a score of 82.045%. Annabella Pidgley (Great Britain) placed second with a score of 80.110. Finally, Paul Jöbstl (Austria) placed third with a score of 79.060%.

The team competition resulted in a gold medal for Germany (Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel, Lena Merkt, Jana Lang, and Kenya Schwierking) with an overall score of 73.859. The Netherlands (Sanne Van Der Pols, Evi Van Rooij, Robin Heiden, and Pem Verbeek) took the silver medal with a score of 72.697. Denmark (Frederikke Gram Jacobsen, Annabelle Rehn, Sophia Ludvigsen, and Alexander Yde Helgstrand) earned the bronze medal with a score of 71.828.

The Danish team also had some remarkable placings in the Juniors category. In the Individual Competition, Danish riders took fifth, sixth, and seventh place. Frederikke Gram Jacobsen and Ryvangs Zafina (Blue Hors Zack/Viegaard’s Come Back), an 11-year-old Danish Warmblood mare, took sixth with a score of 73.677%. Annabelle Rehn and Vestervangs Garson (De Noir/Ragazzo), a 9-year-old Danish Warmblood stallion, placed seventh with a score of 73.118%. Annabelle Rehn bought Vestervangs Garson from Ulrik Clemmensen from NorCordia. NorCordia ApS sell Elite horses and Grand Prix Horses all over the world, including Wellington, where NorCordia will be present during the 2021/2022 Wellington Festival.

In the Freestyle, Annabelle Rehn placed eighth (76.010%).

Danish riders Frederikke Gram Jacobsen, Annabelle Rehn, and Sophia Ludvigsen placed in the top fifteen in the individual results of the team competition. Frederikke Gram Jacobsen took eleventh with a score of 72.576%. Annabelle Rehn placed thirteenth with a score of 71.515%. Sophia Ludvigsen placed fourteenth with a score of 71.394% on her 2014 Hanoverian stallion, Blue Hors Quintana (Quantensprung/Desperados).

Children

In the Children Individual, Lara Latterman of Germany and her 2012 Oldenburg mare, Soleil De La Coeur (Boston/Show Star), placed first with a score of 85.548%. Another German rider, Clara Paschertz riding her 2013 Oldenburg gelding Danubio Old (Dante Weltino Old/Laudabilis), scored 83.834% and came in second place. Finishing the top three is Dutch rider Lize Van Den Heuvel and her 2012 KWPN gelding Hilton-S (Florencio/Trento B) who placed third with a score of 81.570%.

Germany claimed the top three in the Children Preliminary Competition B. Clara Paschertz took first place with a score of 83.226%. Lotta Plaas and her 2002 Trakhener gelding, Balsamico (Blue Hors Hertug/Anduc), scored 82.643% and placed second. Martha Raupach and her 2014 KWPN gelding, Jack Sparrow (Expression/Exquis Vivaldi), placed third with a score of 82.179%.

In the team competition, Germany (Lara Latterman, Lotta Plaas, Clara Paschertz, and Martha Raupach) won gold with an overall score of 250.452. The Netherlands (Lize Van Den Heuvel, Kyra Jonkers, Flore Woerts, and Fleur Kempenaars) earned the silver medal with a score of 228.084. Russia (Agata Zakhrabekova, Sofiya Romanova, Polina Trofimova, and Ksenia Silyutina) scored 221.118 and earned bronze.

Denmark did not have a Children’s team in the competition.

Conclusion

It was an amazing week in Oliva Nova, full of talent and potential. The German, Dutch, and Danish teams dominated the results with high scores and smooth rides. Denmark’s teams earned bronze in both the Young Rider and Junior divisions and had a fantastic competition overall. We are looking forward to watching these young, talented riders progress!