Dressage stars of the future…

Last week, the FEI Dressage European Championship for Juniors and Children was held at Kronberg in Germany. There, budding Dressage talent thrilled fans and judges alike. Here’s a peek at the event, with a look at some of the continent’s youngest Dressage stars to keep an eye on in the future.

Fairytale Setting

A more perfect venue for young athletes couldn’t have been imagined, with picturesque Kronberg looking like a scene from a children’s book. The historic location in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main area is surrounded by parks and forest land, with Kronberg Castle, dating from 1220, looking down over the town.

The Schafhof — a stunning Dressage centre converted from a centuries-old sheep farm and now used for horse breeding, training, and showing — played host to the championship in exquisite style. Athletes participated in the Children’s category for ages 12 to 14 and in the Junior group for 14 to 18 year olds.

Children’s Team

In the Children’s Team class, it was Germany, under the direction of Chef d’Equipe Cornelia Albrecht, who took gold on home soil, with a total of 248.035 percent. Vivianne Mercker and Djamalla were the highest scoring duo on the team, earning 83.859 percent. They were helped to the podium by Therese Billig (Faro Shen), Marie Bernhard (For Rock G), and Lilly Marie Heins (Skyline).

Sweden won the silver medal, earning 233.559 percent in total from the judges. Spain was awarded third place on a total of 228.851 percent. Teams from the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, and France also competed and finished in that order.

Junior Team

It was Germany and Cornelia Albrecht again at the top of the podium in the Junior Team class, with a combined score of 221.060 percent. Attending the prize giving were team members Allegra Schmitz-Morkramer (Libertad), Lana-Pinou Baumgürtel (ZINQ Emma FH), Josephine Ruppert (Bella Donna 149), and Rose Oatley (Sommernacht 7) — daughter of Olympic Dressage athlete Kristy Oatley, who represents Australia.

Austria finished second on a score of 214.469 percent, pipping Denmark, who ended their team campaign on 214.243 percent, showing every little extra point counts in the Dressage ring.

Great Britain finished fourth, followed by teams from Sweden, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Finland, Ukraine, and Ireland.

Children’s Individual

When all the scores were tallied in the Children’s Individual competition, Marie Bernhard and Therese Billig were back on the podium again for Germany, finishing 1-2 on 83.195 and 80.797 percent, respectively — both personal bests.

This time they were joined by Lal Mira Gürgen of Turkey, who won 79.364 percent from the five European judges aboard Lowland.

Junior Individual

Home fans were treated to a German whitewash in the Junior Individual class. Rose Oatley topped the leaderboard, earning a personal best score of 78.030 percent. Allegra Schmitz-Morkramer won second prize on 76.794 percent. Lana-Pinou Baumgürtel rounded out the podium on 74.088 percent.

The competition was indeed fierce, as there were 28 personal bests recorded out of 70 starts!

Junior Freestyle

The amazing event wrapped up on Sunday with 18 athletes competing for medals in the Junior Freestyle class.

Schmitz-Morkramer and Baumgürtel were standing tall at the prize giving once again, the former taking the gold on a personal best of 82.665 percent with Libertad, and the latter winning the silver with ZINQ Emma FH on a score of 79.165 percent.

Myles Graham of Great Britain joined them on the podium to bring home the bronze medal. His score of 77.885 percent aboard Nibeley Union Hit was another personal best — a fantastic way to close out the show.

There’s more Dressage excitement to come this summer with the FEI Dressage & Para-Dressage European Championships for Seniors scheduled for September at Riesenbeck.

Images from FEI/Stefan Lafrentz