GERMANY DOMINATES THE MEDAL PODIUM AT KRONBERG
26 July 2010 – German riders proved unstoppable at the FEI European Dressage Championships for Juniors and Young Riders on their home soil in Kronberg when scooping gold in all six categories of competition. And to further emphasise their absolute domination, they also claimed gold and silver in both the Young Riders Individual and Freestyle Championship. The Netherlands took Junior and Young Rider team silver while Danish riders also featured prominently on the medal podium.
Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff and the Schafhof in Kronberg, Germany, played host to these Dressage Championships for the third time. The wonderful venue where Ann-Kathrin’s mother, Liselott Linsenhoff-Schindling, trained her horse Piaff which won the Olympic gold medal in München 1972, previously staged these Championships in 1980 and 1986. Ann-Kathrin herself competed as a Young Rider in 1981 in Rotterdam when she won team gold and individual bronze, and she proudly and generously opened the gates of the Schafhof to a huge number of talented riders and their horses for this 2010 event from 20 to 25 July.
YOUNG RIDERS
From the outset, Germany convincingly took the lead in the team competitions. Sanneke Rothenberger who won Junior gold medals over the previous two years with two different horses – Paso Doble and Deveraux – opted to go for a new challenge this time around and the 17 year old competed against the Young Riders even though she was still eligible for Junior level. The gamble paid off handsomely as her results were well-planned personal bests and she achieved a mark of 75.158% with Deveraux in the Young Rider team event while Stella Charlott Roth and Diva Royal scored 71.895%, Louisa Luttgen and Habitus scored 71.895% and 20 year old Fabienne Lutkemeier and D’Agostini scored a fabulous 75.316% to secure the team title.
Making her debut on the Dutch team was Danielle van Mierlo, a pupil of Coby van Baalen. She sprang a surprise when best of the Dutch Young Riders silver-medal winning side riding BMC Ucento but Germany won by a margin of almost 10 points while just seven points separated the Danish bronze medallists from their Dutch counterparts.
Lutkemeier was in a class of her own when scooping Young Rider individual gold with D’Agostini ahead of Rothenberger (Deveraux) in silver and Holland’s Danielle Van Mierlo in bronze medal position, but the Dutch rider was just pushed out of bronze medal spot in the Freestyle Championship by Denmark’s Anna Kasprzak (Blue Hors Future Cup) while Lutkemeier and Rothenberger again took gold and silver respectively.
JUNIORS
Germany’s Junior Team Champions were Florine Kienbaum (Good Morning M) who achieved a mark of 70.649%, Charlott-Maria Schurmann (World of Dreams) 73.459%, Sophie Holkenbrink (Show Star) 70.649% and Jill de Ridder (Charmeur) 71.73)%. The Dutch silver medallists were close behind and once again Denmark took team bronze, but Germany’s Schurmann and World of Dreams reigned supreme in both the Junior Individual and Freestyle – recording a tremendous score of 78.300% in the latter.
Danielle Houtvast, who is a pupil of Leida Collins-Strijk, produced the best result of the Dutch silver-medal-winning Junior team but had to settle for bronze in both the Individual and Freestyle Junior Championships when Denmark’s Catherine Dufour and Atterupgaards Cassidy truly rose to the occasion to claim silver in both events. At just seven years old, Atterupgaards Cassidy was one of the most exciting horses at these Championships and underlined the growing confidence and proficiency of Danish dressage.
QUOTES:
Three times gold medalist Fabienne Lütkemeier, trained by her mother Gina Capellmann-Lütkemeier: “My first goal for this year was to finish my school exams and my second to do the best I could at these Championships. I am very happy with my results and have no goals left now at the moment. For next year I am planning to make the step forward to Grand Prix with the same horse D’Agostino.”
Silver winning Young Rider Sanneke Rothenberger relied a great deal on her mother Gonnelien Rothenberger-Gordijn. “My mother helps me every day and spends a lot of time with me training and at shows, while my father Sven keeps an eye on things over the weekends – in fact he is quite nervous at shows,” Sanneke commented smiling.
Bronze medalist individual YR Danielle van Mierlo: “I have always dreamed of competing at the European Championships for Young Riders. So just to be here was already a dream come through. In the team competition I rode a personal best. In the individual competition I rode another personal best. It could not have been any better!”
Charlotte-Maria Schürmann, gold medalist Juniors showing World of Dreams, a 17 year old stallion owned by Guido Klatte: “The owner gave me the ride on World of Dreams in 2007. It took a while to get used to him, but 2010 might be my year!”
Chairman of the judges Young Riders, Great Britain’s Andrew Gardiner: ”We have seen beautiful horses and very solid riding. The highlight of the medal winning Young Riders in general was their consistency. They impressed by the pureness of the paces and a wonderful quality and expression. It was a pleasure to judge!”
Chairman of the judges Freestyle Young Riders and member of the Dressage Task Force Katrina Wüst: “We are often talking about the big Grand Prix horses in the sport of dressage and what they mean for the growth and quality of our sport, but the sport for Juniors and Young Riders has made an immense step forward! I judged them in Portugal in 2008 and again now and it’s wonderful to see that good horses and good riding push the dressage as a sport as much forward at Junior and Young Riders level as happened to the Seniors.”
Host Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff: “In my days sports at the Juniors and Young Riders age group was only small, nowadays it is huge. I am very happy to have received talented young dressage riders from all over Europe as our guests. My family and I feel privileged to be able to pursue the tradition that my mother Liselott Linsenhoff started as promoter and patron of young dressage riders. I had my mother as a role model. We are happy to give something back to the sport which has given so much to us. And I was very moved to receive a picture of all nations gathered here as a thank you to me and my family.”
FACTS AND FIGURES:
– Eighteen nations competed including Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Denmark, Spain, France, Great-Britain, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden and Turkey.
– Youngest competitor: 14 year old Russian Natalia Berezhnaya, showing the 13 year old mare Nikita to win on the first day of the individual Junior competition and in the end finishing at 18 th position (66,947%)
– Oldest horse: 20 year old stallion Incredible, shown by Michelle van Lanen in the Dutch silver medal winning Young Rider team. Incredible won his twelfth European medal in Kronberg. He won his first medal – team gold – in 1998 at Hickstead when ridden by his owner Annemiek van der Vorm.
For detailed results of the 2010 FEI European Dressage Championships for Juniors and Young Riders go to www.escon-marketing.de.