Team Final
In a thrilling day of competition, it was down to the final athlete of the day to determine the team medals at the FEI Para Dressage European Championships 2025 in Ermelo (NED) on Saturday, Sept. 6.
The morning session saw the Grade V competition culminate with the final scores for the German and Dutch teams, completing on 224.454 and 223.362 respectively. Thus, throwing down the gauntlet and leaving only room for the Danish and British teams to try and catch them, when their team scores were being calculated at the end of the Grade IV competition this afternoon.
The Netherlands’ Britney de Jong rode into the arena with a point to prove after a slightly disappointing test with Caramba N.O.P on Thursday. The pair produced a dynamic and active test, laying down a score of 74.395, and bringing a team medal closer into sight.
“As soon as I entered that arena, I knew what I needed to do. I am really happy about our test, as it was more forward and we got more expression into it,” she said of her ride with the 18-year-old gelding whom she has partnered for seven years.
“We still have a pretty long wait to find out the results until the end of the competition, but it feels good to have put in a strong score for the team.”
It was then down to the individual Grave V champion, Regine Mispelkamp riding Pramwaldhof’s Bayala to see what they could do to close the gap, knowing she had to score higher than 73 to put the Germans into the gold medal position above the Dutch.
When the combination finished their test and Regine beamed a winning smile as her final score of 74.105 was announced, it was clear that the German team were the ones to beat. Gold was all but secured.
“She felt so great. She was so light in the hand and really concentrated more on me, which is what makes me so happy, she is beginning to talk with me in the arena, and we are communicating so well,” she spoke proudly of the 10-year-old Oldenburg mare.
The stakes were high for Regine as the last athlete in the team to compete, but she remained calm and collected as she entered the arena.
“Yes, there was pressure, but when you are sitting on your horse, you forget about everything else and just trust them to do their best. As long as you are with your horse, all will be good,” Regine said.
Suspense until the last minute
It was a long wait until Denmark’s Pia Wulff Jelstrup entered the arena with Zafia this afternoon for the Grade IV competition, to see if they could shake up the leaderboard. With a couple of small errors in their test, it just wasn’t quite enough to top the team rankings, scoring 72.108 to give a final team tally of 221.974. This left them more than two points adrift from the top, and over a mark behind the Dutch. But all was not lost, the bronze medal was still within their grasp.
Tobias Thorning Joergensen (DEN) placed 2nd in the Grade III Freestyle with Jolene Hill. (FEI/Leanjo de Koster)
“I’m pleased with my horse, but I had a few not-so-good moments myself, which let her down. It was me who was at fault, not the horse, she was great as always,” Pia said of her test with the 11-year-old Danish warmblood mare.
It was then down to the final athlete to enter the arena after two days of stiff competition, Great Britain’s Nicola Naylor, to determine the medals.
Riding with the pressure of a possible team bronze medal on her shoulders with Humberto L, Nicola did remarkably well to settle the sudden nerves of the 13-year-old gelding. Ultimatley, the combination fell just short of the required score to secure a medal, finishing on a mark of 71.406 which put the team on a total of 221.267, less than a mark off a podium finish. It wasn’t to be for the Brits.
“It’s been such an exciting couple of days for all the nations, which is just how it should be,” Nicola said of the standard of competition.
“The sport has revolutionised in terms of the quality of the horses and what riders are now able to do thanks to the right backing, which can only make the sport better, if everybody is really fighting for their place on the podium. It’s going to make it more exciting, more encouraging and hopefully more nations will want to take part in the future.”
German team make Para Dressage history
And so, for the first time in Para Dressage history a new team are being crowned European champions, and it is Melanie Wienand with Lemony’s Loverboy, Heidemarie Dresing and Poesie 143, Isabell Nowak and Siracusa OLD, and Regine Mispelkamp with Pramwaldhof’s Bayala taking the gold for Germany in yet another extremely close competition at this year’s Championship.
“The outstanding ladies of the team and their horses did an amazing job.” Chef d’Equipe Klaus Roeser started, as he spoke of the team’s historic win.
“Thank you, the Netherlands, Denmark and Great Britain, for a great two days of sport. The closeness of the competition means that the world is really shifting together in performance improvement. We’re happy that we won a tough competition and we’re really proud of our team, but we are also proud of all Europeans for putting up such great competition.”
Host nation, the Netherlands rose to the occasion with their new team of equine Championship first timers in Happy Grace for Tessa Baaijens-van de Vrie, Eisma’s Royal Fonq N.O.P. with Rixt van der Horst, Happy Hero for Loes Cevaal and Caramba N.O.P with Britney de Jong, to claim the team silver medal.
“I’m very proud of the whole team that we accomplished this, I think it’s very special to win a team medal in our home country,” Rixt said of their success.
Team bronze was secured by the sterling performances of Denmark’s Karla Dyhm-Junge with Miss Daisy, Tobias Thorning Joergensen and Jolene Hill, Katrine Kristensen on Goerklintgaards Quarter and Pia Wulf Jelstrup with Zafia.
“We are really very excited about the outcome, all our riders had been in the arena and we had to wait for the very last result to come before we knew whether we had a medal or not,” team trainer Astrid Gemal said of the team performance.
“It was very tense, but all the riders did such a good job and in the end the team had done enough, which was a fantastic result.”
Grand Prix Freestyle
As the sun shone over Ermelo (NED) on the final day of competition, the FEI Para Dressage European Championship 2025 got underway with all five Grades competing today for their individual Grand Prix Freestyle medals.
In the first Grade to go, Rixt van der Horst and Eisma’s Royal Fonq N.O.P. of the Netherlands strutted their way to Grade III Freestyle Gold for a score of 80.634.
Riding to a medley of Survivor by Destiny’s Child and Vivaldi, the combination produced their most dynamic test, yet. “I picked that [Destiny’s Child] song because I’ve been through a difficult time in the past few years, and also Fonq has come a long way and is now shining with me, so I thought the music was really suitable for both of us,” Rixt said of her song choice.
“I’m so proud we won gold again this week. An ending like this, it is magical for us to do this here in the Netherlands, it’s just amazing,” she said of her home win with the 10-year-old stallion.
In what was their last dance together in a competitive arena, it was Denmark’s Tobias Thorning Joergensen and Jolene Hill who took the silver with a score of 79.807.
“I was a little in front of the music today but given that was our last ever performance, it doesn’t really matter. What’s really strong about our partnership is our harmony with each other, that’s so important in Para Dressage and is something Jolene and I are really good at,” Tobias said of their test.
“I’m just so happy that we are here, we had a good ride and I’m proud of our silver medal. Of course, there were a lot of emotions when I came out of the arena but right now is the right time for her to end with three medals. After everything she’s been through, I’m just proud of her to even be here and for everything she’s done for me and for Para Dressage in Denmark,” he said of Jolene’s retirement and their competition this week.
For the first time this week, the bronze medal went to Francesca Salvade of Italy riding Escari, scoring a Championship personal best of 76.274.
“It’s my first medal at a European Championship so I’m very happy,” Francesca said of her result.
“My horse is a young horse, but he was fantastic. We have been working so hard to get to this point, and there has been a lot of work at home to achieve this score today, so I’m very proud of him,” she said of the eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding.
Germany’s Heidemarie Dresing makes it a hattrick in Grade II
Once again, the Grade II gold medal went to Heidemarie Dresing and Poesie 143 of Germany, scoring their best ever competitive mark together of 80.973.
“It’s amazing. I wanted to achieve a score of 80 today and we succeeded, so I am very happy, and it gives us the hattrick!” said Dresing.
Heidemarie Dresing (GER) rode Poesie 143 to first place in the Grade II Freestyle with a score of 80.934%. (FEI/Leanjo de Koster)
This 10-year-old mare now puts Heidemarie in the enviable position of having two European Champions in her stable, having won in Riesenbeck with Horse24 Dooloop, ahead of what will be a home games in Aachen at the FEI World Championships 2026.
Familiar with the silver medal this week, Katrine Kristensen and Goerklintgaards Quarter claimed it once again with a score of 78.374.
“I’m feeling great, one more silver medal, it’s fantastic! It’s incredible to be at a Championship again, I’m very thankful to have him compete with me even though he is 17 now and I am pregnant again. So now I can go on maternity leave happy,” she said of their third medal of the week.
“He was really with me again today. Throughout the whole week he has been very focused on me and his job in the arena, and today we rode so well with the music and to the tempo, so I was very satisfised with him this morning.”
It was Great Britain’s Jemima Green who secured her second bronze medal of the week with her seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Fantabulous, scoring a personal best of 76.307.
“I’m so proud of him, it was the most confident he has felt all week and it was really quite enjoyable to ride,” she beamed as she spoke of their performance.
“I’m slightly kicking myself because I didn’t feel like our medium trot was the strongest and I had the opportunity to repeat it but then got anxious and questioned myself, so I didn’t go for it, so I feel like I let him down a little bit by doing so.”
To score two medals at their first Championship is no mean feat, however.
“I’m in complete shock and overwhelmed by the outcome. It’s just such a privilege to have such a lovely horse.”
“Kings of the dance”, once more
Latvia’s Rihards Snikus and King of the Dance gave a crowd-pleasing performance set to up-beat medley of Latvian and Latin American tunes to take the gold again on a score of 80.674.
“The horse was in another rhythm to what he usually is at home, and Rihards could feel that he was tired today, but they did so well,” his sister, Elene, said of their performance today.
“We both love it [in the arena],” Rihards said, on what is his favourite day of competition, and it was clear that being a DJ gives the athlete an incredible sense of tempo as he and the 17-year-old Latvian warmblood rode perfectly in time with the music.
For the third time this week, finishing just behind her long-time rival was world number one, Italy’s Sara Morganti riding Mariebelle for a score of 79.827.
“I’m very happy with the medal and the horse, although I was a bit tired today, so it wasn’t so simple to ride. But she was very good and, as usual, she was very kind with me,” Sara said of their test set to a medley of pieces from different musicals.
“I love Rihards. He’s a wonderful rider with a brilliant horse, and this friendly rivalry makes for a fantastic competition.
“Standards are so much higher now, both for the horses and for the athletes, than when I started in 2009. When I won the bronze medal in Kristiansand, Norway, I did very little to prepare, as you didn’t have to back then to be successful.
“Now I train every day, ride two horses and am in the swimming pool every evening. It’s not only the horses that are in training. There’s a greater level of professionalism in the sport now, which can only be a good thing.”
Great Britain secured yet another bronze with Mari Durward-Akhurst and Athene Lindebjerg scoring 77.140.
“It was a really good test, she was so enthusiastic we got a bit ahead of the music, so we finished slightly early but overall, it was amazing,” Mari said of their performance, set to music from the movie Pearl Harbour.
“I’m really happy to take home another medal. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet how much we’ve achieved this week!”
Another triple gold for Germany
The Grade V competition saw Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp match her teammate’s hattrick of three gold medals with yet another win, scoring a personal best with the expressive 10-year-old mare, Pramwaldhof’s Bayala, to finish on 77.700.
“She felt so great, I’m so proud of her. She heard the music and just knew it was time to dance. She was so reactive to me, every step felt amazing,” Regine said emotionally of the young mare who made her Championship debut this week.
“This is crazy, three gold medals! I cannot put into words how this feels, I wasn’t expecting this at all!”
The Netherland’s Britney de Jong claimed another silver for the host nation riding her dynamic Freestyle with Caramba N.O.P.
“The music was composed to suit him as he is so powerful, so I really love riding him in the Freestyle. He loves to be in the arena, and he just gave a bit extra again for me today,” Britney said of her test with the 18-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding.
The combination are no strangers to a competitive arena, having represented the Netherlands at Junior and Young Rider levels, but this was their first Championship in a senior team.
“I’m really happy that we could win three silver medals in our debut, it was what I was hoping for. but never expected.”
In a repeat of the individual medal result, Sweden’s Lena Malmström won the bronze medal once again, finishing on a score of 75.615 with Fabulous Fidelie. “She was the best today and we did it as well as we could, we really connected,” Lena said of their test choreographed to classical music to match the mare’s elegance.
“I didn’t expect to receive two medals, but I thought the competition was open and I backed myself, I believed it could happen. I’m so happy that we delivered something people enjoyed watching.”
Rixt van der Horst (NED) won the Grade III Freestyle riding Eisma’s Royal Fonq N.O.P. (FEI/Leanjo de Koster)
France’s first gold in the Grade IV
In a real shake-up to the leaderboard, Alexia Pittier of France emphatically topped the podium with Sultan 768 to claim their first ever Championship medal. They wowed the crowds with a complex floor plan set to a medley of classic French songs and finished on a score of 78.055, well ahead of their nearest rivals.
“I can’t explain how happy I am right now, we’ve worked so hard for this day. He’s only a young horse and he has improved throughout the week to go into the arena today and give me such a relaxed and expressive ride,” she said of the 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding whom she partnered at the Paralympic Games in Paris last year.
Silver was claimed by Sweden’s Louise Etzner Jakobsson with Goldstrike B.J, the individual champions from Thursday. The pair performed to an Abba medley which matched the 14-year-old gelding’s enthusiasm, finishing on a score of 75.145.
“He was very eager today, so I had to work on encouraging him to take things slower, but I’m very pleased with him. His flying changes and medium trot were great, we just took a little while to come back in the transitions as he was so enthusiastic. But he’s such a good boy,” she said of their performance.
Taking the bronze medal once again was Pia Wulff Jelstrup of Denmark with Zafia who danced around the arena for a score of 74.995.
“I designed the music for her, as she is the best. It’s new music so we’re not that familiar with it yet and we were a bit ahead at times, but I am very pleased with her,” Pia said of the 11-year-old Danish warmblood.
“It feels incredible to be here, it’s the first time I have ever ridden at a European Championship and I’m so happy with our result.”
When all is said and done
After a week of incredible competition in Ermelo, there has been a true changing of the guard in Para Dressage sport, with new team and individual champions crowned at the pinnacle of European competition.
Full results here.
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