European titles up for grabs at A Coruña

In just two weeks’ time the Longines FEI Jumping European Championship 2025 will get underway at Casas Novas in A Coruña, Spain, with the flags of 23 nations flying high at this 38th edition.

The action runs from 16 to 20 July, with 18 countries fielding teams and five more represented by individuals.

This is only the third time in its 68-year history for the FEI Jumping European Championship to take place in Spain. The first was staged 32 years ago, in 1993 in Gijón where Switzerland’s Willi Melliger, Lesley McNaught, Stefan Lauber and Thomas Fuchs pipped Great Britain for the team title while Melliger steered Quinta to individual gold.

In 2011 the Championship was held in Madrid, and it was Germany’s Marco Kutscher, Carsten-Otto Nagel, Janne Friederike Meyer and Ludger Beerbaum who finished best of the 16 nations, while France took team silver and Britain team bronze. Nagel went on to claim individual silver behind Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Ninja La Silla in gold medal position.

First time

When the FEI European Championship was staged for the first time in Rotterdam (NED) in 1957 there were only individual medals up for grabs, and gold, silver and bronze went to Germany’s Hans Günter Winkler on Sonnenglanz, Bernard de Fombelle and Bucephale from France and Italy’s Salvatore Oppes with Pagoro.

When team medals were first introduced at Munich (GER) in 1975, it was Germany’s Alwin Schockemöhle, Hartwig Steenken, Sönke Sönksen and Hendrik Snoek who came out on top. And it was a complete German whitewash for the individual medals that year, with gold going to Schockemöhle riding Warwick, silver to Steenken with Erle and bronze to Sönksen and Kwept.

Germany holds pole position on the European Championships Roll of Honour, with seven team and 15 individual gold medals collected down the years, three of the latter going to the legendary partnership of Paul Schockemöhle and Deister over three consecutive editions in the 1980s.

Defending

The defending champions are Sweden who were on a roll when adding European team gold to the Olympic and World titles they already had in their possession at the last edition at San Siro racecourse in Milan (ITA) two years ago. It was an historic result, as it was Sweden’s very first European team victory.

Henrik Ankarcrona’s foursome of Henrik von Eckermann (Iliana), Wilma Hellström (Cicci BJN), Jens Fredricson (Markan Cosmopolit) and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (Zuccero HV) claimed the honours when both the overnight leaders from Germany and the defending champions from Switzerland lost their grip on the final day. Ireland rose to silver medal spot ahead of Austria in bronze.

Steve Guerdat returns to defend the individual title he won with Dynamix de Belheme two years ago in Milan where Germany’s Philipp Weishaupt and Zineday claimed silver ahead of the French partnership of Julien Epaillard and Dubai du Cedre in bronze.

The Swiss squad for A Coruña also includes 2019 individual European champion Martin Fuchs (Conner Jei) along with Nadja Peter Steiner (Mila), Janika Sprunger (Orelie) and Géraldine Straumann (Long John Silver 3).

All-girl

Wilma Hellström and her wonderful one-eye Cicci BJN are the only pair from the 2023 winning side to line out again this time around when the all-girl Swedish selection will also include Petronella Andersson (Opaline de W&S), Amanda Landeblad (For Killy), Erika Lickhammer-Van Helmond (I.Comme Tessa VHL) and Angelie Von Essen (Voila DK Z).

Di Lampard’s British squad includes two riders from her Paris 2024 Olympic gold-medal-winning side, world number two Ben Maher with Point Break and Scott Brash with Hello Folie, while Irish Chef d’Equipe Michael Blake has chosen the 2023 Young Rider gold-medal-winning partnership of 22-year-old Seamus Hughes Kennedy and ESI Rocky to join his otherwise more experienced selection following an impressive run of form.

The 2023 individual bronze medallist, Epaillard, heads the French team with Donatello D’Auge, while Otto Becker’s German pool looks mighty strong with Hans-Dieter Dreher (Elysium), Marcus Ehning (Coolio 42), Sophie Hinners (Iron Dames My Prins), Richard Vogel (United Touch S) all lining out alongside  reigning Olympic champion Christian Kukuk (Just Be Gentle).

Highly competitive

Team Belgium should be highly competitive too, with Pieter Devos (Casual DV Z) and Gilles Thomas (Ermitage Kalone) joined by Nicola Philippaerts (Katanga VH Dingeshof), Abdel Saïd (Bonne Amie) and Thibeau Spits (Impress-K van’t Kattenheye Z).

There was no hiding the surprise on the faces of the Austrians when they won their very first-ever European team medals when taking bronze in Milan and earned one of the three Olympic qualifying spots on offer that year. Three members of that side will be lining out again in 14 days’ time - Max Kühner (EIC Cooley Jump the Q), Katharina Rhomberg (Cuma 5) and Alessandra Reich (Oeli R) - and nobody will be taking them for granted.

And of course the Dutch can never be under-estimated, especially when their side includes the extraordinarily consistent, reliable and successful partnership of Maikel van der Vleuten and Beauville Z N.O.P. who took their second successive Olympic individual bronze medal in Paris last summer. 

The full list of competing teams is: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden. Individuals from Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Liechtenstein and Slovakia will also compete.

Timetable

The Championship timetable begins with the first horse inspection on Tuesday morning 15 July which will be followed by a training session before the draw for order-of-go in the evening. The first competition, judged under Table C, is open to teams and individuals and takes place on Wednesday 16 July, with the score for each athlete converted into penalties at the end of the day. 

The second competition begins with one round on Thursday 17 July and is open to all teams and individuals, but only the top 10 teams and top 50 individuals go through to the second round on Friday 18 July when the team medals will be decided. 

The top 25 go through to the first round of the individual final on Sunday 20 July, with the top 12 returning for a second round to decide the fate of the European individual title for 2025.

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Definite Entries available here.