Dutch Team and Ella-Grace Dovey are the Gold Medallists at the 2024 European Children Championships

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The Dutch team and British individual rider Ella-Grace Dovey became the gold medal winners at the 2024 European Children Championships which were held at Sentower Park equestrian centre in Opglabbeek, Belgium, on  24 - 28 July 2024.

From Lows to the Highest Heights: Dutch Are Golden Again

In its 9-year history that the European Children Championships have been staged, the Dutch team have been particularly successful.  The Netherlands only stepped into the children "programme" in 2017 when it hosted the European Championships on home turf in Roosendaal (NED) and won team gold straight away. They repeated that gold in 2018 but got silver in the next years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). In 2023 Holland lost its grip on a podium place in 2023 and dropped to fourth place with the team. However, this year they were back in business with new team captain Loes Corsel at the helm.

Riders Esmae Niessen (Dadona Diva), Britt Kikkert-Van Der Linde (Jerenzo Texel), Floor Kulik (Dutch Dandy D.J), and Felyne Boschloo-Karsijns (Heavens Voice) were consistent in the team championship test, all four placing in the top six of the class with Niessen winning the test on 83.225%. Their team total of 243.434 points put them far ahead of the serial team championship gold medal winner Germany, which were now relegated to silver with 232.001 points.

Germany saw Ava Osing on Darjeeling produce the best team score as she finished second in the team championship test with 81.559%. Lynn Sophie Soddemann (Furst Schwarzenberg MT) was fourth, but Greta Louise Wagner (Fashion Rose) could not find her usual stride and dropped to 25th place. Germany's fourth team rider Victoria Winkmann (Black Or White Bordeaux OLD) got rung out, so Germany could not rely on a fourth score to pull up their total. They still landed silver. 

The big surprise conquest came from the Italian team, led by Matilde Manzato (Fine Boy), who ranked 8th with 77.092%. Assisted by Matteo Borghesi (Quattromani) in 11th place and Giada Guida (Keep Up) 12th, Italy totalled 225.034 points for a historic bronze team medal. The fourth Italian team rider was Vittoria Volpi (Dorotea Di Fonte Abeti) in 27th place. 

Individual Gold for Ella-Grace Dovey

Great Britain was unable to field a team to the European Children Championships but had a strong iron in the fire with their individual rider, Ella-Grace Dovey.

Britain has never achieved a Children medal before and never sent a team to the Championships, only individual riders, but with Ella-Grace the country achieved a remarkable feat in not only bringing home the first hardware, but making it a gold.

In their opening Preliminary B test, the 13-year old Dovey and  David Pincus' home bred Irish sport horse Sheepcote Jackson (by Johnson x  Don Primero) got their campaign under way with a solid 73.435% for twelfth place. Next up was the Team competition, where their confidence and form began to really pick up momentum; the result for a beautiful harmonious test was 77.034%, moving the duo up into the top ten to finish seventh.  

The European Chilren Championships finishes with an Individual test, instead of a Freestyle as for the other FEI Youth categories. The complexity is the highest of the three tests throughout the week, something that Ella-Grace capitalised on as she showed hers and Jackson’s skills to great effect.  The horse was first shown by Elijah Lovell in 2018 up the level and as of 2021 extensively competed up to Medium level by Molly Rowan-Sharples until the autumn of 2023.

Dovey and Jackson were poised and balanced in their work, showing a rhythmical trot tour with well-ridden shoulder-ins, alongside immaculate walk pirouettes which were a real highlight on the score sheet.  

Judges Hans Voser, Marlena Gruca Rucinska, Olivier Smeets, and Kjell Myhre were unanimous in rewarding the victory and the title of  European Champion. The collectives were hugely impressive, 9 for general impression, 8.8 for precision, 8.7 for effectiveness of the aids and 8.5 for rider’s position and seat – all of which were instrumental in Ella-Grace's achievement. The final score for Ella and Jackson was a whopping 79.707%, delivering a moment of memories that will last a lifetime for this talented young rider. 

The silver medal went to German Lynn Sophie Soddemann aboard the 9-year old Hanoverian bred Furst Schwarzenberg MT (by Furstenball x Stedinger). Previously shown by Yvonne Kläne for owner Elizabeth Max-Theurer, the Hanoverian premiered with Soddemann in 2024. They clinched their German team spot at the CDIO-CH Hagen.  At the European Championships they won team silver after placing fourth in the team test and got silver in the individual test with 79.057%.

The bronze went to Dutch Esmae Niessen aboard her ride of two-years, the 16-year old KWPN mare Dadona Diva (by Johnson x Rosenkavalier). Niessen has been very active in the international show ring, competing no less than two ponies internationally, alongside Dadona Diva in the Children division.  At the 2023 Europeans they came close to the podium with a 6th place but in Opglabbeek they picked up bronze after scoring 78.533% in the individual test. 

Eurodressage took photos of all competitors in Opglabbeek (we took all ponies and juniors, but only some children). 
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Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2024 European Pony, Children, Junior Riders Championships
Scores: 2024 European Pony, Children, Junior Riders Championships