Reviewing Ermelo: Grade V at the 2025 European Para Dressage Championships

Text and Photos © Silke Rottermann - No reproduction allowed
(this article expresses Rottermann's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  

Of the individual medalists at the 2023 European championships in Riesenbeck only German Regine Mispelkamp remained and competed in Ermelo. Belgian’s Grade V star Michèle George has been strikingly absent from this year's show circuit as well as Dutch Frank Hosmar, whereas Britain’s Sophie Wells stepped into the role of trainer of Grade I rider Gabriella Blake at these championships.

Mispelkamp in turn had decided to give her multi-medalist Highlander Delight’s an easy year and focus on the pitch black Oldenburg mare Bayala. Grade V therefore promised to be an exciting one as Dutch Britney de Jong, who had her championships debut in Ermelo, won all classes at the high profile CPEDI in Hagen in June with her trusted partner Caramba.

Highest Grade, Highest Demands

The Grade V field in Ermelo with 12 starters in the Grand Prix A was significantly smaller than two years ago in Riesenbeck where there were 17 pairs. Germany and Sweden had two pairs each in Grade V, so in the end ten different nations participated.

The Grade V Grand Prix tests  - the highest grade in para dressage by riders with the least severe impairments  - include for example half pirouettes in walk, simple changes of leg, counter canter and half passes in trot in addition to the requirements of a Grade IV test. 

An interesting aspect about both Grades in Ermelo was that about half of the starters chose to ride in a snaffle and the other half in a double bridle. The riding I have seen confirms my opinion, i.e.  it absolutely makes no difference in the end as long as the horses are in sufficient self-carriage. If a horse is well trained and ridden, either choice of bitting, does not compromise a horse’s welfare—something which is such a hot topic in  able-bodied dressage at the moment.

The Ones Who Caught My Eye

Regine Mispelkamp, who has been riding with great success on the German para team since 2018, came to Ermelo with respectable results on her mount Bayala (by Barroso x  Self Made). The pretty mare is only in her stables since the end of 2023, having been purchased by Ingrid Pretsch and the DOKR (German Olympic Equestrian Committee) from Austrian Astrid Neumayer of Pramwaldhof. Since then they have seven CPEDI under their belt. Bayala first caught my eye at the CPEDI Mannheim in 2024 and she is certainly an expressive horse which moves light-footed and at the same time in an athletic way. Back in Mannheim this year, Mispelkamp and Bayala won all Grade V classes, but were beaten by Dutch Britney de Jong and team mate Isabella Nowak in Hagen, so the pair was certainly medal favourite, but not necessarily title contender when the European Championships officially opened Tuesday evening.

It seemed like the very attentive Bayala took to the competition arena like a duck to water and allowed her rider to be play her a finely tuned piano. Mispelkamp is a very experienced rider, the 54-year-old has been professional all her life, and expertly presented the elegant mare, not leaving points anywhere in the arena during the Grand Prix A, the individual competition.

In the end the first gold medal of her career was still a very tight one as Britney de Jong and Caramba N.O.P. were just 0.025% behind them for their first championships medal. Both beat Mispelkamp and Bayala in the Grand Prix B which counted for the team medals, but in the freestyle the elegance of the German duo was hard to equal, giving Mispelkamp and her mare a second individual gold medal and the third in Ermelo as the German team won the team competition for the first time in history.

Britney de Jong from the Dutch home team rode a different type of horse to Bayala. Her 18-year-old Dutch bred Caramba is a horse she competed for many years internationally with very consistent success, first as an able-bodied Junior and Young Rider and then in para dressage. They dominated perhaps the most high profile CPEDI of the year, in Hagen, in June.

Caramba knows the work inside out and whereas Bayala rather displays the flair of a ballerina dancer, this dark-brown son of Tuschinski impresses with his athleticism and power. After the individual silver medal on Thursday, Britney de Jong and Caramba won the Grand Prix B, helping secure a team silver medal for The Netherlands and they added another silver in the freestyle on Sunday. Going home with three silver medals around her neck is a great championships debut for just 24-year old Britney.

While Bayala and Caramba were very close over the days of Ermelo, the same happened with Fabulous Fidelie under Sweden’s Lena Malmström and Germany's second iron the fire, Isabell Nowak on Siracusa OLD. Both delivered head-to-head-duels in all three classes in which the liver chestnut mare from Sweden took the upper hand in the end.

Just like King of the Dance, the dominating horse in Grade I with the visionary name, the same can be said about the 13-year-old Swedish wamrblood mare Fabulous Fidelie (by Floricello), who is bred by her rider. Lena Malmström first showed her at a CPEDI in 2019 and they consistently improved over the years, although they were forced to miss the Paris Olympics due to injury. Ermelo became the place where medal dreams finally realized. As last starter in the individual competition on Thursday, Malmström had it in her hands and she took the chance and relegated Isabell Nowak and 14-year old Oldenburg bred Siracusa OLD ((by Sir Donnerhall x Blue Hors Don Schufro) - the second starters in the class - to a 4th place finish.

There was the same finish in the freestyle after both riders tied for 3rd place in the Grand Prix B (team competition). I cannot finish these lines about the Swedish couple without mentioning that it is a feat in itself to breed, raise, train and compete your own horse to a medal at international championships. However, to win it in the style Lena Malmström and Fabulous Fidelie did, is extra special. This horse is so correctly ridden, always back to front, and in an exemplary frame.  It was great to see this harmony got rewarded.

Germany’s Isabell Nowak had a late call on the German 2024 Paralympic team after Martina Benzinger’s wonderful Lipizzan mare Nautika died shortly before the Games. As an individual rider she placed twice 4th on her own Siracusa OLD, a really sympathetic type of horse which always seems in good mood and is a reliable performer. In Ermelo where, unlike in Paris, four riders were on a team, Isabell belonged to the victorious German team and took home her first (gold) medal. In the individual competitions they narrowly missed the medals. Both again showed beautiful rounds dominated by the harmony that characterizes this pair.

Italian Federica Sileoni came a very consistent 5th in all three classes with the Dutch bred Governor offspring Leonardo. Federica debuted on the Italian team in Tokyo 2021 and the 27-year-old now made it into the freestyle final for the first time. Sileoni displayed a quiet riding style with her horse being nicely tuned in with her.

Regine in Latin means „Queen“ and Mispelkamp indeed reigned in Ermelo: Even if the petite German didn’t win all classes, she won all possible gold medals, just like her team mate Heidemarie Dresing in Grade II.
Her plan to give Bayala championships "mileage" exceeded her expectations with triple gold, something Mispelkamp might have secretly hoped for, but couldn’t expect.

This is what makes the sport exciting and interesting: when combinations surpass themselves at international championships of all places.

-- Text and Photos © Silke Rottermann for Eurodressage  - No Reproduction allowed

Related Links
Scores: 2025 European Para Dressage Championships
Reviewing Ermelo: Grade IV at 2025 European Para Dressage Championships
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Reviewing Ermelo: Poetry in Motion in Grade II at the 2025 European Para Dressage Championships
Reviewing Ermelo: Grade I at the 2025 European Para Dressage Championships
Blog Report: Here We Go To Ermelo for the 2025 European Para Dressage Championships

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