Germany Hauls 26th Team Gold Medal at 2025 European Dressage Championships - Fabulous Five Steal the Show

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Germany has hauled its 26th team gold medal at the 2025 European Dressage Championships in Crozet, France, on Thursday 28 August 2025. With evergreen Isabell Werth leading the German bandwagon, the country totalled 229.644 points and stayed well ahead of Great Britain, who were considered the title favourites. Not World champion Charlotte Fry but routinier Carl Hester captained Team GB to the silver step of the podium with 226.785 points, while class winner Cathrine Dufour nudged Denmark on the podium for bronze with 223.385 points.  

Belgian sensation Justin Verboomen was expected to be the magnet to pull Belgium to bronze, but his two other team mates produced below par results, which landed the small country, squeezed between Holland, France, and Germany, in fourth place, which is still a historic best (220.062 points). The Netherlands completed the top five with 218.137 points 

Team Match

Since the inception of the European Championships in Copenhagen in 1963, Germany has dominated the game with only The Netherlands and Great Britain able to break that stranglehold. The two countries did so (only) five times, Holland for the first time in 2007 and Great Britain for the first time in 2011. Even though Denmark is the 2022 World Champion, the Danes never got European gold (so far). Great Britain was the title defender having won team gold in Riesenbeck in 2023.

The Grand Prix traditionally counts as the team championship class and this year 14 nations and 62 competitors participated in it. The large group was split into two as a ground jury is only allowed to assess 40 combinations per day to guarantee full concentration and a high standard of judging.

The 2025 Europeans are hosted at Ian and Virginia Lundin's fabulous Jiva Hill Stables, located in Crozet, a small hamlet sandwiched in a valley between the Jura and Swiss Alpine mountains. Grand Prix day one on Wednesday was sun-kissed, while Grand Prix day two was forecast to be the "worst" day of the week - weatherwise - with incessant rain from morning till night. However, the lush mountains and Lake Geneva exert a special pull on the weather and aside from some morning drizzle and a few drop here and there, it had looked far worse on the weather app than in reality. In the afternoon the sun came out and echoed true summer weather, blessing the team medal ceremony with sunny afternoon delight.

A New Era

In a year of seismic change in the world of dressage with FEI rules being adapted in an attempt to align competitive horse sport more with animal welfare, as well as judges recalibrating their point system by, seemingly, putting more emphasis on harmony and lightness, the sport has entered a new era.

It was felt hard at the start of the year with the introduction of the "welfare bell": horses that were either unlevel (for veterinary reason or just poor in the rhythm, yet healthy) as well as those equines that were too tense for the challenge of a test got rung out. Since 1 May the noseband measure tool is applied to ensure too tight nosebands are a thing of the past and for the very first time at an international show in Europe - here in Crozet - a proper crackdown seems enforced on the use of artificial sugar or foam enhancers (lemon juice, sugar concoctions) that make the horse's foam appear frothy, sugar glazed, and/or unnaturally white. So far no horses have been eliminated for blood in the mouth. The looser nosebands do make a few more horses gape, but now the riding has to improve along with it.

Measuring Stick

At times it is still blatant that a different measuring stick is applied for some, more famous riders from the big nations. In the Grand Prix team test, two horses were eliminated for being unlevel: Britain's fourth team horse Indigro (Andrew Gould) and Austria's number one in Crozet, Fidertraum (Florian Bacher). With a veterinarian sitting at C, Dr. Hans-Christian Matthiesen, the decision felt empowered and correct. However, it came to me as a great surprise that the number one of The Netherlands, Dinja van Liere's Hermes, did not meet the same level of scrutiny. The super talented Hermes, who was fourth at the 2024 Olympics, just came out of sick bay to qualify last minute for Crozet by winning the Dutch Championships in July. His last CDI was in Mechelen in December 2024. In the Grand Prix I spotted that the horse had very obvious rhythm problems on both trot extensions and he also lost the rhythm in the third trot extension at the end of the ride. In addition, in my humble opinion, he truly struggled with the regularity and suppleness in the right trot half pass, yet for him no bell was rung. Sacre blue. Maybe I had sand in my eyes? Maybe I'm wrong, but I'll try to find out the judge's reasoning tomorrow..

While the team competition was thrilling to the end with Hermes and Glamourdale not yet reaching peak performance this week, the more exciting part of the Grand Prix lied in the fact that several horses showed impressive improvement (Freestyle, Denoix, Invoice), Verboomen continued his majestic rise in the ring on Zonik Plus, and Carl Hester was on point to to give yet another 6-minute masterclasses in riding. His horse Fame is a steady-scoring-eddie but may be not in his prime here either. Still, Hester's riding triggered emotions even from those few who claim to have none.

In this article I would like to celebrate the "Fabulous Five" of the Crozet Grand Prix as I talk about the team competition...

The Fabulous Five

1) Mount St. John Freestyle

Let's start with the winner of the class: Denmark's Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour aboard the 16-year old Hanoverian mare Mount St. John Freestyle (by Fidermark x Donnerhall), who is co-owned by the rider, the Zinglersen family and her discoverer, Emma Blundell. The bay is in her eighth year at international Grand Prix level, winning individual bronze at the 2018 WEG in Tryon with Charlotte Dujardin in her break-out year. The horse's energy (and health) is more conserved than that of a two-toed sloth as she only competed at one CDI, in Denmark in March, and the Danish nationals before meeting her international challengers once more since the Olympics in Paris. Her absence from the show ring is greatly missed and waiting for freestyle almost feels like waiting for Godot, but the reward is all the more great and today it was finger licking good. 

Freestyle did not have a muzzle dipped in sugar here in Crozet and her mouth was much more quiet and closed than a year ago, no need to lick away all that sugar. The noseband must have passed the tool check before entering the arena as each horse was tool-checked at the start of the warm-up. They began their test with a halt that was not 100% square (8.0), a good first trot extension and okay half passes in which the one to the left was better than to the right. The transition into passage out of the second trot extension was fantastic, the first piaffe was on the spot albeit with both hindlegs slightly moving out from under the body when seen from in front. The extended walk had very good relaxation, the collected walk was not collected enough (7.0 - 8.0 !). The second piaffe was slightly crooked to the left and very narrow at the base, indicating that it is not ideally balanced, which also led to the horse taking a big step out in the transition to passage. The two tempi changes were smooth, the extended canter really engaged with the nose out, the flying change effortless, the zig zag tidy (but could have been a bit more uphill oriented), the ones were good, the pirouette right could have had a stride more. The final centerline was engaged with the tiniest of hesitation in the piaffe at X. What truly made the test exceptional was the ease, effortless, friendliness and unforced way of going in the horse. Dujardin might have schooled the mare to a high Grand Prix level, but Dufour took the edge off, and celebrated harmony with her instead of seemingly seeing it as a vehicle for personal glory, driven/ridden with a knife between the teeth.

The judges panel, which includes Peter Storr, Raphaël Saleh, Maarten Van der Heijden, Hans-Christian Matthiesen, Christof Umbach, Katrina Wüst, and Janet Foy, rewarded the ride with the high score of the day: 80,823%. Four judges had them first, two second and one third. There was quite a spread in individual marks, though. Umbach had them at 77.391%, while Saleh saw 83.152% in it.

2) Zonik Plus

Placing third with 79.084% was Belgian power pair Justin Verboomen and his own 9-year old Portuguese bred Hanoverian stallion Zonik Plus (by Zonik x Hohenstein). The pair made its international Grand Prix debut in December 2024 and has been going from strength to strength, wielding a sledge hemmer to break the glass ceiling at the CDIO Aachen by defeating Isabell Werth and all the Germans in the lion's den on the hallowed grounds of Aachen. 

For the first time today, the pair made a "big" mistake in their test, something they haven't done in the six CDI's they have ridden in eight months time. Verboomen is greener than the grass in Ireland and the pressure on his shoulders can be compared to the pressure that t made the Oceangate's Titan submersible implode in a fraction of a second. However when the pair enters the arena, the two seem to become one. With the lightest of aids, always uphill oriented, always ears pricked and eager to go forward with an energy and engine. The halt at entry was not entirely square but the half passes were floaty and regular. He did a good rein back but when trotting off the horse hit the kickboard for a second, which led to scores plummeting between 4 (?) and 6. The rhythm was superb in the first piaffe, the passage was floaty and always moving up in the withers.  There was good relaxation in the extended walk, the collected was very clear in the rhythm, but maybe a bit peacocky in the front legs. The two tempi changes were huge, requiring a full diagonal, the extended canter full of energy although the flying change at K came early. The zig zag got a bit tense at the end and there was a mistake in the ones. The pirouette left, however, should have been a 10 (9 - 9.5), the right one was top too (8 - 9).  The final centerline was regular and energetic in the pi-pa and the horse stood like a statue in the final halt (scored between 7 and 10 !)

Verboomen got a new personal best score of 79.084%. One judge had him first, one second, four third and one fourth. The individual marks ranged between 77.283 (Umbach) and 81.196% (Saleh).

3) Fame

Not Charlotte Fry, but Carl Hester became the high scoring rider for Team GB, finishing fifth with 76.087% aboard Fiona Bigwood's 15-year old KWPN gelding Fame (by Bordeaux x Rhodium). Since the Olympics, the duo has not been on the continent and Fame got his spot on the British team by winning three British CDI's (Addington, Wellington Heckfield and Hartpury), each time with 77% Grand Prix scores. 

In Crozet - facing "real" competition - it was 76%. Hester rode Fame fairly conservatively. The canter on the first centerline was almost four beat, but the halt very tidy. The trot extensions were ridden with the minimum amount of power and overtrack. The half pass left was not very regular, the right one better. The first passage was a bit engaged behind with the left hind trailing a bit and backstepping in the first piaffe. It was all quite safe and easy, but then the riding got better and better and was was being shown was such a great sample of masterful skill that it became more impressive by the movement. The corrections Hester applied on his horse was so invisible yet impactful. The extended walk had enough overtrack even though Fame showed some tension by neighing. The collected walk was okay in rhythm but tight in the neck. Yes Fame is tight in the neck, but with Hester it does not look like he's being squeezed in front. The horse is rock steady in the poll, foaming, quiet in the contact, never gapes and the rider's hands are quiet and still. No tug of war here. The two tempi changes were delighful, the extended canter and zig zag neat, the ones super straight, the pirouettes easy and clean. The final trot extensions was rather limited in overtrack but regular. The final centerline beautifully ridden. Definitely not the freshest horse with funk, but what a test ! Sacre blue... pour une deuxième fois. 

Hester scored 76.087% to place fifth in the class. His marks went from 74.239% (Wust) to 77.391% (Foy).

4) Denoix PCH

In order not to repeat myself too much, I am not going to re-write the paragraphs I did on Denoix yesterday, signing Katharina Hemmer's praises for riding the American owned Oldenburg gelding in such a fabulous way. Hubertus Schmidt's assistant rider received a 75.699% from the judges which ultimately ranked her seventh in the class, but to my personal taste, she should have been fourth. But as we all known "de gustibus et coloribus non disputandum est." 

5) Jagerbomb

To finish my Fabulous Five section I need to include Becky Moody's Jagerbomb (by Dante Weltino x Jazz) whose bridle contact is textbook. The powerful bay gelding appeared in better shape in Paris and Aachen (although he did not halt at the latter event), but his Grand Prix ride was still a pleasure to watch. I wrote in detail about it in yesterday's article. 

Wasn't this about a team competition?

Yes I know.. this article was supposed to be about a team competition, so let's concentrate on it.

Germany won team gold and its leading lady was 56-year old Isabell Werth who is the epitome of a competition rider: fully focused, able to peak, driven and hungry. Aboard Madeleine Winter-Schulze and Bolette Wandl's 11-year old Danish mare (Queenparks) Wendy (now going by the name Wendy de Fontaine) she finished second in the Grand Prix with 79.224%. There is no argument about it that Werth has transformed this horse into a superior athlete after the mare was trained and competed at Grand Prix level by Andreas Helgstrand. The fine-tuning Isabell has done is nothing short of stunning.  However, why don't I put her with the Fab Five? Because today, to me, it looked all too laboured, too "ridden," too much effort with constant busy hands and busy bridle contact. This high score and ranking were a surprise to me, maybe not to others.  The pair began with a square but stretched halt (the hind legs should be tucked under the body, not out from under the body). The trot extensions have some overtrack but were hurried (7.4), the half pass right was on the forehand and not so even, the one to the left was ridden very steeply. The rein back was good, the second trot extension had minimal overtrack. The first piaffe was slow in the rhythm and slightly wide behind (8.2). The extended walk had very good relaxation, but in the collected she ambled in the corner, then the rhythm got a bit better (6 - 7.5 !). In the second piaffe she back-stepped with the right hind. The extended canter was really nice: big, uphill, the two tempi's put a 6.9 on the board, in the zig zag she got a bit behind the vertical it seemed,  the ones were good but rather short behind. Werth rode very small pirouettes on the tall black mare, but Wendy is not so supple in them. The final centerline was the highlight of the test with absolutely fabulous transitions in and out of piaffe and a square final halt.

Werth's score combined with Hemmer's 75.699% and Frederic Wandres' 74.721% (9th) but Germany on the highest step of the podium for its 26th gold medal.

Great Britain got silver with Hester leading the way, followd by Charlotte Fry and Van Olst's 14-year old KWPN stallion Glamourdale (by Lord Leatherdale x Negro). They were sixth in the Grand Prix with 75.869%. For Fry the Grand Prix always seems the necessary speedboat they have to drive over, before being able to put the pedal to the metal and go all the way for a spot on the individual podium. Today was no different. Her black stallion always looks fit, fresh and powerful, a trademark Van Olst horse, but there were too many blemishes today for a high ranking. The halt at entry was not immobile, Glamourdale had a trembling lower lip, which indicates tension. The trot extensions were powerful, the half passes had great rhythm, the rein back was behind the vertical. The second trot extension and transition into passage was a highlight. The piaffes were not so convincing today, leaning on the shoulders and often searching the rhythm. Also the extended walk could have been a bit more ground covering. The canter strike off was difficult, the two tempi's mega, the extended canter like a rocket launch, the zig zag ground covering. The one tempi changes to the left appeared shorter. The big problem came in the left pirouette in which he lost the balance and changed lead. The right one was better but the exit not tidy. There was still plenty of energy in the tank in the final passage and the end halt was good. The scores of Hester, Fry, and Moody gave Great Britain silver. 

Denmark got bronze, mainly because of Dufour's winning score because the second highest scoring Danish rider, in fact, ranked 17th !! Andreas Helgstrand and Cathrine Rasmussen's 11-year old KWPN stallion Jovian (by Apache x Tango) scored 71.335%, while Nadja Aaboe Sloth and Favour Gersdorf (by Ferdinand x Leandro) finished 18th with 71.227%. Their three scores combined gave Denmark bronze.

As a final note for this article, let's talk about the fourth placed pair, Dutch Dinja van Liere and Joop van Uytert and Jan Anker's 13-year old KWPN stallion Hermes (by Easy Game x Flemmingh). Aside from struggling with the clarity of rhythm in the four trot movements, the duo also showed some really lovely work. Van Liere is a very skilled rider and she carried the stallion through the test with her supporting legs and hand aids. The horse often had the mouth open today and back-stepped with the right hind leg in piaffe. Dinja ensured Hermes stayed in the frame and collected for best self carriage throughout the test. The canter striding was shorter than usual, especially visible in the zig zag and extended canter, but overall the canter work was the strongest part of the test with a neat and tidy execution of those movements. The two tempi changes were the highlight. They scored 76.941% for fourth place. There was quite a big spread with 75.326% as low score (Saleh) and 79.348 (van der heijden) as high score, ranking her between first and seventh place!

Oh, I don't want to forget to mention Swedish Mia von Essen on the 13-year old KWPN gelding Invoice (by Jazz x Ferro). The pair has been coached by Kyra Kyrklund and Cathrine Dufour here at the show and a significant change in her riding was visible in Crozet compared to when we saw them last at the CDIO Lier in May. The horse was maybe less collected and sharp, ridden with a longer rein, but overall the contact was quieter and Invoice appeared much more at ease in the work. Duly noted. They finished 11th with 73.804% which put tears in Von Essen's eyes.

The action in Crozet continues tomorrow with the Grand Prix Special in which a set of individual medals is to be won. Inexplicably and weirdly, dressage awards two sets of individual medals to its riders, while the other two Olympic equestrian disciplines (jumping and eventing) prefer to reward the overall winner the medal and title of European Champion, combining the scores/results over several rounds. This makes much more sense to me.

Good night!

Eurodressage is taking photos of all competitors in Crozet. No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2025 European Dressage. Championships