Heroics in Herning - Europeans excel on the global stage

The last two weeks have seen the Ecco FEI World Championships in Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage and Vaulting take place in Herning, Denmark. The championships have been an exceptional display of horsemanship across all disciplines, and the European nations have performed outstandingly during these championships.

The event started with the dressage, where the home nation put out some very strong performances and claimed team gold,  with Great Britain and Germany following in 2^nd and 3^rd respectively. Home favourite Catherine Dufour had the crowd on their feet throughout the individual competitions however it was not enough to beat Lottie Fry from Great Britain who took double gold in the individual Special and Freestyle with Glamourdale, scoring a huge 90.654% in the Freestyle.

Meanwhile, the team Vaulting saw European domination with France, Denmark and Austria filling the team podium, whilst Germany, France and Switzerland took the honours in the squad final.  In the individual finals there was no beating France, with Manon Moutinho and Lambert Leclezio taking the titles and securing their places as true world leaders. The final competition saw a 1-2 for Germany in the pas-de-deux for Chiara Congia and Justin van Gerven, who finished ahead of compatriots Diana Harwardt and Peter Kunne.

In the Para Dressage, we were treated to some of the best performances the sport has ever seen. The individual championships saw double golds for Sanne Voets (NED, Grade IV), Katrine Kristensen (DEN, Grade II), Tobias Thorning Joergensen (DEN, Grade III) and Michele George (BEL, Grade V). Whilst the Grade I gave a win for Rihards Snikus (LAT) in the individual, with a swap in places to see Sara Morganti (ITA) take top honours in the freestyle. The Netherlands led the way in the team competition with Denmark and the USA taking silver and bronze.

The competition concluded with a thrilling Jumping finale. The team medals had been decided on Friday with Sweden continuing their amazing run of form from Tokyo to take gold, ahead of the Netherlands and Great Britain. It set the tone for the individual final as Henrik von Eckermann, the current Longines ranking world number 1, produced 5 clear rounds across the week with King Edward to take a well-deserved gold. Jerome Guery (BEL) and Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) completed the podium.

With thanks to the organising committee led by Casper Cassøe and Jens Trabjerg, and the Danish Federation who produced a wonderful event to showcase the very best of our sport. Highlights of all the action can be seen on the FEI Youtube here