The second day of dressage at the 2025 Agria FEI European Championships at Blenheim Palace brought a few key elements to the table: glorious sunshine (a bit reflective on the plastic sheeting covering the palace, mind you); a soporific soundtrack that was giving “10 hour lo-fi study vibes YouTube video”; and, yes, okay, of course, a sub-20 dressage score.
We knew it would happen, didn’t we? Of course we did. The only mystery ahead of today’s competition circled around which rider might do it: Great Britain’s Laura Collett, of doing-a-17-at-the-Olympics fame, or Germany’s Michael Jung, of, um, also-doing-a-17-at-the-Olympics fame.
Today, though, ended up being the Michael Jung show – which is a nice change of circumstances for a man who has so seldom enjoyed his moment in the spotlight in our sport.
Lol, jk, obvs: Michi comes into this European Championships as the reigning Olympic gold medallist with fischerChipmunk FRH, and he’s also one of just two riders to win the European title three times consecutively, and he’s got a Grand Slam, and has been World Champion, and somehow doesn’t make the thrusty bit of the extended walk look embarrassing, which is actually the highest praise we can offer up. The fact that the pair put an 18.3 on the board today is no surprise at all, and even though it’s Michi’s first time here at Blenheim, the curious undulations of the main arena didn’t break his flow for even a moment.
That 18.3 sets a new Blenheim record, and it’s Michi’s own European Championships personal best, too, which is reassuring if you were worried that maybe he’d run out of things to achieve.
“I am really excited and very proud of fischerChipmunk — he’s just an amazing horse,” says Michi. “It’s just lovely to ride this horse, and he was really good today, listening, and very good in the collected work at the beginning.
“I think the centreline was a good start; he was really in front of me and I could always ride him with my legs [on]. There’s just a few things to [work on], but I think there is always something! So far so good, and I am very happy to have got those marks from the judges.”
While this is Michi’s Blenheim debut, it’s not Chipmunk’s: he finished third in the CCI4*-L here back in 2017 with Julia Krajewski in the irons, adding nothing in the cross-country phase but tipping two rails on the final day.
“I’m excited for the cross-country,” says Michi, who will ride to put the 2023 Europeans, where he and Chipmunk had a shock late fall on course, behind him. “We’re in England, and it’s a country with great history in the sport, and horse people, and I love to compete here. It’s a beautiful course and the ground is perfect, and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
Just minutes prior to Michi’s show of dominance, Paris team gold medallists – and individual bronze medallists — Laura Collett and London 52 had earned themselves a nearly six-mark lead in the field when they earned themselves a 20.6 that brought the packed grandstands to a roaring cheer. Though they were nudged into second place two tests later, that scant margin of just 2.3 penalties – or just shy of six seconds on the clock – means that the Michi and Laura match race is well and truly underway.
“There are huge expectations when you’re on a horse like him, but luckily, he absolutely loves showing off to a crowd,” says Laura of the sixteen-year-old ‘Dan’, previously a winner here in the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S in 2018. “So to have the home crowd cheering for him before he even entered the arena just lifted him. He loves to get to show off, and he was an absolute joy to ride just like he was in Paris last year.”
Just as he did in Paris, Dan stepped everything up a notch in the ring today.
“He hasn’t really given me that really ‘wow’ special feeling since Paris – every time he comes out he does a really nice test, but to get that wow feeling he apparently has to have a palace and a lot of people around! He knows when it really matters, and he’s just an unbelievable horse.”
But, she says, that feeling never quite felt guaranteed: “I had a lesson on Tuesday where I lost every flying change and had a complete meltdown – it was a complete disaster! Ian [Woodhead] said, ‘don’t worry, I’ve ordered twenty flying changes on Amazon Special Delivery. I was having a serious breakdown about the whole situation. He’s quite a character still, and he’s cheeky out [in the warm-up]. Just as I went to go in to [the arena] he grabbed the bit and went to run off. Then he goes in there and it’s like butter wouldn’t melt – he’s like ‘everyone’s watching — I’m ready!'”
Could the pair have changed anything in the ring to catch Michi? Laura reckons so.
“It’s always possible to get more – that last centre line, as he’s done this test so many times, he’s got a bit wise to it so he thinks ‘we could halt at X’. I tried to keep him going but he knew the halt was coming! The rest he felt so with me and rideable, with a smile on his face, enjoying being in front of the palace with lots of people, which is where he thinks he belongs.”
Laura and Dan’s Paris teammates Tom McEwen and JL Dublin slot into third place, a handful of marks behind their compatriots on a score of 26.2. Their otherwise polished test was marred by one mistake: in the second canter half-pass, the gelding suffered a momentary loss of balance and broke to trot to regather himself, earning the pair a string of 4s for the movement.
“Dubs was fantastic and delivered another great test – it’s just a shame about the very obvious mistake after the half-pass,” says Tom. “But he showed himself again to be the most amazing dressage horse. This test is all about collection, working and expressing, which he does find a little more difficult, but he tries very hard. It’s quite a hard test for these big-moving horses; it’s all so packed in and collected, because the D test is meant to be a bit quicker and more efficient, so where in a five-star test you have some time to make the marks back up after a mistake, in this one it’s like, bang-bang-bang.”
But, he says, “[Dubs] loves the dressage, so I always know that it’s just up to me to make sure we get everything polished.”
Tom and Dubs were part of the gold medal winning British effort in Paris last year, and Dubs has previously been the individual European Champion, winning at Avenches in 2021 with Nicola Wilson aboard. Now, returning to home soil and, like Michi, getting the chance to put a shock fall at the 2023 Europeans behind them, feels particularly special.
“It’s a privilege,” smiles Tom. “Paris was unbelievable – you wouldn’t know we were abroad, because there was French flair but English passion and Union Jacks everywhere. Whereas today, competing on home soil in front of a home crowd is a dream come true, really, and a privilege and an honour.”
Austria’s Lea Siegl rode the test of her life this afternoon, earning herself a four-star personal best of 26.9 en route to overnight fourth place with Van Helsing P.
“He was just amazing. He came in and really tried his best – I’m so proud of him,” beams Lea. “I had problems in the flying changes at Luhmühlen this year; he was really good in the trot work, but we lost lots of points in the canter work because of the changes, so we’ve done a lot since and really improved them.
“I knew he could be really good in the dressage, but I also knew I had to be on point to get a good score. Of course I wanted to come here and try my best, but I wasn’t expecting this.”
Van Helsing P, or Heli, looked totally at home in the busiest of the day’s atmosphere, and that’s something that came as no surprise to his rider.
“When he enters the arena and there’s a lot of people and a big audience, he really enjoys it – he wants to be the superstar,” says Lea. “He’s really the kind of horse who’s made for competitions and gives 120%. I can always count on him, and he’s actually even better than at home. Years ago, we had some problems where he would get too excited, but now that he’s a bit older and more experienced, he’s calm and totally focused.”
For Lea, riding under pressure on the world stage is nothing new: she finished 15th at the Tokyo Olympics with DSP Fighting Line at the age of just 23. Part of the key to success? Compartmentalisation – and that’s something she’ll be practising tomorrow.
“I’ll try to forget [my placing] tomorrow and just focus on the cross,” she laughs. “But it’s amazing to be at the Europeans and deliver such a good test. I’m just super happy with my horse and so grateful to everyone who’s involved – my team, my trainers, and everyone who supports me. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”
Belgian Olympian Lara de Liedekerke-Meier halted, saluted, and finished her test on her 2024 Luhmühlen CCI5* winner Hooney d’Arville, and then dropped her reins and wrapped her arms around the mare’s neck in gratitude. Rightly so, too: the pair had danced their way to a 27.7, just a tenth of a penalty off the homebred mare’s best-ever score at four-star. That’s enough to put them into fifth as we head into tomorrow’s cross-country.
“I’m so, so proud of her,” says Lara, who piloted Hooney’s dam, Nooney Blue, around her own Senior Championship debut back in 2010. “She’s not a dressage talent, and she really tries so hard, but everything needs to happen the right way in the right moment [for a test to come off]. Today, it fell the right way.”
Lara’s test came just after Lea Siegl’s, which turned out to be a great bonus for her.
“After Lea came out, the atmosphere felt a touch electric, and in the end that helped me, because Hooney got a little bit up [in her frame] – and that’s the image the judges really want to see now,” says Lara. “But she stayed with me, which was really, really nice – and it was our test. There’s still so much more to come, but today I’m over the moon.”
Hooney, who was also a top-fifteen finisher at Badminton this year, was never necessarily intended to be one of Lara’s team mounts – but while she’s game and available to fulfil that role, Lara hopes to use her to contribute to the ongoing Belgian building efforts.
“She was my fifth choice [for Paris] last year, but at the moment we have some horses out of action, and so she’s my number one,” says Lara. “I’m not sure how long she’ll be number one, because of the younger generation coming up, but she is the full package. She doesn’t excel in one particular phase, so I think if one day I want to grab a medal I might need a touch extra in the dressage, but if I don’t mess up she should be able to keep on this dressage score. She’s really a horse I want to do more five-stars on – she challenges me and gets better and better.”
Yesterday’s leaders, Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K, now sits sixth on her score of 27.8, while fellow countryman and team pathfinder Libussa Lübbeke and Caramia 34 will go into cross-country in seventh on 28.3.
Bubby Upton, who is one of two individual competitors for Great Britain this week, made an early bid for medal contention aboard the ten-year-old Its Cooley Time, with whom she won Bramham’s CCI4*-L this summer. The very consistent first-phase performers posted a 28.9 – the horse’s sixth four-star sub-30 in as many tests – to slot into eighth place as we head into tomorrow’s feature day of competition.
For Bubby, who rode for Great Britain at Pony, Junior, and Young Rider Europeans, taking individual gold at the Junior level in 2017, this week represents a Senior championship debut – and she’s determined to make the most of every moment.
“It’s so special – it’s been a dream of mine forever,” says Bubby. “I grew up watching people like Pippa and Piggy doing all the championships, and I’ve been pushing like mad for the last few years to try to get here myself. We’ve come close a few times, and been a bit unlucky with the timings of accidents and things like that, which have kind of prevented the dream from coming true. So to be here is just incredible, and to do it on home soil is even more special.”
Bubby has produced Its Cooley Time throughout his career, and so she knew that entering the pressure-cooker atmosphere in the arena this afternoon would test his quick and quirky brain – but some essential environmental preparation helped the gelding to tackle the occasion without any dramatics.
“He’s a very sharp, sensitive horse, so the timing of the warm-up is very important with him,” says Bubby. “We were lucky enough to have some test practice with him at Burghley a couple of weeks ago [when the British squad did a test demonstration], which was incredible because we were able to work out what we need to do more or less of, and I feel like as a result, we really got it right today. He was fantastic in there.”
She has, she explains, been working closely with coach Amy Woodhead throughout the young horse’s career.
“I’m so grateful to her for everything she’s done – she’s seen him right from the start, and knows where we’ve come from to get here.”
Their smart test keeps them in a very competitive position overnight, but a slightly higher post on the leaderboard was precluded by a couple of trips – moments that analytical Bubby is quick to unpack to aid in their future efforts.
“He had a very big stumble into his halt, which was a real shame because the trot halts are a big highlight for him,” she says. “That obviously interrupted the halt, and then the reinback as well, which is a shame but no fault of his own.”
Then, she continues, “in the medium canter he saw the crowds and was like, ‘oh!’. But I’m just so proud of him – it’s a fine line with him because of his sharpness and sensitivity. So I’m thrilled with how he coped, and I think it’s so exciting for the future with him.”
The top ten is rounded out at the end of the first phase by two of yesterday’s competitors, who share ninth place overnight: Great Britain’s Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ sit flush with France’s Sebastien Cavaillon and Elipso de la Vigne on a score of 29.
Tomorrow’s cross-country day begins at 11.00 a.m. BST (12.00 p.m. CEST/6.00 a.m. EST), and already, we’ve sadly seen our field thinned by one: Sweden’s Sofia Sjoborg, who was sitting 43rd with Govalent, has opted to withdraw after feeling that the young gelding wasn’t quite himself. That means we’ll take 54 horses and riders into the next phase, and just 20 penalties covers the top 49 – so with tomorrow’s tight time and technical, stamina-testing track ahead of them, there’s plenty of plot twists on the cards.
The margins are achingly tight at the top of the team leaderboard, too: Germany leads the way at the close of the first phase on an aggregate score of 74.4, just 1.4 penalties – or three seconds and change – ahead of Great Britain on a 75.8. Bronze is currently held by France, though they sit some margin behind: on a first-phase aggregate of 90.7, they have 14.9 penalties between them and the Brits. Switzerland are close behind in fourth on 95.2, while Belgium are breathing down their necks on a 95.3 in fifth place. Austria, with their three-rider team, are sixth on 98.9, and Ireland currently hold seventh on 110.6. Sweden are eighth on 104.8, and Italy closes out the leaderboard in ninth on 105.8.
We’ll be bringing you plenty of rider insights into the course to come, and you can have an early look at some of the key combinations in our preview here, or walk the course via the CrossCountry App here. The cross-country times can be found here. Keep it locked on EN for plenty more coverage to come from the 2025 FEI European Eventing Championships, and as always, Go Eventing!
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