In a thrilling Equestrian European Championship final in Riesenbeck, the KWPN stallion Glamourdale ridden by Charlotte Fry, secured his first individual European Championship medal: he won silver with a new personal record of 92.37%. The relatively inexperienced Imhotep ridden by Charlotte Dujardin, secured bronze with a score of 91.39%. The gold once again went to Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB, who is the daughter of the KWPN-recognized stallion Easy Game.

The battle for gold and silver was strongly challenged at a high level and the results were very close. In the end, Fry with Glamourdale (Lord Leatherdale out of Thuja stb pref prest by Negro, breeder J.W. Rodenburg from Ouderkerk aan den IJssel) received the silver, but it was very close: two judges placed the stallion first, and she finished with only a few tenths percent behind. "Today was really his best performance," Fry reacted. "On the first day, he was super fresh but not quite focused enough. In the Special, he was very concentrated but perhaps a little tired. The rest day came in handy and today in the freestyle we could combine the best of both tests. I am truly speechless; this was the best feeling ever."

Bronze for 'Pete'
With Glamourdale and Imhotep (Everdale out of Della d’Ottie stb-ext prest by Vivaldi, breeder T. Huizing from Donderen) on silver and bronze, the combination of Lord Leatherdale x Negro appeared on the podium twice, with Everdale as Imhotep's sire and directly with Glamourdale. Dujardin surprised many this weekend with the significant progress she made in recent months with Imhotep, also known as 'Pete.' "Pete was fantastic this weekend. We were riding while the audience was clapping, cheering, and stomping which he had never experienced before due to his limited experience, but he accepted everything as it came. That's amazing, as is the bronze we have now."

Indian Rock Impresses with Piaffe-Passage
Emmelie Scholtens expertly guided the KWPN stallion Indian Rock (Apache out of Crisjena keur pref prest IBOP-dres by Vivaldi, breeder J. de Bruijn from Schelluinen) through the freestyle. The young stallion showed an impressive piaffe and passage, which seems to strengthen with every competition. With his beautiful upward frame throughout the entire performance, Indian Rock scored many points. Unfortunately, there were some mistakes in the flying changes today, which cost points. Ultimately, he finished in twelfth place. Marlies van Baalen was the second Dutch combination in the freestyle final with Habibi DVB (Don Schufro out of Davina DVB elite pref prest IBOP-dres sport-dres PROK by Johnson, breeders Dressuurstal van Baalen from Brakel). "It's great to be in the freestyle final here, and Habibi stayed fit until the end of the week," the rider happily reflects.

KWPN Horses in the Freestyle Final
Carl Hester and Fame (Bordeaux out of Bonaventura ster prest sport-dres by Rhodium, breeders V.O.F. G. & M. Gerritsen from Leerdam) delivered technically strong performances throughout the entire European Championship and maintained that level in the freestyle final finishing seventh with a score of 85.46%. Habana Libre A (Zizi Top out of Daiquiri A elite pref IBOP-dres sport-dres PROK D-OC by United, breeder Y. Ackermans from Heerewaarden) and Morgan Barbancon also presented a beautiful freestyle for France, as did the Belgian Larissa Pauluis with Flambeau (Ampère out of Lakarla elite pref prest sport-dres PROK by Zeoliet, breeder J. van Eijkelenburg from Oisterwijk).

BvH for KWPN
Photo: Dirk Caremans