News
FEI European Championships 25: Meet the U25 Team
- Written By: British Dressage | Maddie Hinchliff
- Published: Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:00
Kicking off the first of the European Championships, meet the U25 Team who will be travelling alongside the Young Rider team to represent Great Britain at Pilisjászfalu in Hungary from 6 – 12 July.
Harrison Ashton
Although he is now based in Germany, Harrison is originally from Preston in Lancashire and will be competing Henri Ruoste and Equeco GmbH's 13-year-old gelding Spectre. Having made his debut European appearance in 2025, where the team finished third and he finished eighth individually, Harrison has gone on to achieve some tremendous success. This includes taking the win in the U25 Grand Prix Freestyle to music at CDI Herning in October 2025 with a personal best score of 75.185%. Harrison and Spectre have only been a combination for a couple of months, however in their debut CDI at Aachen they took the win in the Intermediate II and finished second in the U25 Grand Prix.
Q: How does it feel to be selected for this year’s Europeans?
A: It’s always a privilege representing Great Britain, but this year it feels very rewarding because I had three horses nominated for this year’s Europeans. That’s a great feeling to achieve that with all the hours that go into making it happen.
Q: What’s been the highlight of your season so far?
A: Competing a few different horses and gaining more experience at this level
Q: Who is somebody you look up to and why?
A: I’m lucky to have Henri Ruoste as a mentor and trainer. He is someone I can always turn to for guidance in both riding and business. So, it would have to be him.
Lilah Gibbs
Based in London, Lilah will be campaigning her second European Championships, having been a part of the bronze medal winning U25 team last year. Aboard her partner of five years, Dude III, the duo made their CDI3* debut earlier this year, and have dominated the domestic CDIU25’s, taking wins at Hartpury, Hickstead and Wellington.
Q: How does it feel to be selected for this year’s Europeans?
A: It is super exciting to have the opportunity to represent GB again at the Europeans this year. Last year was quite a difficult year personally having to come back from injury in a short space of time and this time I am looking forward to going to the championships with more than 11 weeks of riding as my preparation.
Q: What’s been the highlight of your season so far?
A: Our CDI3* debut in Lier at the beginning of the season was such a cool experience and I am beyond grateful to Dude for taking me places I could only have dreamed of. Other than that, our wins at U25 level at our recent CDIs have been a highlight, including new personal best scores.
Q: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
A: Perseverance is the key to success.
Annabella Pidgley
Whilst now based in Denmark, Annabella is originally from Berkshire and will presenting aboard Sarah Pidgley’s 15-year-old gelding, Gio. Having now been a combination for five years, Annabella and Pumpkin had a quiet year last year but have come back in 2026 to compete in a mixture of CDI3*, 4* and U25 competition across Europe. Most recently, the duo took a commanding double-win at CDI Alborg in the U25 division and finished third in the 3* Grand Prix at Herning earlier in the year.
Q: How does it feel to be selected for this year’s Europeans?
A: Amazing. Pumpkin and I have such a strong partnership and every ride with him is just a pleasure. Having had the privilege of riding him at the Europeans in 2024, I’m beyond excited that we get to share another championship experience together. There’s nothing quite like going down that centre line on your heart horse.
Q: What’s been the highlight of your season so far?
A: Double win in Aalborg CDI U25
Q: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
A: Always try your best and work hard
Georgina Nicholls
Based in Hamshire, this has been Georgina’s first year contending at an international level with her 11-year-old gelding Briarwood Notorious, known as Silas at home. Georgie and Silas have had a long journey together, having grown from their first Prelim’s together in 2020 through to their first Grand Prix test together in November 2025. The duo has attended numerous Summer and Winter championships over the years, featuring at Prelim (second place), Novice music (second place), Elementary (eighth place), Medium (first place), Advanced Medium (second place) and Freestyle (fifth place), Prix St Georges (fourth place) and Intermediate I (fifth place).
Q: How does it feel to be selected for this year’s Europeans?
A: Incredibly exciting- it wasn’t something I thought would happen this year as we are relatively new to this level and it’s our first season competing internationally. So it really does feel like a dream come true. To also get to do it with Silas, who is the first horse that I have trained from a four year old to Grand Prix, also makes it really special!
Q: What’s been the highlight of your season so far?
A: Scoring a personal best to place second at Wellington CDI
Q: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
A: Control the controllables, and trust the process and preparation!
Sophie Taylor
Sophie Taylor is the first reserve for the team with her own Jerrydale (Jerry). Sophie has had previous success on the teams, having represented Britain thrice on the Pony Teams in 2016, 2017 and 2018 where the teams finished fourth, third and fourth respectively. Sophie has owned and trained Jerry since he was a four year old, and their highlights have been taking their debut win at the Hartpury Spring CDI in the U25 Grand Prix, as well as achieving 73% and Intermediate II.
Q: How does it feel to be selected for this year’s Europeans?
A: Exciting and a bit daunting as Jerry has had time off when we built the house, so I stepped out of the top end competitive dressage for the last few years! But I’m so pleased since I have brought him on myself since the age of four and I have loved the journey so much and am so proud of him and how much we have learnt together as a partnership
Q: What’s been the highlight of your season so far?
A: Definitely winning the U25 GP at Hartpury! Although it wasn’t perfect it was the first time back in that competitive environment when we really felt back together as a partnership. I’ve been struggling with my competition confidence, so it felt like such a good boost and a marker of what we have achieved together! I’d say that’s the highlight! I was so proud and I still am!
Q: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
A: Don’t lose yourself in the process! Everyone always gets hung up about other people and the best advice I can give is not to lose yourself, you know yourself and your horse best and it’s easy to forget that in the process.
Don't forget to follow our BD Youth social media accounts to keep up to date with all of the European action over the next month!
Photo- (C) Lukasz Kowalski
