FEI Young Rider and U25 European Championships: Strong Freestyle finish by Brits

On the final day of the 2025 FEI Young Rider and U25 European Championships, five British riders stepped forward to ride the Freestyle final, with top placings for Annabella Pidgley and Mette Dahl who led the way in their age categories.  

U25s  

The standard in the U25 Freestyle was nothing short of inspired. Germany’s Moritz Treffinger finished his consistent week at the Championship by moving up into the top spot, claiming the European Champion title and the Freestyle gold medal. With Gestut Bonhomme’s stallion Cadeau Noir, Moritz rode to a new personal best of 80.400%, achieving a near unanimous victory across the judging panel. Sara Aagaard Hyrm and Atterupgaards Cooper also moved up a position from the Individual test, claiming the Freestyle Silver with a personal best of 79.925%; whilst Germany’s Felicitas Hendricks also achieved a new career high score, with 79.340% on board her own Drombusch OLD delivering the bronze.  

Finishing just a nose outside of the medals, Annabella Pidgley produced her best test of the week to score 77.970% with Sarah Pidgley’s Vamos Amigos. Annabella’s test was a treat to watch, with an entertaining, ambitious floorplan that was exceptionally executed by the multi-medalled rider. Vamos showed his collected ability to his best today, and their passage, pirouettes and piaffe raked in the high marks. The combination were rewarded with fourth place for their sparkling efforts, less than two percent away from the medals.   

Also riding to a top placing was German-based Brit Harrison Ashton. At just his first European Championships, Harrison held his nerve in the Freestyle to give Finnish Olympian Henri Rouste’s Million Dreams another accomplished ride. Today the extended trots were a real highlight, as were the well-presented double pirouettes and passage; an immaculate final saw the combination earn their third personal best score of the week, a fantastic 74.200%.  

European Championships debutante Lilah Gibbs successfully qualified for the freestyle final and presented a punchy programme set to music by Florence & the Machine. With her graceful gelding, Lilah did a fantastic job to work with his power, holding his hand throughout the performance. A touch of over-exuberance in the canter work just led to a handful of mistakes today which unfortunately brought the super trending mark to a final score of 63.495. There’s certainly a lot to look forward to in the future for this duo, who’ve done a great job on their team debut.  

Young Riders  

The Young Rider podium would be a family affair, as Germany’s successful Baumgürtel sisters claimed gold and silver. Lana-Pinou Baumgürtel and her Escolar-sired mare ZINQ Emma FH NRW completed an unbeaten run in Kronberg, claiming the European Champion title on 80.120%; their test was a masterclass in Freestyle riding, with complex lines executed alongside a high-quality technical performance. Lana-Pinou's elder sister Lucie-Anouk moved up in the rankings to claim the runner up spot today; her test with ZINQ Hugo FH (Speilberg x San Remo) earned 76.580%, placing ahead of Individual medallist Anna Teibel Raben, who collected another bronze medal for Denmark.

Mette Dahl was once again best of the Brits, riding a smart test on board Fiona Bigwood’s Fidelio van het Bloemenhof to score 72.865% and take the tenth place ribbon. Mette showed a great partnership with her chestnut gelding in the delivery of an ambitious floorplan, which included four and three-tempi changes on a circle; the artistic marks praised the difficulty and a nice music programme of cinematic pop ensembles, including Sam Smith’s Lay Me Down and Rudimental’s These Days.  

Also progressing through to the Freestyle finale for Young Riders was team newcomer Teghan Cantrell-Bennett, who’s stood out all week with her light, harmonious style of riding. Today, together with Christine Cantrell’s British-bred Woodlander Donna Summer, Teghan rode a splendid Freestyle test to dramatic film and TV tunes, with bold extended trots, changes on a loop and flowing trot half passes; unfortunately, two missing shoulder-in movements had a significant impact on the score, which undoubtedly would’ve well rewarded the duo’s efforts. It’s certain this combination will be back another day and building on a fantastic week of results.  

Congratulations to those who collected the medals and to the British riders and horses, who together with their support teams, owners, grooms and families, have done us proud all week. Thanks go to Nina Boex, Tom Hobday, Peter Storr, Clive Halsall and Rob Oulton for their support of the British youth teams in action on the greatest stage.  

Results - top three and British riders 

U25 Freestyle  
1. Moritz Treffinger and Cadeau Noir, 80.400% (GER)  
2. Sara Aagaard Hyrm and Atterupgaards Cooper, 79.925% (DEN)  
3. Felicitas Hendricks and Drombusch OLD, 79.340% (GER) 
4. Annabella Pidgley and Vamos Amigos, 77.970% (GBR) 
8. Harrison Ashton and Million Dreams, 74.200% (GBR) 
18. Lilah Gibbs and Dude III, 63.495%   

Young Rider Freestyle  
1. Lana-Pinou Baumgürtel and ZINQ Emma FH NRW, 80.120% (GER)  
2. Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel and ZINQ Hugo FH, 76.580% (GER)   
3. Anna Teibel Raben and Sparaday, 76.490%% (DEN)   
10. Mette Dahl and Fidelio van het Bloemenhof, 72.865% (GBR) 
17. Teghan Cantrell-Bennett and Woodlander Donna Summer, 63.975%, (GBR) 

FULL RESULTS