That was clear: With a 27.3 point lead over the second-placed Germans, the British riders would have won the gold medal even with six knockdowns in the course. After the three partial tests of dressage, cross-country and show jumping, a British team triumphed for the 24th time at the European Championships in eventing on Sunday evening – more often than any other nation. Sandra Auffarth and her horse Viamant du Matz prevented them from repeating the success of 2021 in the individual ranking and not completely taking the podium, but “only” the top places with winner Rosalind Canter and second-placed Kitty King.
The rider had waited eight years to win an individual medal again. She last managed to do that at the 2015 European Championship. In Normandy, she had worked her way up from eleventh to third place thanks to a confident cross-country ride after dressage. Only a few can fool her in jumping. The thirty-six-year-old, who breeds and trains horses and presents them at tournaments in the Oldenburg region, has been a gifted show jumper since childhood. This year she took part with her mare La Vista in the jumping derbies in Hamburg, Hickstead and Falsterbo, which are among the most difficult courses in the world.
What fascinates you about riding such big and demanding tests? “If you have a horse that is up to the task, that has so much courage and can jump so well, then it’s a lot of fun,” says Sandra Auffarth. In addition, she has great nerves of steel, as she proved at the European Championships: “The pressure is always greater at championships, but I have the feeling that the greater the pressure, the better I ride.”
Four horses fell
The German team was more than satisfied with individual bronze and team silver. Last year she became team world champion and qualified directly for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, so she could use this European Championship as a dress rehearsal for the coming year. It was no surprise that the Brits are particularly good at eventing. That the Germans can win medals despite the elimination of their best rider and the absence of their last best riders, but yes.
Michael Jung fell off-road in Normandy, Julia Krajewski was absent because her mare Amande was injured, and Ingrid Klimke because she broke her collarbone in June. But Sandra Auffarth and the remaining German team members Christoph Wahler and Malin Hansen-Hotopp made up for the losses.
The 29-year-old Wahler just missed out on the medals with his horse Carjatan in fourth place. “He has shown here that he has reached the top of the world,” said German team boss Jens Adolphsen. And another young German gives hope: Jérôme Robiné, 25 years old, competed in his first European Championships as an individual rider and finished seventh with Black Ice. “What Jérôme delivered here as a rookie was great. The boy not only knows how to ride a horse, he also has nerves of steel,” remarked Adolphsen.
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However, two things are driving him with regard to Paris. On the one hand: “Our riders have too few top horses. That sets us apart from the Brits,” said the team boss. You have to be “very anxious” if any of these few top horses drop out on the way to Paris. Three German couples are allowed to start there, but it is far from certain which they will be.
The other topic is the public image of his sport. It was eagerly awaited which tasks course designer Pierre Le Goupil would set in the EM grounds. The Frenchman is also responsible for the design of the Olympic course at the Palace of Versailles. The majority impression was: The requirements were difficult, maybe even too difficult for an EM. There were no breaks.
All two- and four-legged friends survived the event without serious injuries. But 16 of the 54 starter pairs did not finish the cross-country test, four horses fell, five times a rider. The fact that the route had been shortened due to the rain was the only option, it was said afterwards. “I don’t want to imagine this event with two minutes more,” said Adolphsen. “I hope that for Paris there is a very clear definition of what you want to see. Even though things went really well here and the organizer was very flexible – there were too many horses on the ground. That was too great.”
