SWITZERLAND’s Steve Guerdat returns to defend his European show jumping title when the Longines FEI Jumping European Championships 2025 get underway at Casas Novas in A Coruña, Spain next Wednesday. Fresh from an Aachen Grand Prix win last Sunday, Guerdat’s teammate Martin Fuchs bolsters a somewhat struggling Swiss side in hope of European glory, but they certainly won’t have it all their own way.
Kicking off on Wednesday, July 16th, 23 nations will be represented at the championships which return to Spain for just the third time in its 68-year history – 18 teams and five more countries represented by individuals; 92 athletes in total. Spain previously hosted the senior Europeans in 1993 (Gijón) and 2011 (Madrid).
Germany holds pole position on the European Championships roll of honour, with seven team and 15 individual gold medals collected down the years. Otto Becker’s team looks strong again for the 2025 renewal, headed by Olympic champion Christian Kukuk with Just Be Gentle. He is joined by Richard Vogel and the talking horse of the last few seasons, United Touch S, Vogel’s partner Sophie Hinners (Iron Dames My Prins), Marcus Ehning (Coolio 42) and Hans-Dieter Dreher (Elysium).
Defending team champions are Sweden who were on a winning roll back in 2023 when adding their very first European team gold to the Olympic and World titles they were in possession of. Since then, the Olympic Games did not go their way and their form has not been great this season, most recently finishing ninth in the Longines League of Nations in Rotterdam. Their team is headed by Wilma Hellström and her one-eyed mare Cicci BJN who were on the winning team two years ago.
Steve Guerdat won gold with Dynamix de Belheme at the 2023 European Championships in Milan. He is back to defend his title next week in A Coruña, Spain \ Tomas Holcbecher
Strength
Hoping to back up an Olympic gold medal-winning performance from the Paris Games last summer, Di Lampard’s British squad includes two riders from her Paris team, world number two Ben Maher with Point Break and Scott Brash with Hello Folie. The Brits always step up at championship time and both mentioned riders were part of the team who finished third in Aachen last weekend.
The 2023 European individual bronze medallist Julien Epaillard, who won a team bronze at last summer’s Games and finished fourth individually, heads the French team with Donatello D’Auge, while the aforementioned Guerdat (Albfuehren’s Iashin Sitte) and Fuchs (Conner Jei) are joined on a Swiss team searching for form by Janika Sprunger (Orelie), Geraldine Straumann (Long John Silver 3) and Nadja Peter Steiner riding Mila, the former mount of Ireland’s Eoin McMahon who helped Ireland win team silver two years ago in Milan.
The Dutch bring their Paris and Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Beauville Z NOP, ridden by Maikel van der Vleuten, and this team, which also includes the highly-consistent Kim Emmen and Imagine, can never be underestimated. Team Belgium should be highly competitive too and the squad includes the superstar Ermitage Kalone who won the five-star Longines GCT Grand Prix of Paris at the end of June.
Irish hopes
For Team Ireland, Michael Blake has selected four Olympians who will be joined by 22-year-old senior championship debutant Seamus Hughes Kennedy with the Irish Sport Horse ESI Rocky. That pair jumped their way onto the team with double clears in the five-star Grand Prix of Rome and Nations Cup in La Baule.
He is joined by Bertram Allen with the young talent Qonquest de Rigo who was also double clear in La Baule, Daniel Coyle and his Paris partner Legacy, Darragh Kenny with his London World Cup winner Eddy Blue and, after the late withdrawal of Cian O’Connor, Denis Lynch steps in with Vistogrand.
Blake’s riders have been in fine form. He commented: “Our teams have been in great form in Nations Cups, but when you get to championships, the level of competition is even higher and the pressure ramps up. Our lads know that, they compete at the highest level week-in, week-out and are relishing the opportunity. It is very special to represent your country at a major championship.”
The last Irish win came in Gothenburg in 2017, as Allen and O’Connor, who also won individual bronze with Good Luck, joined Shane Sweetnam and Denis Lynch.
Ireland look primed to land another championship podium if all goes to plan. Follow along on www.theirishfield.ie where Judith Faherty will be reporting live from the championships.
Timetable
The Championship begins with a Table C, open to teams and individuals, on Wednesday, July 16th, with the score for each athlete converted into penalties at the end of the day.
The second competition begins with one round on Thursday, July 17th and is open to all teams and individuals, but only the top 10 teams and top 50 individuals go through to the second round on Friday when the team medals will be decided.
The top 25 go through to the first round of the individual final on Sunday, July 20th, with the top 12 returning for a second round to decide the fate of the European individual title for 2025.