In 2002 Hof Kasselmann hosted the European Pony Championships and before that it had already been the location of many other youth events.
This year, the young riders got their chance to compete in the Dressurplatz of Horses and Dreams.
It was a bit of a disappointment that the Dutch A-team riders cancelled their entry. Normally Hagen seved as a European Championships qualifier for the Dutch Young Riders Team, but when team coach Jan Peeters announced the teams after the Dutch Championships in Nijmegen, the Dutch YR team no longer felt the need to go to Germany and face the lion.
Germany selected several B-team riders to compete in Hagen, but in Germany B-team means actually A-team Part II. They are all young riders who can score in the upper 60s lower 70s, so Hagen did not need to fear a low show level. With the Belgian A-team there and several other individual riders from France and Denmark, the group of 20 young riders was diverse enough to create a good competition.
Kira Kroncke and Larso were the most consistent combination at the show. The pair won the preliminary and team championship test with 68.42% and 70.14%. Kroncke, who rode her brother's horse Holsteiner stallion Larso (Liostro x Calypso II), faced little competition in the team test, but felt Eva Maria Sprehe on her heels in the preliminary test.
There was no consolation finals in Hagen, the young riders were allowed to chose if they wanted to ride the individual test or Kur to Music. So they split in two groups of ten riders. Kroncke chose the Individual Test (=Prix St Georges) and won her third trophy of the weekend. With 69.95%, Kroncke won the class and produced a Hagen Hattrick.
Photos © Astrid Appels