From 10 - 16 June 2013 Hof Kasselmann in Hagen am Teutoburger Wald, Germany, will once again play host to the biggest and most spectacular young riders festival in the world. Future Champions, the official German Nations Cup competition for pony riders, juniors and young riders in show jumping and dressage, has been the ambition of the young riding elite since 1997, and it is even more hotly contested today than ever.
A total of 42 Nations Cups have taken place to date at the world-renowned Hof Kasselmann at the foot of the Borgberg Mountain. In 2000 Hagen a.T.W. even hosted the European Pony Championships and, two years later, it hosted that event again.
What started in 1997 as the Nations Cup for pony riders in dressage and show jumping, has grown into a major event, reflecting the developments that have taken place in the youth sector. Whereas the 1997 event welcomed competitors from nine countries, in 2012 teams and individual riders from over 30 different countries came to Hagen a.T.W. This number can only partly be explained by the number of Nations Cups, but points very clearly to the development of youth riding both in Germany and in “the rest of the world”.
Hof Kasselmann in the Osnabrück region has been a milestone, a real “springboard” for many careers. A number of championship riders have had their first Nations Cup experiences in Hagen am Teutoburger Wald: Number one in the show-jumping world rankings Christian Ahlmann from Marl, team world champion Janne Friederike Meyer (Hamburg) and Marcus Ehning (Borken) – all three of whom were members of the 2012 Olympic team. The same goes for Brit Ben Maher, 2012 Olympic team champion.
German dressage aces Kristina Sprehe (Dinklage) and Helen Langehanenberg (Havixbeck) gained their first international experiences at Hof Kasselmann and both picked up Olympic silver medals in the team competition. Langehanenberg won the World Cup final in Göteborg. British Olympic team champion Laura Tomlinson (Bechtolsheimer) cut her teeth as a pony rider in Hagen a.T.W., and for many years carried round the bracelet she won with her as a good luck charm. World Cup finalist and Italy’s most successful rider Valentina Truppa began her remarkable career at this young riders festival in the Osnabrücker region.
At Future Champions careers are made and fostered and 2013 will be no different. It kicks off on 10 June with young horses, as Future Champions – the name says it all – is also the venue for the classification for the DKB national championships for five year-old show-jumping and dressage horses.
Photos © Barbara Schnell - Dirk Caremans
Related Links
Katharina Winkelhues and Dressman, 2002 European Pony Champions
Scores: 2012 CDIO-PJYR Hagen
Pony Pleasure at the 2011 CDIO-PJYR Hagen