Belgian para dressage rider Manon Claeys and her fiancé Samuel de Pauw got married on 26 July 2025. Claeys is a 2021 Tokyo Paralympic bronze medal winner. She and Samuel, who is a farrier by profession, began dating 4.5 years ago. Sam proposed on a holiday on the Amalfi coast in October 2024. The couple celebrated their union in Dendermonde, Belgium.
German professional dressage rider Stella-Charlott Roth (35) is pregnant with her first child. Her partner is Thomas Berger, the son of major German horse dealer Ignaz "IB" Berger. Stella represented Germany at the 2010 European Young Riders Championships in Kronberg on Diva Royal. This horse went on to compete at the 2012 Olympics under Dorothee Schneider. Between 2013 and 2018 Stella had an international career on Rubin Action. She briefly returned to the CDI stage in 2020 on Echt Stark (which sold) and in 2024 on Dohnanyi. Roth is based at Heike Kemmer's Amselhof Walle.
Austrian newspaper Der Standard has published more bad news about the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Since managing director Elisabeth Gürtler left in 2018, the "SRS" has been in troubled waters with layoffs of long-time head riders, allegations surrounding supervisory board members, and red numbers, according to Eqwo.net. Since September 2022 Alfred Hudler has been in charge, but he hasn't turned things around entirely. According to Der Standard the 66-year-old Viennese is accused of breach of trust as an internal audit revealed that Hudler has been freely using the company credit card to pay for family holidays, restaurant visits, and fuel bills. Hudler denies these allegations.
A legal battle between Hungarian Arie Yom Tov and Anky Holding, the company of Anky van Grunsven and Sjef Janssen, yielded no winners. According to Omroep Brabant, Yom Tov sued the holding for not fulfilling the goal of the contract: taking his daughter Jazmin Yom Tov to the Olympics. The contract was signed in April 2018 and lasted until September 2020 but was lengthened until January 2023 as the Tokyo Games got postponed. Yom Tov paid an annual training fee of 250,000 euro for coaching of his daughter as well as training several horses. Jazmin Yom Tov did not make it to the 2021 nor 2024 Olympics.
Yom Tov hired lawyer Lars Claassens to sue Anky Holding. The court in Den Bosch, however, ruled that plenty of good results were achieved in this time frame and no complaints were aired during the contract. Omroep Brabant also stated that Yom Tov also complained that Janssen allegedly engaged in sexually unacceptable behaviour. Sjef allegedly talked to the young Hungarian rider daily about sex, including his sexual desires and who he wanted to have sex with. Janssen also asked the girl to connect him with her friends, the Hungarian claimed. Janssen denied all accusations and the court has ruled that Yom Tov completely failed to substantiate the basis for these allegations. Furthermore, Anky Holding counter sued, claiming the Hungarian owed over €300,000 in outstanding compensation. According to the judge, Anky and Sjef failed to sufficiently explain why they were entitled to that money. Omroep Brabant wrote that the dressage couple was accused of issuing an invoice for an unaccountable amount after the partnership ended.
Dressprod reported that Finnish Olympian Joanna Robinson acquired the 10-year old Portuguese sport horse L'Express de Massa (by Bordeaux x Xaquiro). Bred and owned by Sylvain Massa, the bay was competed at international Grand Prix level by former French team rider Pierre Volla. The bay Luso-warmblood was first shown in France as a youngster by Antonien Denis and Remy Issartel before Volla took over. The pair showed at big tour level at two CDI's in the spring of 2025: in Ornago and Stadl Paura with 63.543% and 65.000% for their Grand Prix tests.
Brazilian dressage rider Victor Trielli Avila has proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Brazilian veterinarian Flavia Bassetti (30), and she said yes. The couple began dating on 27 December 2020 and five years later, on 27 June 2025, he proposed to her in Lisbon, Portugal. "I chose to say yes to the love of my life," Flavia took to Instagram. Victor added, "My admiration and love for you grows every day. You are the light of my life. I'm very lucky to have you by my side."
