Text © World of Showjumping

Belgium claimed team gold at the Longines FEI Jumping European Championship 2025 at Casas Novas Equestrian Centre in A Coruña, Spain, in a competition that turned into a real cliffhanger. Sitting third overnight coming into the medal-deciding round, only 0.65 penalty points behind Great Britain who was up in the lead after the two first days of jumping at Casas Novas, the Belgian boys became Europe’s best on Friday afternoon with some serious young talent part of the team. 

“I think this is an unbelievable success with quite a young team, especially with two very young riders,” Belgian chef d’equipe Peter Weinberg said about his golden squad. “They are unbelievable riders with very good horses, as we could see in the second round. We came from behind and the horses were jumping brilliant, and the horses are the most important, they are really top… What also helps is that the course builder is doing a fantastic job for us. In our sport, the horses are the most important and we are very, very lucky that we have really good horses in Belgium – especially the horses that are jumping here, they are unbelievable.”

Friday’s medal-decider was another Table A, not against the clock, set at 1.60m. It was a highly technical course waiting for the horses and riders, consisting of fourteen fences and seventeen efforts. It was especially the line from the triple bar at no. 8 on either six or seven strides a bit uphill over the rolling arena at Casas Novas to the triple combination at no. 9 abc – consisting of an oxer and two uprights with a plank at the middle element – that caused trouble. This specific line required a real plan, and a 120% commitment from each rider as to the execution – which had to be absolutely perfect if they wanted it to stay intact. The time also came into play today, and there was not much space to breathe around Varela’s delicate track if the riders were to make it below the 81.00 second mark.  

The best 50 horse-and-rider combinations after Wednesday and Thursday's competitions were allowed to participate in Friday's class with the individuals going before the ten best teams that had qualified for this round, where they would battle it out for the podium. 

Great Britain was in the lead going into the final round of the team competition at Casas Novas, on 3.96 penalty points, followed by Germany on 4.19, Belgium on 4.61, Ireland on 8.39, France on 9.69, Switzerland on 11.10, Netherlands on 14.19, Italy on 17.93, Denmark on 21.72 and defending champions Sweden on 23.93. Going in reverse order of their penalties, the Brits had the advantage of going last. However, with the top three teams sitting so extremely close there was no room for any errors today – with the pressure piling on to every single rider. But that’s when mistakes are usually made, and today was no exception. 

The seven teams behind the top three ended up as supporting actors in today’s thriller, and it was Belgium, Germany and Great Britain that took to the centre of the stage at Casas Novas. 

First to go for the Belgians, Nicola Philippaerts and Katanga vh Dingeshof (Cardento x Tornedo FCS) made sure to put the pressure on from the beginning with a clear round – their third of the championship. Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Coolio 42 (Casalito x Quidam de Revel), however, were not able to answer back – adding four faults to their score, which would turn out costly as the competition progressed. Meanwhile, Great Britain’s pathfinders Ben Maher and Dallas Vegas Batilly (Cap Kennedy x L’arc de Triomphe) kept their team on the top of the scoreboard with another clear round. 

Things took a turn for the worse for the Belgians when Pieter Devos and Causal DV Z (Cornet Obolensky x Cicero Z Van Paemel) – their second duo out – had most of the rails on the oxer at no. 2 down, but they recovered well to finish on a score of four. Germany’s Sophie Hinners then levelled things out with her second clear round of the championship aboard Iron Dames My Prins (Zilverstar T x Winningmood), both teams now still having the possibility of finishing on their scores of 4.61 and 4.19 if their last two riders would deliver clear rounds. 

Just like on Thursday, it was not working out for Great Britain’s Matt Sampson and Medoc de Toxandria (Der Senaat x Kelvin de Sainte Hermelle). After having been eliminated in the triple combination yesterday, the pair once again encountered problems today. A rail down on 8a, a stop at 8b, and time faults added, left them on a score of 14 faults and Great Britain were looking vulnerable indeed as they went into the third rotation of riders with a best possible outcome of 3.96 penalties, but with Sampson's massive penalties hidden inside brackets as a haunting backdrop.

It was Thibeau Spits – 24 years old – and the 10-year-old stallion Impress-K van’t Kattenheye Z (Indoktro K van’t Kattenheye Z x Vagabond de La Pomme) that really brought pulse into the competition as third out for Belgium when only adding a time penalty to their score in an otherwise foot-perfect round, having not touched a pole so far at Casas Novas. So, when Olympic champion Christian Kukuk and Just Be Gentle (Tyson x Ticallux Verte) picked up four faults on the triple bar for Germany, and Donald Whitaker had a rail on the oxer at no. 13b with the splendid Millfield Colette (Cornet Obolensky x Clearway) for Great Britain, Belgium had taken over the lead on a score of 5.61 ahead of the last rotation of riders, with the Brits sitting second on 7.96 and the Germans third on 8.19. 

As Belgium’s last pair in the ring, 27-year-old Gilles Thomas and the phenomenal 11-year-old stallion Ermitage Kalone (Catoki x Kannan) – who has a fanbase unlike any other horse on the circuit – now had the opportunity to secure the gold. Jumping spectacular on the two first days at Casas Novas, all eyes were on Ermitage Kalone as he entered the ring. And in a pure demonstration of power and precision, the two made light work of the course – and as he was clearing the last upright, Thomas punched a fist in the air in pure joy: He had just delivered the most important round of his career to bring the gold home for Belgium. 

“Maybe yesterday during my ride I had a bit more pressure,” Thomas reflected afterwards. “Today, Ermitage felt great already in the warm-up and the whole team was there and they confirmed that he was jumping great. We anyway had a medal, so I had to choose which one, and the way he was jumping… When you are walking the course, you have a bit of nerves but when you get on a horse like that, and you start to jump, and you get a feeling like that, the pressure goes a bit away. I love riding, and especially with such a horse, then it is a fun sport.” 

“Ermitage is so popular,” Thomas said about his fantastic stallion. “A few weeks ago, we won our first five-star Grand Prix, but he also deserves a medal – he is an incredible horse. I am very lucky to have such a horse in my career. Also, I am very happy that the three others have at the same time a very good horse, so we have a great team together. With a team like this, we have said already before, that we are still young, but once we are going to win a medal – and today we won gold.”

All Germany and Great Britain could do was to battle it out for the silver and bronze medals, although Ireland was watching carefully from the side-lines on a score of 12.39. Germany’s Richard Vogel and the incredible United Touch S (Untouched x Lux Z) – another extraordinary stallion with a massive fan club – did not disappoint with a clear round, leaving their team on 8.19 points and retaining their individual lead on their overnight score of 0.01. 

It would come down to Scott Brash and Hello Folie (Luidam x Diamant de Semilly) to decide what the scoreboard below Belgium would look like, and it seemed as if Folie had already made her mind up as she entered the ring – she was having nothing else than a clear round today. Yet again, she showed off in A Coruña, where she has made herself world-famous this week with her character that is larger than life and a jump anyone would envy. Delivering another clear round with Brash, Folie took the first medal of her career today – team silver – leaving the Germans to the bronze, and the rest of us with a feeling that there is a lot more to come from this lovely lady.

“You’ve just got to focus on your job, and try to beat the course, do the right things for your horse, stay cool and do the best you can,” Brash said afterwards. “Folie’s quick, she’s feisty and she wants to get on with the job. So it can make it challenging at times, but she tries very hard when she gets there. I have to try to visualise what she’s going to do around the course. We walk the course, we make a plan and then try to execute that plan the right way. I’m very happy with where she’s at; she’s jumped three brilliant days here, she hasn’t touched a fence, I’m delighted.”

“A medal with the team was our goal, so we are very happy that we won the bronze medal, even when we dropped one place today,” German chef d’equipe Otto Becker said. “All four riders with their horses did very well, jumping two clear rounds and two rounds with one down, so I am very happy and pleased with the whole team. I am happy to win this bronze medal. It was very close, we saw top class sport, unbelievable horse-and-rider combinations. I think it was really a good championship; it was tight until the end.” 

With the team medals decided, the attention now turns to Sunday’s individual final which will conclude the 2025 Europeans. This will be jumped over two rounds, and the first of these is compulsory for the 25 best-placed horse-and-rider combinations. The second and last round is open to the 12 best-placed horse-and-rider combinations, after scores from Sunday's first round have been added. 

Germany’s Richard Vogel is still in the lead individually, on a score of 0.01, followed by Great Britain’s Scott Brash on 1.08, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat – reigning European champion – on 1.19, Belgium’s Gilles Thomas on 1.37, Belgium’s Nicola Philippaerts on 1.72, Switzerland’s Nadja Peter Steiner on 2.11, Ireland’s Seamus Hughes Kennedy on 2.16, Great Britain’s Ben Maher on 2.35, Switzerland’s Janika Sprunger on 2.41 and finally France’s Kevin Staut rounding off the top ten on 2.47.