Britain holds pole position ahead of European team jumping finale
Thursday 17 July 2025
It was a day of supreme highs and lows for the British Equestrian Jumping Squad, in partnership with Agria, on day two of Longines FEI Jumping European Championship 2025 at Casas Novas in A Coruña. In the team competition, our quartet started the day with the narrowest of leads over Germany and Belgium and it was clear that the pressure would build throughout the day, the last 10 teams running in reverse order of merit.
Jessica Mendoza and In The Air
As the individual rider, Jess Mendoza was the first Brit to tackle Santiago Varela Ullastres’ track. Clear rounds were proving a premium commodity in the first dozen riders, with faults spread around the course. Riding Georgia Kipp, Kirsti Mitchem, Melissa Skowlund, Pernilla Amman and her own In The Air, Jess was hungry for a clear round after having an unlucky fence yesterday. They started with great confidence and the black mare harnessed the power of her sire – Air Jordan – to give every fence plenty of space. It was a round of true partnership, with each listening and answering every question asked and, importantly, it was clear and well inside the time allowed. This meant that they stay on a score of 4.55, but it would be a long wait to see where that left them overall. What was guaranteed, though was that they had secured secured qualification to jump once again tomorrow.
“I’m feeling pretty damn good. She was really fabulous – she was flying,” declared Jess. “My plan was a clear round. When I walked the course, it walked tough and there were a lot of hard jumps for her because she shifts a little off the right knee when she’s on the right lead, going right, and there were at least four jumps that I thought might be bogey jumps for her, but she pricked her ears and didn’t touch a fence. She put her whole heart into it and, honestly, it was an incredible feeling and I’m so lucky to ride her” she explained.
The media was curious to know more about Fly and her owners, know as The Mom Club; “I describe her as a cat – I think most horses are more of a dog personality because they want petting and love, but she’ll come to you,” explained Jess. “She’s not going to be the most loving and in-your-face, but she’ll watch you – she watches everything – and she’ll come to you.
“She and my other horse, Summerhouse, who I rode in Deauville, are owned by The Mom Club, who are all the mums of the clients that I train, which is lovely. I also own a part of her and so does my dad – he’s the only one not in the Mom Club, so we don’t mention him. They’re fantastic, lovely girls, so I’ve been lucky to have them want to invest in me. They watch all the rounds – they’re not here, but they’re watching and cheering on, and I get text messages as soon as I’m out of the ring,” she said.
And the mood in the British camp? “I’ve done a lot of British teams, but this one has such camaraderie, and we have such funny banter, so it’s nice to be a part of. We’re all really close and we share our rounds and thoughts - even though I’m an individual, I’m truly part of the team and it’s one of the best teams that I’ve been a part of.”
Ben Maher and Dallas Vegas Batilly
Performance Manager Di Lampard decided to make some changes to the order of the team after yesterday’s sterling effort, meaning that Ben Maher was reinstated to his favoured pathfinder role. With Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s Dallas Vegas Batilly, Ben cantered into the arena as the final rider in the first team rotation, knowing that the riders from nearest rivals Belgium and Germany had gone clear. Yesterday, Ben explained that ‘Tilly’ wasn’t quite her normal self in the ring, leading to an uncharacteristic fence down, but today she looked to have found her spark again. It was normal service resumed when they produced a textbook round to get a clear in the clubhouse for the team and help Ben’s individual standings.
“Today was better, not just the result but she felt better. Yesterday, it was quite late jumping for her, the same for all the horses, and she felt like she was more ready for dinner than coming out to compete. She was very, very quiet and, uncharacteristically for her, made me work a little hard, but today, there was a lot more spring to the step and the jump was all there, which was great. It’s a great start with the team,” declared Ben.
Although early in today’s team competition, with a clear round in the bag, thoughts already begin to turn to the final medal round, and Ben is ready for what that brings. “Fortunately, she's a horse with good experience on this team, so there's hopefully not going to be a course build this week that she hasn't seen before. So, as it gets bigger, a little bit wider and more technical, that should play in theory to her strengths if I do my job right.
“There’s a long way to go yet, but I’m happy to be here – my score didn’t count for the team yesterday. I kind of knew that I couldn't really do better. I could have done a bit better if I was clear, but the job was done by the time I went in yesterday, so I’m happy to be doing my job to get the mood going today,” he said.
Matt Sampson and Medoc de Toxandria
After a top drawer round yesterday, the ever-grateful lad from Sheffield who’s been given a chance in a lifetime has really caught the attention of the crowds and media at A Coruña. That is, of course, Matt Sampson with Medoc de Toxandria, owned by Rachel Gredley, William Gredley and Unex Competition Yard Ltd. Matt has been keeping the saddle warm while the gelding’s usual partner, Tim Gredley, has a break from the competition arena.
As the clouds gave way to sunshine, they entered the arena brimming with confidence after a great experience yesterday and set off well, jumping each fence with ease. They were fluent from the 1.50m parallel at fence four, opened out over the water and then clear at the tricky FEI plank at fence six. It was then a right hand bend over seven to the Longines treble. Unfortunately, ‘Medoc’ just lost his footing behind as he was in the final approach to part ‘A’ – he gave it every effort and cleared it, but was then off the distance at ‘B’ and took the top pole, which unnerved him for the final element and he had no choice but to run out. Matt circled, but it was clear that Medoc had lost confidence, so it was a second refusal and elimination for the duo.
Matt’s first care was for Medoc once out of the ring, and he and groom Paul Drew immediately checked him over and headed back to the stables with the team vet, Tim Randle. When he came back to support his remaining team members, Matt told the press corps; “He was jumping fantastically and felt great. I think he just stumbled a little bit, either on take-off or landing – he sort of caught himself slightly and that stopped us in our tracks a bit for the oxer. He’s not the sort of horse that ever hesitates – he loves his job – so that’s why I thought I’d be okay the second time, but he’d lost the confidence a slight bit. The main thing is that he’s absolutely fine – we’ve checked him with the vet and I’ve been with him since I left the arena. He’s absolutely fine, which is the main thing for me. Showjumping is a sport that I like doing, but I like doing it because of the horses. I’m okay if he’s okay.
“It's tough to come back to a fence like that and I think he just lost his confidence a little bit coming round the second time, which is understandable. We came out, we checked him over – he’s feeling super-good, we did a few small jumps in the warm-up and he felt great with his ears forward, so hopefully we can put this behind us. It’s one of those things, but the main thing is that he’s alright.”
Donald Whitaker and Millfield Colette
Donald Whitaker found themselves move into second place this morning, following the withdrawal of Ireland’s Daniel Coyle and Legacy, who were leading the individual stakes after winning yesterday’s opening speed and handiness class. Having the pressure of being in touch of an individual medal is one thing, but knowing that you absolutely need to pull off a clear for your team is another. There are many riders who would struggle to meet the heavy expectation. However, in his own and Reitsportanlage Dagobertshausen GmbH’s Millfield Colette, Donald has a partner he knows is capable of remarkable things.
The gleaming white mare entered the arena like she was born for moments such as today and, with Donald to guide her, she conjured a superb round – even though, at times, she probably took a bit more charge than her rider might have liked! Together, they showed an assuredness which never gave any doubt that a clear was on the cards – accordingly, a zero was marked in their column on the score card, securing their place on the overnight individual podium.
“I’m a bit relieved! She was amazing, as always. She tries her heart out every time, but I don’t expect anything else from her now, to be honest. She finds it so easy and she’s in her happy place in there,” said Donald with a beaming smile. “There’s still a lot of jumping to do – the second round of the team competition first – so there’s still a lot to do, but we’re very happy.
“She means the absolute world to me. When she goes in the ring, she just never, ever gives up – she gives it absolutely everything she’s got, every single time. I know that before I go in the ring, so it’s a massive help to me – I don’t always have to be perfect because she helps me out a bit. She’s unreal, one in a million for me.”
On the misfortunes of his childhood friend Matt, he said; “I didn’t actually see Matt because I was warming up at the same, so I was trying to watch in between. It’s very unlucky, but sometimes these things happen and, knowing Matt, he’ll bounce back stronger than ever. It put more pressure on me, though! We’ll need some good rounds to keep ourselves in it.”
Scott Brash and Hello Folie
It’s often been written that ice water flows through the veins of Scott Brash. The quiet, unassuming lad from the Scottish Borders has often found himself in high-pressure jumping moments – jumping off for the team gold medal at Paris 2024 being one of the more recent instances – and today was just another occasion. Last to go of the day and back in his usual anchorman role, he knew he simply had to go clear to keep Britain on top of the overnight podium.
Riding Lady Harris and Lady Kirkham’s young but uber-talented Hello Folie on her championship debut brought some extra nerves to the equation because you never know how a green horse will rise to the challenge of jumping at this level. Today, Scott learned a huge amount from his latest star.
The plucky chestnut always gives 110%, so could she produce another round like yesterday’s super clear? There’s none better than Scott to give a youngster confidence, however, and as they cleared the first few fences it was clear she was raring to go, giving each one plenty of air. They were clear and progressing well but, after fence seven, Scott appeared to lose his right rein as he guided her around the turn to the tricky treble that had caught out many a partnership today, including teammates Matt and Medoc. Somehow, with some masterful riding and perhaps a little bit of luck, Scott managed keep the mare on track despite having little or no rein connection and, with a few thousand of the onlooking crowd willing them on, they cleared all three parts. Folie appeared totally unfazed and completed the course without fault, looking thoroughly pleased with herself and enjoying the rapturous applause.
“That felt good. She was jumping incredible and felt really good – she’s just eager to please and do the job. I’m super-proud of her,” declared Scott.
On the incident at the treble, he explained, “I don’t know why, but I managed to lose my rein after the green oxer. I managed to just grab it back at the right moment and asked Folie to jump the triple from where I was, and what an amazing attitude and fight and spirit she showed to jump through that clear.
“I need to watch it back, I don’t really know what happened. It’s a tough triple as it was and I just managed to gather up the rein at right time, but I was very deep coming in and asked her to jump and she responded so well. What was nice was that line didn’t feel great, but she settled down and jumped home very well. I think that shows how confident she is with me and what a great partnership we have, so hopefully we’ll be in a great place tomorrow,” he said.
And on his young star, Scott was full of praise; “She’s green and it’s tougher each day and bigger each day. She warmed up fantastically, she started off really well and she finished really well, so there’s a lot of positives to take. She does give a lot of effort, so this is the most amount of jumping she’s done, so hopefully we’ll still have enough for tomorrow. I’m very happy.
“I think we’re confident together and her attitude is amazing. She wants to do the job and that makes life easy for me. It’s her first championship, so I’m delighted with how she’s responded here,” he said knowingly.
It was a sense of a job well done in the British team camp afterwards. Pressure, emotion, concern, all well managed with expert riding and supreme jumping effort. Scott summed his teammates up; “It’s a brilliant result for the team. I’m delighted for the guys – Ben did an amazing job as he always does, getting us off to a good start. I feel sorry for Matt, it’s just one of those things, but we’ll support him and he’ll bounce back tomorrow, I’m sure. Donald was amazing, and then my mare jumped unbelievably.” However, he quickly brought reality back with a word of caution. “Listen, there’s still a lot of work to do, but we’ll get our heads down and try our best tomorrow.”
Tight at the top
At the end of two rounds of competition, Britain retains the lead, adding nothing to yesterday’s 3.96 penalties. Germany produced four superb clears from their combinations to keep second spot with 4.19, while Belgium also managed three faultess performances to stick on 4.61 to hang on to their podium place.
Individually, following the withdrawal of Daniel Coyle from Ireland, Donald Whitaker and Millfield Colette move up to second on 0.67 and Scott Brash and Hello Folie to fourth with 1.08. Ben Maher’s clear with Dallas Vegas Batilly moves him to 15th on 2.35 and individual rider Jessica Mendoza and In The Air make a 16-place rise up the leaderboard to 29th on 4.56, following their impressive clear.
Performance Manager Di Lampard was clearly delighted with her five charges. “It’s just amazing – to think that we came in in the lead and to go through the drama of the rounds we’ve had, and to finish on the drama of the round we had from Scott. To come through there with a young horse – Scott just sat there and showed his absolute class to ride out through that, and the horse’s desire to get out through the combination. It was absolutely amazing, when you’ve seen so many horses struggle up there, to actually drop your reins. I think he was saying to Matt, ‘hey Matt, I can do this one one-handed, what’s the problem?’,” she quipped.
“It's a really good squad that we’ve got out here, the spirit is absolutely fantastic. They want to do well, they want to win here and you can see the way they’re fighting back. I mean, it was amazing how we picked Matt up – we have to move on – and we were still in it. I couldn’t be more proud of them all.
“We’ll settle down after today, but we’re in the best position for tomorrow and we’re looking forward to it – we’re going to hold onto it, hopefully,” she said with a glance to the skies.
The final push for team honours
Tomorrow, it’s the team finale, when the top 10 best teams come together to battle it out for the FEI European Jumping Championship 2025 medals. The top 25 athletes will also ride to secure a place in Sunday’s individual final .
The action starts at 15:15 BST and you can tune in via FEI.TV, powered by ClipMyHorse.TV, with a subscription. All the start lists and results are available on the Longines Timing site. Everything you need to know about the British squad and how the competition will progress is available on the British Equestrian online Hub.
Report: British Equestrain
Image: Peter Nixon
