A retrospective from Luxembourg’s perspective on the international equestrian sports in 2025
Show Jumping
Not only show jumper Victor Bettendorf was active in 2025; his brother Basile and Odile Gierech also toured various parts of Europe. As always, the winter months focused on tournaments in southern, warmer climates. In Valencia, Luxembourg’s top show jumper secured numerous victories at a CSI 4* tournament in late January and early February 2025. During the same period, he was selected for the “Madrid in Motion” team, while Odile Gierech secured wins in Vejer de la Frontera.
In late March, Victor Bettendorf won the “Prix de la Ville de Paris” with Cancun Torel as part of the “Saut Hermès” (CSI 5) and a month later he achieved another top-10 finish at the five-star tournament in Fontainebleau (F). Later in Shanghai, he finished third in a 1.55m competition of the Global Champions Tour with “Cancun.” Shortly after returning to Europe, he achieved a double victory in Bourg-en-Bresse (F): with Doha de Riverland over 1.50m in a CSI 4 competition and on Simolo de la Roque over 1.40m (CSI 2*).
He also highlighted three top 10 placements at the “Royal Windsor Horse Show” for the current world number 79. At the end of May, Odile Gierech ranked fifth in a CSI 4* show jumping event over 1.45m in Cantelu (F). Previously, she won the final for seven-year-olds at the same venue on Addicted. In early June, she claimed a third place in a CSI 4* Grand Prix over 1.45m in Cabourg (F) on Kiss Me and also won the final for seven-year-olds there.
At the “Réiser Päerdsdeeg”, Gierech was even awarded as the best female rider of the first tournament weekend. She also placed fourth in the jump-off of the 1.55m class. The overall victory in the events counting for the Longines Ranking was secured by Sofian Misraoui from France in Roeser.
In mid-June, Victor Bettendorf won a jumping competition over 1.55m in St. Tropez with Cancun Torel as part of a “Global Champions Tour” event. Yola Schartz represented Luxembourg at the Junior European Championships in Riesenbeck. After the summer break, in September, Victor Bettendorf again impressed with several victories in Deauville (F), Münster (D), Lier (B), and St. Tropez (F), while Odile Gierech managed a top 10 finish in Brussels during a CSIO 5* tournament. Bettendorf, in turn, accumulated two more top 10 placements after the Global Champions Tour stop in Vienna.
This same tour then made a stop in Rome, where the 36-year-old Luxembourger won a jumping against the clock over 1.50m. After becoming second on two occasions at the end of the year in Valencia (CSI 4*) and achieving other good results in Rouen, the highlight occurred just before Christmas in London, where Victor Bettendorf won three competitions and the “Leader Rider” award.
Dressage
Fie Christine Skarsoe placed in the top ten twice at the CDI 5-invitation tournament in Doha on Imperador Dos Cedros, something her colleague Nicolas Wagner Ehlinger achieved as well at a four-star tournament in Lier with Quater Back Junior. At the end of April, the two-time Olympic participant was found in second place in the Grand Prix of a CDI 3 tournament in St. Truiden (B). In the subsequent freestyle, he secured the victory. At the Aachen CHIO, Skarsoe finished seventh in the freestyle in her class in early July, and Decruyenaere Haupert placed tenth in the individual standings among the juniors.
Fie Christine Skarsoe impressed in early May in Mannheim with a second place at a CDI 4*-dressage event, both in the Grand Prix and the freestyle. A few weeks later, she returned to the podium at the World Cup tournament in Mariakalnok (H), again in both the Grand Prix and the freestyle. Amélie Decruyenaere Haupert placed second twice at junior competitions in Aachen on Finaud. A dressage event in Jardy in June was dominated by several Luxembourgish young riders. In July, dressage riders Lena Wolf and Jamie-Lee Lange were pleased to qualify for the Dressage European Championships in Kornberg (D). In Le Mans (F), Charlie Von Roesgen reached the final at the Children European Championships, finishing tenth. Téo Rouyr also impressed there with an eighth place in the Ponies category.
In mid-August, Wagner Ehlinger and “Quater Back” boosted their form for the European Championships with a victory in the Grand Prix and a second-place finish in the Freestyle in Zurich. That European Championship actually would deserve its own review: both Luxembourgers, Fie Christine Skarsoe and Nicolas Wagner Ehlinger, reached the second round. Wagner Ehlinger and Quater Back Junior even became the first Luxembourgish pair ever to reach the final, the freestyle, where they ultimately achieved a strong 18th place. After the European Championships, Skarsoe secured a double victory in the Grand Prix and Freestyle at the World Cup tournament in Radzionkow, Poland, at the end of September. World Cup points were also up for grabs in Lyon at the end of October, again for Skarsoe, where his outstanding result was eighth place in the Freestyle.
Other Disciplines
At the beginning of May 2025, vaulter Philipp Bäcker won a CVI 1*-IS1M competition in Lier, Belgium. In mid-July, endurance rider Julien van Cauter secured victory in a 120-kilometer race in Wimmenau, France, with Mansoor de Navarre.
The European Driving Championships concluded in early September with two medals for Luxembourg: Marie Schiltz and Frodo won bronze in the individual competition, and the Luxembourg team even managed to secure silver in Lähden, Germany.
Translated from German by AI and reviewed and adjusted by Paul Krier.