BOEKELO – As expected, the team riders from eight nations have significantly reshuffled the top of the leaderboard on the second day of dressage at Military Boekelo-Enschede. British European Champion Laura Collett now leads the standings after the first phase with Count Onyx and a score of 26.9 penalty points.
New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell currently holds second place with Speedwell (27.1), while Ireland’s Padraig McCarthy sits third with MGH Zabaione (27.4).
The best Dutch result remains that of Gert Jan Heinen, who competed individually on Thursday with Goliath and is now ranked 38th overall (31.9). In the race for the Dutch national title, Sterre van Houte follows in second with Crossborder Radar Love (34.4), while Tijn de Blaauw, at just twenty years old the youngest competitor in the Boekelo field, is third with The Joker (37.4).
In the team classification, Great Britain leads the standings in the sixth leg of the FEI Nations Cup series with 87.1 penalty points, closely followed by Ireland (87.7) and New Zealand (88.9).
A total of 89 competitors will start the cross-country phase on Saturday, featuring 26 obstacles across the varied terrain. Daniel Jocelyn will be the first out on course at 9:30 a.m. with Blackthorn Cruise. Leader Laura Collett follows shortly after as the third rider, at 9:46 a.m. Tijn de Blaauw will be the first Dutch rider to go, starting at 9:58 a.m. as the sixth competitor. Unlike in dressage, all team riders will take to the field first on Saturday.
Ideal cross-country conditions
Course designer Adrian Ditcham, who has been responsible for the Boekelo course since 2019, was fortunate with excellent weather conditions in the lead-up. “They’ve been perfect—honestly, the best since I started here,” he said. This was helped by the organization’s decision to limit heavy vehicle traffic on participant and spectator routes as much as possible.
As the course designer, Ditcham must find the right balance between challenges for experienced combinations and accessibility for newcomers. “And everyone in between,” he adds. “That’s why I always discuss the rider list with the organizers in advance. The challenge is always greatest when the event follows an international championship, like the recent Europeans. The horses are technically very well-trained, but we have to be mindful not to make the fences, for example, too narrow.”
Ditcham says he has developed a special bond with this Twente classic over the years. “Of all the events I work on, this might be the most beautiful. The atmosphere here, the connection between riders and spectators—you just don’t see that anywhere else. They’re true fans of this event. I always come here with great pleasure.”