U25-DM Balve: Helen Erbe and Carlos FRH dance to freestyle gold

The freestyle day was particularly exciting at the German Championships, because some of the young dressage riders competed with music and freestyle sessions that they had only ever presented at a tournament. It was the same with silver medal winner Alina Schrader (Hamburg) and her mare Paola. The well-rehearsed couple danced 75,750 percent to a music mix by singer Wincent Weiß. Selina Söder (Aubenhausen) and Zaire-E, who secured the bronze medal in the championship standings after a somewhat uncertain Grand Prix yesterday with a much more confident freestyle, rode to their freestyle music for only the second time in Balve. The judges rewarded the performance with 75.625 percent.

"I've always wanted to ride to this freestyle music because I think it's so great and of course the music means a lot to me, since my sister Hannah has already ridden freestyle to it with Carlos," said Helen Erbe after the medals were awarded. "I got up this morning and said I didn't feel excited, just excited." The Rhinelander gelding Carlos FRH knows the music very well, but Helen started with the mix of songs from the 1980s for the first time in Balve. "I knew Balve was coming and then I rode her through at home and said, that's fine, we'll do it." And they delivered. After they still got 72.444 percent in the Grand Prix, the performance in the freestyle was sovereign from start to finish and had a few highlights.

Alina Schrader showed yesterday with a great performance and victory in the Grand Prix. 72.558 percent were on her account before she rode into the dressage stadium again today. Small uncertainties in the passage tour ended up costing percentage points: "The piaff passage tour was a lot of fun, but I have to change the music a bit now because we were a bit ahead of the music." However, the young woman is incredibly proud of the silver medal. “I have to realize all of this first. I haven't even realized yesterday and now I've got silver again today. I think I'll have to sleep on it for a few more nights," Schrader said with a laugh.

The day before they were still below 70 percent and took fifth place, today with 75.625 percent the result of Selina Söder and Zaire-E reflected the confidence they had gained over the tournament days in Balve. The KWPN mare, who had previously been internationally successful with Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, focused fully on the young rider's help in the freestyle. "It was just really fun today and I'm glad we were able to really show what we're actually capable of," said Söder. Only at the end of last year did the young dressage rider sit in the saddle of the bay mare. She is all the more proud that the performance in Balve was already so sovereign. The bronze medal was confirmation that horse and rider had already come together well. stay

With the awarding of medals in the Grand Prix Freestyle, the championship weekend in Balve is already over for the U25 riders. This was the first sighting for the European Junior Championships, which will take place from August 24th to 28th in Budapest/HUN. The second and final screening, where the EM team is nominated, will take place in Elmlohe at the end of July.