In the final of the five-year-olds, presented by Madeleine Winter-Schulze, a Danish rider rode two horses onto the podium: Mette Sejbjerg Jensen. Tears flowed, emotions ran high and the winner said almost shyly: ‘It was also a bit easy!’ She rode the Jameson RS2 son Proud James to World Championship gold and the Lord Europe son Leonardo to World Championship bronze and said: ‘I am incredibly grateful to be able to ride two such high-quality horses. We prepared very carefully for this World Championships – and both the quality of the horses and the preparation really make it almost easy to ride to a medal. But I enjoyed both horses so much here.‘ Both are great to ride, intelligent and both are ‘showmen‘. ’They come into the arena, grow five centimetres and rock it!"

Commenting judge Maria Colliander from Finland raved: ‘The trot is very active, very elastic, very well balanced and with a good swinging back.’ The judges' enthusiasm was reflected in the score of 9.3. The judges were also impressed by the new world champion's ground-covering walk and active uphill canter, awarding him 8.3 and 9.0 respectively. ‘Even contact, swinging back, listening well to the rider’ were the Finnish commentator's keywords for the horse's submission, which was awarded a score of 9.2. The charming grey also received a 9.5 for his prospects. With a final score of 90.60 percentage points, it was clear: this was the gold medal.

Proud James is a son of Jameson RS2, who was bred by Dutch mare owner Yolien van Maasacker out of a Glock's Johnson dam. ‘I just wanted to breed a good dressage horse,’ said the breeder. ‘I saw the sire Jameson and thought that with his energy and charisma, he would be a good match for my mare. And I think Proud James has the best of both his dam and sire.’ The world champion is owned by Helgstrand Dressage. ‘I was eating dinner in Amsterdam when I received a video,’ said Andreas Helgstrand. ‘I watched it under the table, practically between the main course and dessert, and immediately said, “I'm buying him.”’ A good decision.

Silver for Viva Diamond

‘She was even a little better today than in the qualifiers,’ explained World Championship newcomer Linda Weiß. ‘She had a little more of that “go” of a final today.’ With 89.20 percentage points, Viva Diamond OLD became vice world champion of the five-year-old dressage horses in the Horse24 Arena in Verden. The mare's walk was outstanding, receiving a score of 9.3, by far the best walk score of the five-year-old finalists. ‘The walk was very sure-footed,’ praised Colliander, ‘very relaxed and with good overreach.’ The Vitalis daughter received 8.8 and 9.1 for her trot and canter, and twice 9.0 for her submission and perspective. The commenting judge Colliander described the trot as light-footed, rhythmic and with good self-carriage, while the mare could have jumped a little more in the canter. ‘And for the future, we are certain that this horse has a lot of potential: the horse has a good attitude and very good basic gaits.’

The owner of Viva Diamond OLD is Judith Köppel from 360° Sportpferde, and breeder Anne Alberding bred the impressive mare out of Birkhof's Don Diamond daughter Zauberhaft. The fan club behind the pair Weiß-Viva Diamond was also enchanting and impressive. With printed T-shirts, a fan garland, flags and loud cheers, they turned the Horse24 arena into a fan zone for the vice world champion and her rider.

Bronze for Leonardo

Mette emphasised that Leonardo's rideability is his big plus point. ‘He is great to ride, very intelligent and very similar to James – except for his colour,’ said the double medallist with a grin, referring to the bronze medallist, who is a black horse. Mette Sejbjerg Jensen has been a stable rider at Helgstrand for ten years, has already presented five horses at the World Championships, has been in the final twice, but has never ridden a horse to a medal position. ‘Proud James and Leonardo are my best friends!’

Straight Horse Leornardo is a son of Lord Europe, the stallion that finished second in the 2023 Nuremberg Burg Cup final under Leonie Richter. The Hanoverian star sire De Niro is the dam's sire of the Danish horse, which was bred and is owned by Straight Horse ApS. The judges awarded 8.8 (trot), 7.8 (walk) and 9.1 (canter) for the basic gaits, with 9.0 for both submission and perspective. The bronze medal result was 87.40 percent.

At a glance:

The final field of five-year-olds consisted of nine stallions, four mares and two geldings. Four horses in this final came from Dutch and Danish breeding, three Oldenburgers, two horses from the German Sport Horse Breeders' Association and one Hanoverian and one Westphalian completed the field.

Very high-quality starting field

Patricia Wolters, chief judge from the Netherlands, summed up: ‘The most important things for us when judging are good natural gaits, natural balance, a good attitude and a harmonious presentation. We saw a few horses that were a little tired, mostly those that qualified via the small final and had one more test to go, but all in all we had a very high-quality field of starters among the five-year-olds. ‘

The conclusion of tournament director Wilken Treu:

‘We had five really great days, the feedback from the riders is really good, but of course we already have some ideas on what we can do even better next year. We want to develop the World Championships even more into an event for spectators and visitors, make it even more diverse. The auction and our charity campaign were the first building blocks on the way. We are really proud to be able to host the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses again and we will do everything we can to keep them here in Verden for as long as possible. ‘