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"A dream has come true for me! With this strong competition here in Berne, I never expected to win, "said Catherine Dufour. With their only 8-year-old Danish Warmblood Atterupgaards Cassidy (by Caprimond) the 20-year-old achieved an incredible score of 84 925%. Her B-Scores ranged from 85% by the judge at B (Adriaan Hamoen / NED) and 91% from the judge at (Vincenzo Truppa / ITA). "Catherine and Cassidy fit together incredibly well," said Dufour’s trainer Rune Willum. The couple had started a little cautios but increased steadily and delivered an almost flawless performance. As in all the other Individual Competition in Berne, Germany won again Silver and Bronze again, this time by Charlott-Maria Schürmann with Burlington (79.600%) and Florine Kienbaum with Don Windsor OLD (78.600%). "Of course we would like to have a Gold Medal more, but with a total of 10 medals, we are very satisfied. Especially since we also had some less experienced riders in the team," said the German Chef d’Equipe Maria Schierhölter-Otto. Like her Dutch colleague Tineke Bartels, Maria Schierhölter-Otto raved about the events: "The conditions were great, perfect infrastructure, the show secretary’s office was brilliant and the food excellent - we felt completely at home in Berne!"

Dear riders, coaches, grooms other participants and visitors of the FEI European Dressage Championships for Young Riders and Juniors - did you like it in Berne? Drop us your comments, suggestions and other comments at the following link: http://www.dressageberne2012.com/en/riders_voice

17-year-old Dana van Lierop from Holland and her 12-year-old Rohdiamant-Sohn DJ Tiesto won the Juniors Individual Competition with the outstanding score of 77.184% and claimed the Gold medal. Silver and Bronze went to Germany: Vivien Niemann and Wirsol’s Cipollini scored the second best result with 74 711% and Vivian Scheve was third with Bellheim and 74 184%. The positions four and five were claimed by Dutch riders Antoinette ter Riele and Ziggy (73.553 %) and Suzanne van de Ven with Donna Gracia (73.211%).

After the first part of the Young Riders Individual Competition, in which 24 pairs started, Sanna Nilsson from Sweden and the 13 year old Stallion Go III took the lead with a score of 68 474%. In second place is Tatjana Svehla from Austria (68,026), Helene Legallais from France is third with 67.921%. For Switzerland, all three riders rode their individual tests today. In the preliminary standings, Sabrina Ackermann (64,711) is ranked 12th, Anthea Hartmann (63,974) is on place 16 and Andrina Suter (62.763) is 20th.

On her 11-year old Rohdiamant-son DJ Tiesto, Dana van Lierop decided with the best result of the Day (77.405 %) the battle for Gold between Germany and the Netherlands. The Dutch team was able to beat Germany by 2.783 points. The best German Duo, Vivien Niemann and Wirsol's Cipollini, reached 74.216%. With a solid team performance, the danish Juniors rode to Bronze. Also with a well-balanced performance, but in the range between 64 and 65%, the Swiss junior team finished on the 9th Rank.

The first part of the Juniors Team Competition ended with a German victory. Vivian Scheve realized with Bellheim a score of 72 541%. Together with the 70 216% of fourth-placed Maxi-Kira von Platen (Flamenco Girl), the German Team took the leader position in the team ranking of Day 1. The Dutch took second place, the Danes are third after Day 1. From the Swiss team, Bigna Ladina Lehmann (Ronaldino) and Christina King (Mona Lisa VII) did their tests again and brought the Swiss Team to the eight position in the intermediate ranking

Today, Thuesday the 10th of July, at about 6.15 pm, Rita Schiess Müller, president of the organizing Dressur Akademie Silvia Iklé declared the FEI European Championships for Young Riders and Juniors 2012 officially open. Before that, the young participants from a total of 22 nations marched into the dressage arena with balloons in their national colors, which they let fly into the sky above Berne. Christoph Neuhaus, from the Government of the Canton Bern, welcomed the Young Riders and Juniors in Berne and wished everyone good luck for the upcoming competition. The Swiss team, composed of four Young Riders and four Juniors, is well prepared: "We are pleased that the Championships are finally about to begin," says the squad leader Eva Senn. The draw for the starting order is made, the competition begins tomorrow Wednesday, 11th of July, at 7.00 am.