A champion with broken ribs, bronze for the youngest horse and the lure of the red collar: all the best stories from the dressage Euros

The para riders took centre stage today (9 September) in Riesenbeck, the venue of the European Dressage Championships. All five grades of para freestyle played out, again under the baking sunshine that has presided over the entire European Para Dressage Championships week.

There were yet more medals, a silver and a bronze, for British riders on young horses, while a couple of para superstars continued to show their rivals the way.

Watch a round-up summary of today’s action in the video below

• First up, Georgia Wilson added a second silver to her individual tally in the grade II.

Find out how Sakura was fired up to perform – and how team-mate Gabriella Blake got on today.

• Before Sophie Wells surpassed all her expectations with the youngest horse in the whole competition.

How Sophie’s ride came of age to take the podium alongside two titans of the grade V category

• The grade V winner Michèle George was on scintillating form – she loves to dance, “and so does my horse”.

How Michèle ensures her mare is 100% in body and mind

• British team newcomer Charlotte Cundall scored a personal best in all three of her tests, finishing fifth in today’s freestyle.

How the red collar of the British team jacket has spurred Charlotte on through the decades

• Meanwhile, the grade IV runners-up Sanne Voets and Demantur RS2 NOP bagged their 19th medal together

Watch Sanne Voets describe how she has developed a new approach in her horsemanship.

• Tomorrow is the final day of the European Dressage Championships, with the freestyle deciding the final individual medals. Can anyone derail Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB?

Check out the timings for the freestyle

You may also enjoy reading…

Medals for Britain, the Olympic champion on peerless form and Paris fever: the stories you mustn’t miss from day three of the dressage Euros

‘I don’t like to keep horses in a cage’: European champion on listening to her dancing partner’s needs

‘I’m just happy I finished the test!’: genius riding earns freestyle bronze for British rider at Europeans

‘I had to change my dream’: how the red-collared jacket spurred on European medallist

‘Whirlwind spell’ for para rider making championship debut just months after giving birth

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Martha Terry

H&H features editor

Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.