258 Horses and 950+ Entries Compete at 2014 European Paint Horse Championships
PHJ press release by: Jessica Hein
Some of Europe’s best Paint Horses were on display at the 2014 European Paint Horse Championships, the largest APHA-approved show outside of North America taking place September 1–6 in Kreuth, Germany. With 258 total horses and more than 950 entries, early indications are that it will again claim a spot near the top of APHA’s Top 20 shows chart for 2014.
Owners from 13 different countries vied for coveted European Champion titles in 78 classes. They hailed from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland; the hometown crowd from Germany fielded the greatest number of horses. German Paints also claimed the greatest number of medals, taking home 37 golds, 25 silvers and 23 bronzes.
Country- Gold, Silver, Bronze
Germany- 37, 25, 23
Austria- 9, 8, 2
Czech Republic- 6, 7, 4
Italy- 8, 3, 5
Switzerland- 5, 6, 5
Denmark- 8, 2, 5
Sweden- 4, 4, 1
Netherlands- 0, 4, 4
France- 1, 1, 3
“This year’s European Paint Horse Championship was once again a great showcase of talented Paint Horses and dedicated APHA members across Europe,” APHA Executive Director Billy Smith said. “One-fourth of APHA’s business comes from Europe, and this premier competition emphasized our European members’ commitment to quality and the growth of the Paint Horse market overseas.”
EuroPaint’s 2014 all-around champions were named according to each of five judges. This year’s crop of champions includes:
Youth Solid Paint-Bred
- Coups Sneaky Fox & Signe Olsen of Denmark (unanimous)
Youth
- Shot Girl & Anna Alisa Samse of Germany (Judges 1 & 3)
- Budy Dream & Nina Müller of Germany (Judges 2 & 4)
- Missin Hot Chocolate & Christina Einsiedler of Germany (Judge 5)
Amateur Solid Paint-Bred
- Hes A Hollywood Cody & Sabrina Hoppert of Germany (unanimous)
Amateur
- Emphis Bando & Florian Larch of Austria (Judges 1, 3 & 5)
- Invest In A Shine & Laura Pfeifer of Germany (Judge 2)
- Lenas Amazing Grace & Sarah-Maria Vorraber of Austria (Judge 4)
Open Solid Paint-Bred
- Unzippin The Assets & Jasmin Schuster of Germany (unanimous)
No horses met the requirements for the Open All-Around award, according the EuroPaint Facebook page. To be eligible for all-around honors, a horse must compete in open halter and at least three of categories II through VI as listed in Rule SC-050.
To learn more about APHA’s international scene or for information about how you can get involved in this growing market, visit international.apha.com.
