Aachen Dressage Youngstars 2024: Double European Champion Madlin Tillmann from Grevenbroich to compete

‘My season has just gone great,’ beams Madlin Tillmann, who will be celebrating her debut in the Albert-Vahle-Arena. ‘Now I'm really looking forward to competing at the Aachen Youngstars for the first time. However, the young dressage rider has already watched the festive end to the year at the Soers several times - albeit with the show-jumpers. This discipline has a long tradition in the Tillmann family, who are based at Gut Neuhaus in Grevenbroich. Not only is her brother Lennard regularly highly successful at the Aachen Jumping Youngstars, the 16-year-old was also European Team Champion in the Children's age group in 2022. And her father Frederic and her uncle Gilbert Tillmann cause a furore year after year, particularly at the Hamburg Derby. But Madlin's heart beats for dressage. And her successes speak for themselves. In 2024, the 14-year-old is enjoying the most successful year of her young career to date. Victory at the Preis der Besten in May was followed by a double gold coup at the European Pony Championships in Obglabbeek, Belgium, in the summer. Will she also finish at the top in Aachen with her high-flyer Chilly Morning WE at the end of the year? However, the road to the title of Indoor Champion will not be an easy one. Because her two European Championship team-mates Leni-Sophie Gosmann, who is also travelling to Aachen as the reigning German Champion, and Feodora von Roeder would also like to be one step ahead in the race for the coveted sash.

In the Children's camp, European Champion Ella-Grace Dovey from Great Britain is the favourite. The 14-year-old is bringing her star horse, Sheepcote Jackson, to Aachen and will be competing against, amongst others, the German Lynn Sophie Soddemann, who won silver twice at the European Championships, as well as the two European Team Champions Floor Kulik and Britt Kikkert-van der Linde from the Netherlands. In the Young Riders' class, three riders from the current CHIO Aachen CAMPUS Excellence Programme - the two Germans Emma Caecilia Lienert and Maike Springmeier and the Dutch rider Yasmin Westerink - will be competing against the current world number two Kate Kyros from Australia. This also promises top-class sport in this age group.

However, it will already be high-class and exciting in the dressage arena before the best international top talents saddle up their horses and ponies. For the first time, not only the two-legged young talents, but also the four-legged youngsters will be in the spotlight at the Aachen Dressage Youngstars. On Thursday morning, two national dressage competitions at S* and S*** level offer Germany's best dressage riders the opportunity to present their young horses in the festive atmosphere of the Albert-Vahle-Arena. And the list of participants reads like a Who's Who of German dressage sport. In addition to the most successful dressage rider of all time and CHIO Aachen record winner, Isabell Werth, Katharina Hemmer, Helen Langehanenberg and Nadine Capellmann will also be competing.

‘We are delighted that this competition has met with such a great response in its very first year,’ said Birgit Rosenberg. ‘This means that we can not only experience the best of the young athletes live at the end of the year, but also the top riders with their promising young horses,’ said the Board Member of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V. (ALRV), the organisers of the event, looking ahead. Admission to the event in the Albert-Vahle-Arena is free on all days. This also applies to the ‘Late Night’ on Saturday evening, during which various Aachen riding schools will be competing for the title of ‘School Horse Star of the Year 2024’. On this evening, Aachen's singing commissioner Oliver Schmitt will provide the festive atmosphere. Anyone unable to be there live can follow all the competitions live on the Aachen Youngstars homepage or on ClipMyHorse.TV Germany.

Photo: Lyn Stickelmann/CHIO Aachen CAMPUS