2014 EuroPaint Championship Recap
Photo courtesy of APHA.
PHJ press release by: Jessica Hein
With native costumes, patriotic anthems and flags flying high, national pride took center stage at the 2014 European Paint Horse Championships in Kreuth, Germany. The 10th annual Nations Cup competition—one of the highlights of EuroPaint—took place September 4, bringing together exhibitors and fans from a multitude of countries at Europe’s premier Paint Horse competition.
Though showing at EuroPaint is serious business, exhibitors look forward to the fun-filled Nations Cup, where teams representing their home countries compete in five events to earn great prizes and bragging rights. This year, team members competed in trail, Western pleasure, hunter under saddle, horsemanship and reining.
Defending champions, Team Austria, once again took home the championship title in a close race with Team Germany. Comprised of Nina Leiner, Sarah Vorraber, Heike Friess, Christian Mantler, Florian Larch, Brigitte Mayr, and team leader Franz Vorraber, Team Austria earned 94 points to earn the win, their fourth championship in 10 years.
Another highly anticipated event took place just prior to the Nations Cup: the annual Presidents Challenge. Presidents from seven European Paint Horse clubs, along with APHA President Mary Parrott, saddled up to start the competition. This year, the leaders tackled freestyle reining with a twist—a pattern sans horses. Sweden’s Sophia Soffipropp Ulfstedttook home the gold and Mary earned the silver with their crowd-pleasing performances.
Find more stories from EuroPaint at international.apha.com. For more photos from the event, check out our album on Facebook.
Nations Cup Overall Results
1. Austria, 94
2. Germany, 92
3. Switzerland, 73
4. Denmark, 45
5. Netherlands, 40
6. France/Belgium, 38
7. Sweden, 37
