Le Pin, July 19 – 2025 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) European Affiliate Championships (EAC) closed today at the beautiful Le Petit Far West facility. The show counted 204 EAC entries from 13 countries near and far. Riders from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland travelled to French countryside just outside of the capital, together with their trusted companions to measure forces between the NRHA European affiliates in ten EAC classes. The last class of the show – $10,000-Added NRHA EAC Open – crowned its Champions on Saturday night in front of the full house with a loud cheering around the arena.

$10,000-Added NRHA EAC Open
In a display of experience and excellence, NRHA $2 Million Rider Bernard Fonck of Belgium rode The Spook Is Dun (NRHA $11 Million Sire Spooks Gotta Whiz x The Bun Is Dun), owned by Fabio Cerantola, to the top of the leaderboard with a commanding 222.5 to take the $10,000-Added EAC Open Championship title. “My horse is really nice, and he can run big,” said Fonck after his run. “The ground was a little fast for him today, but he figured it out, so I am happy for his owners. The owner, Fabio Cerantola, is very supportive of my program; he lets me do what I think is the best for the horse, and I really appreciate it. Both owners of my today’s horses give mee the free card on their horses, and I am very happy about it, because it makes my job easier. Every trainer wants to have owners like that,” smiled the Multi-Million Dollar Rider.

Fonck, a Bronze Sponsor to the EAC, said he had always liked the show. “It is a show that I really support. I feel sad that we didn’t get to go to the World Reining Championship in Switzerland last week, but this year, we don’t have as many Open horses, and Belgium didn’t have a team, so we decided to come here, and it paid off.”

Fonck returned to the podium to take the Reserve Championship with GD Peptos Olena Blue (Spat A Blue x Miss Peptos Jacky), owned by Domenico Giannitti, after scoring a 220. Also earning a share of the Reserve spot for their 220 score was a fellow Belgian Kim Obenhaus, riding KB The Joker (NRHA $4 Million Sire Colonels Shining Gun x Pumpkin Rooster), owned by Koen Brutsaert. On top of her Reserve Championship, Obenhaus earned a special prize – a neckless by French jeweler Jean Christophe – awarded to the highest scoring woman of the EAC.

$500-Added NRHA EAC Limited Open
The $500-Added EAC Limited Open saw France’s Laura Duponchel take the win with a strong performance aboard PB Dont Miss My Rock (Dont Miss My Guns x Rock Around The Top), owned by Patrick Broschard. The pair marked a 218.5 to secure Championship. Duponchel praised her horse after their big run. “This horse is just extraordinary; she never lets me down. She is a great companion, who is always there for me in the show pen.” The duo just returned from the World Reining Championship, but that didn’t stop them in their performance. “We both were a little bit tired after last week,” Duponchel admitted, “but we pushed through, and it worked out. We love this show, it has a great atmosphere, so I’m happy to win here.”

A tie for the Reserve Championship followed with two pairs scoring a 217.5:
Christelle Graffeuil of France and her own Face Like A Crome (NRHA $4 Million Sire Pale Face Dunnit x Like A Custom Crome) delivered a stylish run to earn a share of the Reserve spot. Emanuel Gebert of Germany returned to the pen aboard Wimpys Wanna Dance (NRHA $13 Million Sire Wimpys Little Step x Dance Little Spook), owned by Birgitt Wagner, to join the tie for Reserve.

$3,500-Added Horsekea NRHA EAC Intermediate Non Pro
Amber Heidbuchel and her palomino Prof Voodoo (NRHA $5 Million Sire Shiners Voodoo Dr x Evita Del Cielo) returned to the arena today after tying to win the EAC Non Pro last night only to capture another EAC Championship, this time in the $3,500-Added Horsekea EAC Intermediate Non Pro. “This horse is really special to me,” said Amber after another successful run. “He is so nice, and he knows his job, so the preparation was quite easy for us. I try not to over push him – I want him fresh in his head, so I don’t do too many maneuvers at the show, just basic work. He even had the last week off, because I was at a competition with my dressage horses, so it actually worked out perfectly.“

Just a half a point short of Heidbuchel, scoring a 216, was a fellow Belgian Siebe van Bekhoven riding his Ws Check My Pedigree (Wimpys Smoking Gun x Footworks Finetiming), and taking the Reserve honors. Emanuel Gebert of Germany and Birgitt Wagner’s Wimpys Wanna Dance (Wimpys Little Step x Dance Little Spook), stepped in the arena fresh of their Youth 13-Under win, and took the third place in the class scoring a 215.5.

NRHA EAC Youth 14-18
French Matt Legrand had a stellar run on Jo Corby’s Wound Up Whiz (NRHA $13 Million Sire Topsail Whiz x Wound Her Up Chic). After walking out of the arena, with only one entry to go, the duo was sitting in the lead with their score of 213.5. The score held through the last run, and the French pair became this year’s EAC Youth 14-18 Champions. “I’m really happy with my horse’s result,” shared Legrand after their performance. “Last week, I showed him at the World Reining Championship, and he did great there. Here at the EAC, he performed well again, and I’m super proud of him.” Still competing in the youth division, the young rider reflected on the camaraderie at the show: “I really enjoy being part of the youth. We’re all around the same age, and there’s a great atmosphere. We have fun together — yes, we compete against each other, but we’re all friends too. I’m proud to have had the chance to ride alongside so many talented riders in the Youth Team Tournament. It was a special experience here at the EAC,” closed the talented rider, who also placed on top of the podium in the NRHA Team Tournament with his team ‘Shine Whiz Be A Snap’.

Belgian Lotte De Boever has had a great EAC show this year, placing on the podium at every class she entered. This time, she rode her trusted mount ES Nu Shine Nic (NRHA $3 Million Sire Shine Chic Shine x Br Chex To Cash), owned by Deboti BVBA, to score 210.5 and took the Reserve Championship in the EAC Youth 14-18. French Victoire Molla Guisset rode her own Whizkey Coated Kiss (NRHA $3 Million Sire Whizkey N Diamonds x Einsteinshersheykiss) to close the podium with a 209 score.

NRHA EAC Youth 13&Under
Emanuel Gebert of Germany and Birgitt Wagner’s Wimpys Wanna Dance (Wimpys Little Step x Dance Little Spook) are no strangers to the EAC and Le Pin’s showgrounds, as they won the EAC Youth 13&Under last year. This year, the duo repeated their success with a top score of the Youth divisions, a 216.5. “We had a great run today. Especially in the turns, my horse felt really good, and he stopped right when I said ‘whoa’, so that worked out well,” the young Champion mentioned. “My horse is very quiet and nice to ride. I won this class on him last year and this year he helped me qualify for The Run For A Million (TRFAM). I will be competing on a horse that we found thanks to [NRHA Professional] Arno Honstetter, so I am very excited for that.” This will be Emanuel’s second trip to TRFAM.

Second and third place of the podium in Youth 13&Under repeated Youth 14-18 results, as both riders qualified for the Youth 13&Under last year, and this year, when they turned 14, they also completed their qualification for the Youth 14-18 class as the qualification period lasts from the previous year’s EAC until the middle of current show season. Lotte De Boever and ES Nu Shine Nic took second place with their 210.5 score; and Victoire Molla with Guisset Whizkey Coated Kiss finished third with a score of 209.

NRHA Youth Team Tournament
18 youth horse-rider duos from five countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, The Netherlands) entered the NRHA Youth classes at this year’s EAC edition. Forming five teams, each consisted of two 13&Under and two 14-18 riders, the youth competed for NRHA buckles and medals. After the last horse walked out of the pen, the results were added together. Three highest scores from each team posted in the EAC Youth classes (with the lowest score dropped) made the final results for the team.

Team Results:
1 Place – Shine Whiz Be A Snap
Chjara Maria Gaffory & Cassandra Snap
Lotte De Boever & ES Nu Shine Nic
Matt Legrand & Wound Up Whiz
Chjara Maria Gaffory & Gunna Be A Snapper

2 Place – Muffin At The Oscar
Helen Mueller & Vintage Crome MH
Lotte De Boever & Great Sun Of A Gun
Charlie Hoffmann & Chic Magnadeous
Elaine Willemse & Spooks Smart Diamond

3 Place – No Trash In My Team
Viktor De Boever & SR Wimpys Littlewhiz
Louane Pourel & Steppin On Sailor SV
Lola Kircher & JJ Sailing Gun
Emanuel Gebert & Wimpys Wanna Dance

4 Place – Hot Stops
Victoire Molla Guisset & Whizkey Coated Kiss
Anais Tilmont & Jurassicspark
Roman Brichaux & RR Double Gun
Elaine Willemse & Spooks Smart Diamond

5 Place – Sliding Stars
Viktor De Boever & Spookin Ricochet
Lilou Caillouet & Famous Big Star
Fleur Hoffmann & PP Special Gun
Marylou Drapier & Ruff N Tuff Juicy

American Paint Horse Association (APHA) Chrome Cash Incentive
This year at the NRHA EAC Chrome Cash Incentive payouts of $500 were awarded in the following EAC classes: Youth 13 & Under/Youth 14–18, Intermediate Open/Rookie Pro, Open/Limited Open, Non Pro/Limited Non Pro, Rookie Level 1. APHA International Director Irene Stamatelakys presented the checks to the highest scoring Paints in their respective classes.

$500-Added APHA Chrome Cash Open / Limited Open 
French rider Christelle Graffeuil and her mare Face Like A Crome (NRHA $4 Million Sire Pale Face Dunnit x Like A Custom Crome) scored a 217.5 to be the highest scoring Paint in the APHA Chrome Cash Open/Limited Open. “My mare stopped huge tonight, so I’m really happy about our run and of course about the result,” said the proud APHA owner. “We have a lot of Quarter Horses in Europe, and everyone always wants to buy them and not as much of Paint Horses, and I think nowadays the Paints are good as Quarter horses; the quality of the breeding is comparable. So that’s why I entered the APHA Chrome Cash classes here, and why I bought this mare, I wanted a Paint,” said Graffeuil, who wants to add more earnings on her mare, and in the future breed her to have more Paints.

Rider Spotlight

Jan Synnersten, NRHA Sweden President, together with a group of NRHA Sweden members, travelled close to 2000 kilometers (1200 miles) to this year’s EAC. “We all live around Stockholm in Sweden, so it took us 26 hours to get here. This is such a special show since it’s a competition between the affiliates, so we were looking forward to coming here. It is a lot of fun to compete at the EAC,” he said. The affiliate and reining in general is on the rise in Sweden, as Synnersten mentions, so he is hopeful about the future. “In the last 10 years, we have increased the membership from 150 to more than 350 members, so that is very good news that people are interested in the discipline. We have a lot of good trainers now and the quality of the breeding programs is improving, so we are very positive about the future of the industry. We now have a futurity program that is popular, and it pushes the members to breed quality horses and get them in good training programs,” he added. “We have a lot of great shows in the Scandinavian region, so I can really recommend coming to our area. In Sweden only, we have 7 shows a year, so I am very happy where we are as far as the development of the sport. I see a bright future ahead of us,” closed the NRHA Sweden President.

For further information: NRHAEAC.com
For full results: https://www.showmanager.info/Eventliste.aspx?turnierID=1640

Photos by John Photography


NRHA EAC Media Contact:
Simona Diale/International Horse Press
internationalhorsepress@gmail.com