South African Youth Champs 2025 – Team Gold & Tons of Experience
- Mia Lerchl
- Jul 16, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 30, 2025
From June 28 to July 6, 2025, it was finally time: The South African Youth Championships were on the schedule – nine days full of emotions, competition, and adrenaline. After weeks of preparation, I headed to Johannesburg with White Queen’s Cartier Z and Generation X to compete in Equitation and Show Jumping against the best young riders in South Africa.
Equitation – Strong Performance & Team Gold
The first competition days were all about equitation. In the individual ranking, I secured 13th place with White Queen’s Cartier Z. I was especially proud of my high style scores – a sign that my technique was on point. Unfortunately, I had one pole in the jumping phase, which kept me out of the final.
But the real magic moment came in the team competition: Thanks to the consistent performances of our entire Western Cape Junior Intermediate Equitation Team, we claimed victory! That means: South African Youth Champion with my team! An absolute goosebump moment I will never forget.
Two Horses – Two Heights – Tons of Learnings
After the equitation classes, it was time to head into the show jumping arena. With White Queen’s Cartier Z, I competed in the 1.10 m class. I was focused, motivated, and Cartier jumped really well – but unfortunately, we had rails down in all three rounds, including the championship round. The most frustrating moment came at the double combination near the end: my rhythm and tempo felt right, but on the last two strides, I just didn’t get the distance quite right, and Cartier clipped the top rail behind. It was simply bad luck – something that happens even when everything else feels perfect.
With Generation X in the 1.20 m class, things went better:
Day 1: Speed class – one pole, but a good round overall.
Day 2: Two-phase – clear round and a great place in the rankings.
Day 3: Championship & Team competition – another clear round, which earned us a place in the jump-off. Unfortunately, that’s where luck ran out: we had a refusal, another rail down, and time faults that kept us out of the top placings.
Team Champion in 1.20 m Show Jumping
Even though I didn’t place at the top individually, there was still reason to celebrate: our Western Cape Team won the 1.20 m Team Championship! I was part of the team as the 5th reserve rider, and I’m so proud to have contributed to such a big success.
My Takeaway
The South African Youth Champs were a true milestone for me – technically demanding courses, fierce competition, and plenty of adrenaline. I learned how to stay focused after small setbacks, I’m over the moon about our team results, and I’m taking home so many new lessons. These championships made me stronger, braver, and more confident as a rider.
And now it’s time for the next adventure: Next stop – São Paulo, Brazil!
In August, I’ll be competing at the Longines CSI4*-W with the Global Amateur Team. New horses, a new environment, an international crowd – it’s going to be a whole new level of challenge. I’m so excited to experience this event, meet my team, and give it my all on this incredible stage.
Stay tuned – the next blog post will take you straight to Brazil, and I promise: it’s going to be spectacular!
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