Willy Luder, President of the ECAHO, was present during the European Championships in Svedala, Sweden, and being a dedicated rider himself, he visibly enjoyed watching the performances of riders and horses.

During the prize giving ceremony, he expressed in his capacity as ECAHO President heartfelt thanks, to both the organizer and the riders:

"The first ECAHO European Championships for Sports horses were held about a decade ago and it was indeed nothing to be proud of. We really wanted to forget it as quickly as we could.

Now, what I have seen over the last three days makes me very happy: there is such an enormous improvement year over year. I am an enthusiastic rider myself and I can really appreciate the quality I have seen here in the last three days. Many good riders and well trained horses - this is indeed promotion for the Purebred Arabian horse and its versatility.

Dear riders let me first of all say a warm thank you to all of you, to your grooms and supporters. because most of you have travelled long distances coming here to compete. In many cases this meant also a financial sacrifice. ECAHO wants to support the European Championships in the best way it can, and therefore the Executive Committee has decided to help you a little bit by absorbing the stabling cost here in Svedala. You all put so much effort in it and years and years of training. Consider therefore ECAHO's contribution a tiny gesture and expression of gratitude and at the same time a motivation. Although ECAHO is predominantly responsible for the show scene we shall undertake every effort to support the sport also in the future. Last but not least also a big thank you to the organizer Göran Ericsson and his new team here in Svedala. I appreciate that It is not easy to organize such a huge event, with so many disciplines, classes and participants. From own experience I know that for the preparation of this international event you invested many weeks and months of your valuable time and I am very, very grateful for this. I was sorry to see that in the run-up to the event you were confronted with some harassment and precisely because of this I hope that Göran and his team will host many editions to come of the European Championship. I wish you all a save trip back home."