A Season Like No Other: Lara de Liedekerke-Meier’s Impact on Belgian Eventing

Very few riders have delivered a season as impressive as Lara de Liedekerke-Meier’s 2025 campaign. From breaking the all-time single-season win record to claiming historic victories at Boekelo and Le Lion d’Angers, she has rewritten expectations of what Belgium can achieve on the world stage. Her 21 wins this year mark not just the peak of her career, but a defining moment for Belgian eventing’s rise - one she and her husband, Belgian chef d’équipe Kai Steffen-Meier, are shaping together.

Rewriting the Record Books

Lara's 21 international wins in 2025 represent the most by any rider in a single season since records began in 2008. The previous benchmark of 15 wins, set by Great Britain's Piggy March in 2019, stood for six years before Lara surpassed it midway through the season - and then kept going. Her closest competitor this season, Tamie Smith, finished on ten wins, leaving Lara miles ahead of the field.

A Season of Historic Victories

Two of Lara’s wins carry particular significance for Belgian eventing. Her 20th came at Boekelo CCI4*-L, where she and the nine-year-old Kiarado d’Arville became the first Belgian combination ever to win at the venue - a notable turnaround after retiring on cross-country there just a year earlier. Sixth after dressage on 28.4, they added just 0.4 time penalties to move into the lead. For Lara, making her 19th Boekelo appearance — the most of any rider since 2008 — the result marked the high point of nearly twenty years of returning to the event.

Win number 21 proved equally historic. At the FEI WBFSH Eventing World Championship for Young Horses at Le Lion d'Angers, Lara piloted Tara van het Leliehof to victory in the six-year-old division, becoming the first Belgian rider ever to claim a world championship title at the event. The win completed a remarkable trio of Belgian firsts, following her victory at Luhmühlen CCI5* in 2024 with Hooney d'Arville, where she became Belgium's first-ever five-star winner.

The Numbers Behind the Dominance

These headline results are supported by equally compelling underlying numbers. From 70 international runs this season, not only did Lara de Liedekerke-Meier win but she had an impressive 30% win rate. Earlier this year, she attributed her success to the sheer volume of rides, noting:

"If you take into consideration the amount of horses I'm riding per week, I guess I have the highest chance to win some classes."

But the numbers disprove Lara’s theory. Among riders with the highest volume of international starts, Lara’s win rate stands out, coming in 13% higher than the next closest, Boyd Martin. Tamie Smith (34%) and Ros Canter (30%) are in a similar range, but both have competed far less. What sets Lara apart is sustaining this win rate over one of the largest campaigns in the sport

It wasn’t just her wins that stood out. Lara delivered 36 podium finishes this season, breaking Caroline Pamukcu’s 2023 record of 29 and setting the highest total in a season since records began in 2008.

Building a String for the Future

Lara’s season was also shaped by a deep and successful string, with ten horses recording wins. The standout performer was Debbi, an eight-year-old mare who delivered five victories from five international starts - a perfect 100% win rate. From Orp le Grand and Baborówko in May through Maarsbergen, Strzegom, and Avenches, Debbi recorded the most international wins of any horse this season, matched only by Lucienne Bellissimo’s Dyri.

One of the most exciting aspect of Lara’s winning string is the age profile. Nine of her ten winning horses are nine years old or younger, with only her five-star winner Hooney d'Arville older, yet still only twelve. This youthful stable suggests that Lara’s surge in international success is sustainable rather than fleeting.

The Long Road to Dominance

Her success in 2025 may look unprecedented, but it was built on almost two decades of steady progress. She won her first international in 2007 at her home venue Arville. Through the 2010s she added wins slowly - one or two a year, then a gradual climb to three or four. The breakthrough came only recently: ten wins in 2023, nine in 2024, and a record-breaking 21 in 2025, the result of a program built patiently and methodically over time.

A New National Benchmark

This dominance has also reshaped the Belgian record books. With her 21 wins in 2025, Lara has also overtaken fellow Belgian Karin Donckers (51 career wins) to become the Belgian rider with the most international victories since 2008, with her career total now standing at 61 wins.

Looking to the Future

All signs point to further growth ahead. The combination of a deep, talented, youthful string paired with a rider at the peak of her powers suggests that Belgian eventing's golden era is only just beginning. Lara de Liedekerke-Meier hasn’t just set records in 2025 - she’s put herself on a trajectory that could shape international eventing from next year’s FEI Eventing World Championships in Aachen all the way to LA 2028 and beyond.

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