Tag Archives: FEI World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses

*Featured/Spotlights, Breeds, Championships, Dressage, FEI

Super-Talented Young Trio Take Longines Titles at Ermelo

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Fiontini, 5-year-old champion in 2015, returned to claim the 6-year-old title at the Longines FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Championships for Young Horses 2016. (FEI/Arnd Bronkhorst)

Ermelo (NED), 1 August 2016 – The five-year-old Victoria’s Secret, the six-year-old Fiontini, and the seven-year-old Sezuan were the shining stars at the Longines FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses that took place at the headquarters of the Dutch Equestrian Federation in Ermelo (NED).

The event, which attracted over 20,000 spectators, is designed to highlight new and developing talent, and the progress being made by last year’s five-year-old champion, Fiontini, and the 2015 six-year-old winner Sezuan reinforced the very essence of this popular fixture.

Five-year-olds

Germany’s Beatrice Buchwald knows a thing or two about producing top-quality youngsters. The 27-year-old athlete steered DSP Belantis into silver medal spot in the six-year-old division last year and also produced the wonderful 11-year-old mare, Weihegold OLD, that will carry German star, Isabell Werth, at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which begin in just a few days’ time.

With the Rheinlander mare, Victoria’s Secret (Vitalis/Fiermark), Buchwald topped Thursday’s five-year-old qualifier with a score of 93.40 per cent, pinning the KWPN mare Guadeloupe-Beau (Bordeaux/Vivaldi), ridden by The Netherlands’ Kim van der Velden, into runner-up spot on their mark of 89.80. It was Germany’s Anne-Kathrin Pohlmeier and the Hannoverian Lordswood Dancing Diamond (Dancier/Wolkenstein ll) who slotted into third here when scoring 88.40, but this pair dropped right out of contention in Saturday’s Final.

The top-15 went into the Final, and it was the Oldenburg gelding, Quel Filou (Quarterback/Stedinger) ridden by Sascha Schulz, who presented the greatest challenge to the eventual champions. The Luxembourg rider, and the horse bred by Hinxlage Aloys and owned by Dressage Grand Ducal, posted a big 93.20 percent that included a maximum 10 for their walk.

But judges Kurt Christensen (DEN), Christoph Hess (GER), Francis Verbeek van Rooy (NED) and Isobel Wessels (GBR) awarded Buchwald and Victoria’s Secret marks of 9.5 for trot, 9.3 for walk, 8.9 for canter 9.8 for submission and a whopping 10 for perspective for the gold-medal-winning score of 95.00. The Netherlands’ van der Velden and Guadeloupe-Beau took the bronze on a mark of 91.00 percent.

Buchwald, the first winning rider of the weekend to be presented with a beautiful Longines watch, said she could hardly believe in her success. “Of course I was the favourite after winning the qualification, but that really does not make it any easier; it actually creates more pressure. However, Victoria’s Secret is not only an intelligent horse; she is also a mare with a lot of go and always wants to work. We could have easily ridden another round here!” she added. She is unsure what the future holds for this horse. “The owner purchased her when she was a foal and now lots of people are interested. Hopefully we can find a party that can support us, so we can have a great future together, because I would love to ride her again next year in the championships for six-year-olds!” she said.

Six-year-olds

The riders of both the six and seven-year-old champions are already in the air on their way to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and both of them have every reason to be feeling very pleased indeed after their results.

Severo Jesus Jurado Lopez and last year’s five-year-old winner, the Danish Warmblood Fiontini (Fassbinder/Romanov), won Friday’s six-year-old qualifier with a three-point winning margin over the chestnut KWPN stallion Five Star with The Netherlands’ Kirsten Brouwer on board. Close behind was Germany’s Ann-Christin Wienkamp with the Oldenburg stallion Sir Olli (Sir Donnerhall/Florestan) who posted a mark of 86.80.

In Sunday’s Final, however, Fiontini showed that extra sparkle that led to Olympic champion, Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin, to describe the mare as “incredible” when judging her last year. With marks of 9.5 for trot, 9.8 for walk, 9.7 for canter, 8.9 for submission and the maximum 10 for perspective, Fiontini strutted to a final scoreline of 95.80 percent for gold. Brouwer’s Five Star, bred by PG Bijvelds, Erp/ASM Bijveld and owned by T Wilaras, held on to silver with a mark of 89.00 and judges Kurt Christensen (DEN), Mariano Santos Redondo (ESP), Maria Colliander (FIN) and Sharon Rhode (RSA) kept Wienkamp and Sir Olli in third again for the bronze on a mark of 87.60.

Talking about Fiontini’s winning performance, judge Maria Colliander said, “The walk was a highlight, so relaxed in a wonderful rhythm. What was interesting was how well the horse collected in the medium-walk and before the pirouettes; a 9.8. The horse has lovely clear ground cover in the trot, although at times Severo must be careful that it will not become a passage. But I must mention that the extension totally blew us away. The canter has such an active hind leg and it so well placed under the body. Wonderful propulsion with a great extension and he came back so well: a 9.7. On the submission there is still room for improvement, the natural bending could be better and the one-change was not so fluent as the mare anticipated a bit, which caused tension: 8.9. What a talent for the future; she receives a 10 for the perspective.”

Fiontini’s rider, Severo Jesus Jurado Lopez, said the Danish Warmblood mare “gives you a fantastic feeling and is always focused. I am extremely happy that she could show her qualities here, so everyone could see her talent. She deserves that!”

Seven-year-olds

Wow!” was the assessment of the judges’ spokesperson Mariette Sanders-Gansewinkel after Dorothee Schneider rode Sezuan to gold in the seven-year-old category. This was the first year for horses in this age group to take part in the Championship proper, and the German rider who will compete with Showtime in Rio de Janeiro next week had every reason be pleased with the horse who has now won three FEI/WBFSH Young Dressage Horse titles in a row, an historic first in every sense.

Their march to glory began when the dark bay Danish Warmblood stallion (Blue Hors Zack/Don Schufro), who was bred by Linette Jaeger and is owned by Gestüt Peterhof, received 10s for both canter and perspective in Friday’s qualifier which he topped by a huge margin when posting 88.420 percent. Runner-up here was the grey gelding FBW Fairplay H (Furst Hohenstein/Disco Tanzer)  ridden by another German, Ines Knoll who posted 77.998 while third went to the Swedish Warmblood gelding Fiorucci HT (Florencio l/Rubinrot) with Sweden’s Jeanna Hogberg on board, who scored 77.619.

In Sunday’s Final, Sezuan stepped it up even further when scoring 89.005, earning 9.8 for both trot and walk, 9.4 for canter, 9.3 for submission and that all-important 10 for perspective. Hogberg and Fiorucci posted 80.253 for the silver medal while Knoll and FBW Fairplay just missed out on the podium when their mark of 78.544 was bettered by the 78.641 produced by yet another of the strong German contingent, Stefanie Wold with Saphira Royal who took the bronze. The latter, a dark bay Rheinlander mare (San Amour/Monteverdi), was bred by Herbert Werth and is owned by Johann Hinnemann, and her score was boosted by a 9 for submission.

Talking about the winning seven-year-old test, Mariette Sanders-Gansewinkel said, “Sezuan has a very energetic, swinging and uphill trot in which he shows a good cadence: a 9.8. The fantastic walk has a beautiful four-beat and also receives a 9.8. The canter is his best gait, with enormous power. But today he was a little tense right before the flying chances, therefore ‘just’ a 9.4. A technical piece of art, but the tension in the changes and the hind legs together in the first pirouette result in a 9.3 for the submission. And the perspective… well, that could only be a 10!” she said.

Dorothee Schneider was delighted about clinching her third world championships title in a row on the same horse. “This is something extraordinary. I want to thank the owners that I can ride him. Sezuan is a sensational horse with three excellent gaits who always wants to work with me in the test and always wants to make me happy!”

Happy

There was plenty for the event organisers to be happy about too. Project coordinator, Joris Kemperman, said, “Numerous participants showed interest in the classes for five and six-year-olds: so much that there were no spots left to hand out the wildcards. Also the championship for seven-year-olds featured a large field of competitors. Compared to last year, we were able to double the prize money to a total sum of 50,000 euro. We also had the first World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses at which Longines could award one of their magnificent watches to a dressage rider. But above all, we are extremely happy that people from all across the globe came to Ermelo to celebrate this first edition in the Netherlands!

Jan Pedersen, President of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses, said, “When it was decided to organise the World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses in Ermelo, I was a bit sceptical. Verden has always been a great success and has been able to develop over many years. However, I must say this is rather fantastic. The whole venue looks impeccable and it is well-organised. I received solely positive reactions from both the riders and the audience. It is obvious that the organisation invested a lot to make this a grand success. Especially the main arena looks incredible and the horses also seem to like it, they are all very calm.

“Every year I am impressed with the quality of the horses; it appears to improve each edition. Remarkable, because you would expect it to stop at a certain point. It proves that our breeding is still developing. This year we also saw absolutely fantastic horses; it is definitely more normal now to have horses scoring over 90%. Every year there are a few horses that stand out. In the five-year-old class the winning mare is truly something special, but also the 6- and 7-year-olds have phenomenal top horses. By now we have established a strong connection between successful young horses at these championships and their future in the Grand Prix. I expect to see most of them back in the Grand Prix and lots in future Olympic Games.”

Full results here

By Louise Parkes

Media contacts:

At Ermelo:

Charlotte Gunnink
Press Officer
press@ermeloyh.com
+31 652 756 778

At FEI:

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
Email: ruth.grundy@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 145

*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage, FEI

Sezuan Steals Five-Year-Old Title; Dancer Forever Tops Six-Year-Old Category

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(L) Six-Year-Old champion Dancer Forever ridden by The Netherlands’ Kirsten Brouwer; (R) Five-Year-Old champion Sezuan 2 ridden by Germany’s Dorothee Schneider. Photo: FEI/Karl-Heinz Freiler.

Verden (GER), 12 August 2014 – The Danish Warmblood stallion Sezuan, ridden by Germany’s Dorothee Schneider, and the KWPN mare Dancer Forever, competed by The Netherlands’ Kirsten Brouwer, claimed the Five- and Six-year-old titles at the FEI World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses 2014 at Verden in Germany over the weekend.

A pilot project when first staged at the German venue 17 years ago, these Championships were modelled on the World Championships for Young Jumping horses at Lanaken in Belgium and, after visiting a number of other locations down the years, returned to Verden in 2013 and again this year where they took place for the 15th time.

After some consideration, the FEI determined the selection criteria so there are no more than 50 competitors in each age group. This year’s Championships took place within the framework of an International Dressage and Jumping Festival that also attracted many top contenders from the senior ranks who used the tournament as the final test and preparation for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy (FRA).

FEI Director of Dressage, Trond Asmyr, who attended the event, said, “The quality of the horses along with their training and riding has improved so much over recent years. It’s amazing to watch the fantastic standard of riding at this show which is staged by a highly professional organising team. They provide the very best conditions for both young and experienced horses which make the competition just about as good as it can be, and the fixture is very popular with both the participants and the public.”

Five-Year-Olds

Schneider and Sezuan (Blue Hors Zack x Don Schufro), a black stallion owned by Arlette and Edwin Kohl, set out on the road to success with victory in the first Five-Year-Old qualifier last Thursday. Scoring 9.68, they earned a maximum 10 for canter and always looked the ones to beat.

Fellow-German, Beatrice Buchwald, finished second here with DSP Belantis (Benetton Dream x Expo’se) on a score of 9.54 while the aptly-named KWPN mare, Eye Catcher (Vivaldi x Partout), slotted into third for The Netherlands’ Kristen Brouwer with a mark of 9.52. Fourth place went to Germany’s Ann-Christin Wienkamp with the Westphalian stallion, Samoura M (San Amour x Ferragamo) who would eventually claim a spot on the podium. The Ground Jury consisted of Ghislain Fouarge (NED), Andrew Gardner (GBR), Kurt Christensen (DEN) and Dr. Dietrich Plewa (GER), and 33 competed.

Saturday’s decider

Only Fouarge remained on the judging panel for Saturday’s decider in which he was joined by Jacques van Daele (BEL), Annette Fransen-Jacobaeus (SWE) and Liselotte Fore (USA). Once again Schneider and Sezuan earned a full 10 points for canter, posting 9.76 this time out to clinch the title.

Wienkamp and Samoura M, which is owned by Heinrich Mussmann, leap-frogged Buchwald and Brouwer to take the silver, while Brouwer earned the bronze.

Gold-medallist Schneider describes Sezuan as “an amazing horse – I’ve never had such a good one before,” she said. She believes the pair is quickly developing a strong relationship and is delighted with the horse’s ability to adapt since taking over the stallion which was previously competed by Denmark’s Andreas Helgstrand.

Weinkamp admitted she had been a little conservative in the qualifying leg but that she really went for it on the final day. It paid off by bringing her right up to silver medal spot with a total of 9.34 that included 9.6 for trot.

The super-handsome Eyecatcher is a wonderful mover but made too many mistakes and had to settle for bronze. Owned by Titan Wilaras and Joop van Uytert, the horse earned 10 for trot and 9.8 for walk, and it was quite an achievement for Brouwer who has only been paired with the talented stallion for the last month.

Buchwald and DSP Belantis finished just off the podium but the grey stallion, ridden by Isabell Werth’s assistant trainer, looks a real star in the making.

Six-Year-Olds

Brouwer then steered Dancer Forever (Vivaldi x Tango) to gold in Sunday’s Six-Year-Old Final. All of the top three in the Five-Year-Old line-up had earned scores above 9, but in the Six-Year-Old Final only the new champions, the 25-year-old Dutch rider and the chestnut stallion owned by G. A. Roza, managed to do so. Having finished ninth in the Five-Year-Old category last year, Sunday’s result underlined the progress this super-talented winning combination have made over the intervening period.

Dutch riders dominated the qualifying competition when filling the top three places, and on this occasion Dancer Forever had to settle for runner-up spot behind the KWPN Dream Boy (Vivaldi x Ferro) who earned a score of 8.84 to top the class with Gerdine Maree on board. Emelle Scholtens and Desperado 254 (Vivaldi/ Havidoff) slotted into third, but there would be a lot of movement in yesterday’s Final line-up following which Scholtens dropped to eighth.

It was Austria’s Stephanie Dearing and Auheim’s Del Magico (Dimaggio x Feinbrand) who rocketed up to silver medal spot while Maree and Dream Boy eventually claimed the bronze.

Sprang a surprise

Dearing and Stefan Hermann’s Hannoverian stallion sprang a surprise when second-last to go. Judges Maria Colliander, Andrew Gardner, Kurt Christensen and Dr. Dietrich Plewa gave them a final total of 8.66 points, after awarding 9 for canter and 8.9 for general impression, and this pushed Maree and Tim Cooman’s Dutch Warmblood, Dream Boy, down to bronze medal spot as they posted 8.64 when last into the arena. Dearing’s excellent result was a first for Austria whose riders have never taken a medal at these Championships before.

For the second time in two days Beatrice Buchwald was just pipped for a place on the podium, on this occasion missing out by 0.02 points with Den Haag (Diamond Hit x Florestan).

Brouwer and Dancer Forever however put up a score of 9.04, having been awarded 9.8 for spectacular trot, 7.8 for walk, 9.3 for canter, 9 for submission and 9.3 for general impression. It was a convincing win and the rider said her horse did a terrific job and that his trot feels “absolutely amazing!”

Results:

Five-year-old Championship: GOLD – Sezuan (Dorothee Schneider) GER 9.76; SILVER – Samoura M (Ann-Christin Wienkamp) GER 9.34; BRONZE – Eye Catcher 6 (Kirsten Brouwer) NED 9.30.

Six-year-old Championship: GOLD – Dancer Forever (Kirsten Brouwer) NED 9.04; SILVER – Auheim’s Del Magico (Stephanie Dearing) AUT 8.66; BRONZE – Dream Boy (Gerdine Maree) NED 8.64.

By Louise Parkes

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Dressage, FEI

Six-Year-Old Sa Coeur Makes It Two-in-a-Row While Scara Boa Takes Five-Year-Old Title

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Eva Moller and Sa Coeur became one of an elite group of double champions when adding the Six-Year-Old title to last year’s victory in the Five-Year-Old category at the FEI World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses 2013 in Verden, Germany today. Photo: FEI/Karl-Heinz Frieler.

Verden (GER), 11 August 2013 – Eva Moller and Sa Coeur became one of an elite group of double champions when adding the Six-Year-Old title to last year’s victory in the Five-Year-Old category at the 2013 FEI World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses in Verden, Germany today.  And it was Lena Stegmann and Scara Boa who topped yesterday’s Five-Year-Old division when earning an overall score of 9.6 including a perfect 10 for submissiveness.  These Championships were marked by the determination of the judges to reward good training, good riding and the cooperation and obedience of the horses.

“It was more or less a perfectly organised Championships, providing the best possible conditions for young horses to show themselves in the best way.  It wasn’t necessarily the most spectacular horses who came out on top; it was well-trained horses with good basic gaits and submissiveness who were the medal winners,” explained FEI Director of Dressage, Trond Asmyr.

Together, FEI and WBFSH have organized the World Breeding Championships for Sport Horses (WBCSH) in Dressage, Jumping, and Eventing since 1992, and this year the Dressage Championships attracted a field of 84 talented young horses from 21 countries.  Almost 42 percent of the entries were German-born, with 15 competing for the nation of their birth and 20 competing for other countries.

Five-Year-Old Championship

The chestnut Hanoverian mare Scara Boa (by Scolari x Wolkenstein ll) produced a lovely test to win the Five-Year-Old Final in which Andreas Helgstrand slotted into silver medal spot with the Oldenburg stallion Floricello 2 (Florencio 1 x Dormello) and Emmelie Scholtens took the bronze with the KWPN stallion Dorado (Krack C x Rousseau).

The judges for the this Final were led by The Netherlands’ Ghislain Fouarge and included Jacques van Daele (BEL), Linda Zang (USA) and Sandy Phillips (GBR). They awarded the winning marks to the mare bred by Rixtra Stolter and owned by Ingo Pape from Hemmoor in Germany.  Lena Stegemann has been riding Scara Boa for less than a year, and the 30-year-old German rider achieved 9.5 for trot, 9.0 for canter, 9.7 for walk, a full 10 for submissiveness along with 9.8 for general impression.  Stegemann admitted to being suprised by her wonderful result – “We were already happy when it became evident that we qualified for the Championships – I would never have imagined to win!” she said.

The liver-chestnut Floricello, bred by Germany’s George Siverding, earned a score of 8.72, having been awarded 9.8 for his wonderfully expressive trot, 8.0 for walk, 8.8 for canter, 8.0 for submissiveness and 9.0 for general impression. Danish rider Helgestrand took the stallion to the Swedish fixture at Falsterbo this summer in preparation for these Championships, and the experience gained on that trip paid off handsomely when they clinched the silver.

Dutch rider, Emelie Scholtens, admitted that her hopes for success had been invested in her other ride, Desperado, who however didn’t perform as well as expected when finishing seventh on a score of 8.32.  Instead it was the chestnut stallion Dorado who rose to the occasion, receiving scores of 9.6 for trot, 8.0 for walk, 9.0 for canter, 7.9 for submissiveness and 9.0 for general impression to take bronze on a final tally of 8.70.

Six-Year-Old Championship

Eva Moller was under plenty of pressure following her victory with Sa Coeur (Sir Donnerhall x Don Davidoff) at last year’s Championships.  Moller is a busy lady at any time as a mother of four children and with a very successful career as a producer of top-quality young dressage horses at the world-famous Kasselmann Stables where she has been working for the last 15 years.

The Oldenburg Sa Coeur was bred by Gestut Lewitz and originally owned by Hof Kasselmann but sold at last year’s PSI auction for a staggering €2.3m.  The gelding’s new Russian owner returned Sa Coeur to Moller so that he would contest the World Championships once again as a six-year-old, and the faith shown in his rider was well-rewarded today.

With scores of 9.2 for trot, 9.2 for walk, 8.9 for canter, 8.7 for submissiveness and 9.2 for general impression, the overall mark of 9.04 left the pair clear winners.  They pinned reigning Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage champion Helen Langehanenberg and the Westfalian mare Damons Delorange (Damon Hill x Rubin Royal) into silver medal position while the Oldenburg gelding Discovery (Dimaggio x Classiker) took the bronze.

The judges for the Six-Year-Old Final were Isabelle Judet (FRA), Annette Fransen-Jacobaeus (SWE), Kurt Christensen (DEN) and Dr Dietrich Plewa (GER), and they awarded the silver-medal-winning partnership with 8.2 for trot, 9.4 for walk, 9.2 for canter, 9.0 for submissiveness and 8.8 for general impression which rounded Langehanenberg’s score with Damon’s Delorange to 8.92.

Heiner Schiergen steered Discovery into bronze medal position having racked up 8.7 for trot, 8.9 for walk, 9.0 for canter, 8.6 for submissiveness and 8.8 for general impression which brought their total to 8.80.

Winning rider Moller admitted that her horse’s history piled extra pressure on them both, but now that Sa Coeur has done what they both set out to do in recording the significant double of wins over two consecutive Championships she has high hopes.  “His future plan is that he stays with me to train as far as we can go together, and then… well, who knows!” she said this afternoon.

Results:

Five-year-old Championship:  GOLD – Scara Boa (Lena Stegemann) 9.6; SILVER – Floricello (Andreas Helgstrand) 8.72; BRONZE – Dorado (Emmelie Scholtens) 8.70.

Six-year-old Championship:  GOLD – Sa Coeur (Eva Moller) 9.04; SILVER – Damon’s Delorange (Helen Langehanenberg) 8.92; BRONZE – Discovery (Heiner Schlergen) 8.80.

By Louise Parkes