By Louise Parkes
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 makes the competition just about as good as it can be, and the fixture is very popular with both the participants and the public” he pointed out.
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 are 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
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.
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