The first qualification at the LONGINES FEI/WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses has finished! No less than 44 five-year-old dressage talents made an appearance in the main arena today. The Oldenburger Fashion Prinz OLD (Fürst Romancier x Sarkozy) of Hof Kasselmann received the highest points from the jury. Frederic Wandres piloted the stallion bred by Gestüt Lewitz to an average score of 8.9, the highlight being a 9.5 for the walk.
Chairman of the jury Hennin Lehrmann: “Fashion Prinz is a wonderful horse that possesses three fantastic gaits. Especially the trot and walk are of exceptional quality. His self-carriage could be slightly better, but for a merely five-year-old horse of this size, it was simply very good.
Over 1.90m
Frederic Wandres was more than pleased with the performance of his stallion: “We were the last ones to start, and I had already seen so many good and promising horses. To then come out on top is a fantastic feeling. Fashion Prinze gave his best and I am so happy with him”, enthuses the German rider. “He measures over 1.90m and for his age and size the level of elasticity and the way he handles his body is unbelievable. His biggest plus is the walk. In my eyes, it leaves nothing to be desired.”
Uphill by nature
The Hannoveraner stallion Vitalos (Vitalis x De Niro) of Stallion station Helgstrand/Schockemöhle placed second. Ridden by Leonie Richter, the chestnut that was bred by Josef Bramlage, obtained an average score of 8.86.
Hennin Lehrmann expressed his admiration of the stallion: “This horse is uphill by nature and had a lot of wow-moments in trot. The walk is correct, and the right-hand canter was incredible. The left-hand canter was a bit short behind, but this horse has abundant quality and seems to be very cooperative.”
Elegant horse
The third prize was awarded to the mare Lyngbjergs St. Paris (Blue Hors St. Schufro x Blue Hors Rockefeller) of owners United Dressage and Vallentin Dressage. Presented by Victoria E. Vallentin the breeding product of Bente Borjesson received a total score of 8.82. “This is a completely different horse than the first two”, explains Lehrmann. “This mare got the highest mark for submission today and she displays a fantastic use of the hindleg. Perhaps she could have been a tad more relaxed in the walk, but in essence, truly an elegant horse.”
Competition is wide open
The best thirteen five-year-olds advance to the final on Saturday. Usually, 12 combinations receive a ticket to the final, but that number has been increased to 13 thanks to an ex aequo result. Tomorrow, the best three combinations of the small final earn a spot in the exciting conclusion on Saturday.
According to Frederic Wandres, the competition is wide open. “The scores were so close today and we there are a lot of good horses. In the final we all start with a clean slate, so everything is still possible in the final test!”
Find all results here.
Photo: Dirk Caremans/HippoFoto
