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Chestnuts sweep the World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo

After four days of competition, it was a chestnut clean sweep and a showcase of the quality of Dutch and German breeding specifically at this year’s Longines FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses 2024 in Ermelo (NED)...

Equestrian Life

Published 10 Sep 2024

Main image: Quinn G and Fiona Bigwood winners of the 6YO Final on 95%. Image by FEI/Leanjo de Koster – DigiShots.

Among the top 15 horses at the Longines FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses – five in each age category – six were German-bred and five were Dutch-bred.

The 5 -,6-, and 7-year-old winners were all chestnuts too; a distinct change from the dark bay Dressage horses the world has become accustomed to. For those who follow this event every year, there were plenty of familiar faces Dressage enthusiasts will recognise, including a two-time world champion in Life Time FRH.

5-Year-Olds

The 5-year-old test is always the most hotly-contested category and due to the focus on potential – rather than schooling – technicalities, it tends to attract stud farms wanting to show off their top progeny. Of the 46 five-year-olds in this year’s field, 22 were stallions, 9 mares, and 15 geldings.

The KWPN stallion Red Viper (Romanov x Sir Sinclair) led from start to finish, with a win and 92% in the preliminary test and a convincing win in the finals yesterday. Ridden by the Dutch jockey Bart Veeze and bred by Coen Kerbert, he scored 93.800% for the win – the only score above 90 in the class – thanks to impressive marks of 9.4 for trot, 8.8 for walk, a competition high 9.7 for canter, 9.2 for submission and 9.8 for perspective. The horse was almost faultless, with the judging panel saying the trot displayed exceptional elasticity and shoulder freedom, the canter as balanced, powerful, and uphill.

The second placed combination – Westfalen stallion Glamdale WP NRW (Glamourdale x Millennium) with Germany’s Stefanie Ahlert – were over 3% behind on 90.2%. Jeanna Hogberg piloted the Swedish stallion Severucci HT (Secret x Rubinrot) to third on 90.000%.

Red Viper and Bart Veeze. Image by FEI/Leanjo de Koster – DigiShots.

6-Year-Olds

Danish Warmblood mare Valerie B, ridden by Anne-Mette Strandby Hansen, topped the 6-year-old first qualifier, scoring an outstanding 90.800%. In 2023, Valerie B won the Preliminary rest for 5-year-olds, but was beaten out in the finals by Quinn G and Carl Hedin’s Instagram sensation, stallion Skyline to B.

Merita Hagren and Alkaline (Secret x Zalmiak Firfod) were one of the surprises during the final round, clocking up a huge 92% with 9s and 9.5s across the board to finish with a second place. Despite only placing in 6th during the preliminary test, the chestnut stallion was described as “lovely, springy, and elastic” by judge Peter Storr. Talking about the canter, he said “it has a lot of airtime, and it’s truly elastic and energetic. We did have an argument about where to go with the marks and decided on a 9.5.”

The pressure was on for the remaining few combinations, as Alkaline was followed immediately into the ring by winners of the preliminary test, Valerie B and Anne-Mette Strandby Hansen. Unable to replicate their preliminary performance, the pair finished fourth in the final with 87.2%. Despite scoring a perfect 10 for her trot, mistakes in the flying changes and canter cost her valuable points. Having placed second in the first round, the chances of a podium finish looked excellent for Segantini 6 with Olympian Dorothee Schneider aboard, but some small mistakes put them out of the placings too.

The penultimate combination of the day was Quinn G, winner of last year’s 5-year-old final. Having claimed a tied 4th pace in the preliminary final, Fiona Bigwood rode a foot perfect test aboard the DWB mare by Quaterhit/Fassbinder. The mare was destined to be a two-time champion, scoring an incredible 95%, including a perfect 10 for both the walk and the trot with very little for the judges to offer other than praise for an “overall, lovely horse.”  The KWPN mare Nice Touch W (Dettori/Florencio) took third place, ridden by Charlotta Rogerson.

Quinn G and Fiona Bigwood. Image by FEI/Leanjo de Koster – DigiShots.

Charlott-Maria Schürmann and Life Time FRH. Image by FEI/Leanjo de Koster – DigiShots.

Charlott-Maria Schürmann and Life Time FRH. Image by FEI/Leanjo de Koster – DigiShots.

7-Year-Olds

It’s always wonderful to watch the progression from 5-year-old classes to 7-year-olds in terms of schooling, balance and collection. 44 combinations took to the arena on the first day.

Charlott-Maria Schürmann of Germany dominated both the preliminary and final tests with her Hanoverian stallion, Life Time FRH. Bred by Johannes Hesselink, Life Time FRH (by Livaldon x Fürstenball OLD) earned a score of 81.175% in the preliminary round. In the final, they went even further, chalking up an impressive 84.129%, with standout scores including a 9.5 for walk, 9.5 for submission, and a 9.5 for perspective. The judging panel said “we think you had a nice feeling on your horse today. We had that feeling too” and immediately praised the stallion’s “beautiful frame and correct education.”

Second was Leonie Richter of Germany, riding the Hanoverian stallion Vitalos FRH (by Vitalis x De Niro), the silver medallist of the six-year-old horses in 2023 and the five-year-old horses in 2022. Vitalis FRH had placed fifth in the preliminary round but moved up to secure second place in the final with a score of 83.222%.

Vitalos FRH, bred by Josef Bramlage, received a perfect 10 for trot in the final. Hans Peter Minderhoud of the Netherlands retained his third-place position from the preliminary round in the final, scoring 80.993% with the KWPN stallion Glock’s Massimo (by Glock’s Toto JR. x Bretton Woods).

Australia was represented in the 7-Year-Old class by Maree Tomkinson and the beautiful mare Image II. An Oldenburg mare by Ibiza out of Shanghai (St Moritz) and bred by Gerhard Dustmann in Germany, Imagine is a very expressive mare and has been trained from the early days by Maree – firstly here in Australia and now from her base in Germany. The pair contested the Small Final, posting a score of 66.158%.

Maree Tomkinson and Imagine II at the Longines FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship For Young Horses. Image by DigiShots.