Australian Olympian William Matthew has enjoyed success at Schloss Wickrath in Germany, placing first and second in the Kl. S*** (national Grand Prix) on Saturday (26 April) with two impressive scores over 73%.
Will won the test with Annamira 3 (Fiderbach x Argentinus), an 11-year-old bay mare owned by Olivia Vliek of Finland, scoring 73.4%.
“I’m really proud, that was her first Grand Prix,” said Will afterwards. “I’ve had her since she was eight, and it’s been a long journey to get here. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if she would learn everything, especially the piaffe; this was really tricky for her to get her head around… but to get 73% in her Grand Prix debut, I’m over the moon.
Will also claimed second place on a score of 73.167% with Sonnenkönigin 6 (Roi du Soleil x Sir Donnerhall), a 13-year-old bay mare owned by Will’s partner Ellen Hedbys of Sweden. Ellen rides this horse with great success in CDI-U25 Grand Prix classes.
“I rode Sonnen just so i could feel her once in the test, to be able to help Ellen more,” explains Will. “It gave me a much better insight into how she’s feeling in the test, as she can be a bit spooky, but Ellen is very good at covering it up so you don’t always see it from the ground, so it was really beneficial for me to feel her once.”
