Verden is typically a smorgasbord of the young talents to the Grand Prix, with the highlight of the five and six year old World Young Horse Dressage Championships in the middle. 2008 was no exception.
It is easy to forget amidst the drama of the five and six year old World Dressage Championships, the selection of the Hanoverian three and four year old mares/geldings and stallions combinations for the Bundeschampionate (the German national championships), the Nürnberger Burgpokal national PSG qualifier (the test is slightly different from the FEI PSG test) for the championships for seven to nine year olds, the Grand Prix dressage competition, and many classes for jumping horses from the smaller courses to a 1.55 meter Grand Prix competition!
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Before we get on to the World Dressage Championships and the drama and competition there, let me say that my favorite from the Hanoverian three and four year old competitions was Bacchus von Worrenberg (Belissimo – Calypso II) three year old gelding that from reports had an asking price upwards of 300,000 Euros (yikes!) and I was blown away by the quality of Ulla Salzgeber’s new Grand Prix horse Hezruf’s Erbe. That horse, provided that he stays sound and happy with the work, has a very good chance to be the 2012 Gold Medalist. He is outstanding!!!!
The US-owned stallion Weltissimo II competed by Hubertus Schmidt also had a good outing placing in the Grand Prix and second in the Special. There were many nice horses and I was able to see a number of the stallions I have been watching since they were young now compete at this Nürnberger Burgpokal 2008 qualifier. These included the popular stallions Stedinger, Farewell III, Donnerball, Desperados, Re Primeur, and many more. Results from all the classes are available at http://eventcontent.hippoonline.de/340/340zeitplanDEU.htm?style=hippo and again, Ulla Salzgeber won this level competition with her mare Wakana, who if the rumor is correct, is also for sale. |
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This year, there were few young horses that dominated each and every class. Rather, it was not only about the quality of gaits and good riding, but also which horses were the least spooky and most obedient. It is hard to explain the impact unless you see the tight arena, big tents, milling fans, jumpers and dressage horses warming up in the background that are always the reality at Verden. However, this year was even more difficult because of the wind and thunderstorms that came through during many of the afternoon classes. Many of the young horses, especially the stallions, had a rough go of it the first day and had to fight their way back to the “big” finals by placing in the top three of the consolation finals. In turn, some of those that did well the first day, by the third day were too wound up by the wind and pressure and had various degrees of spooky melt-downs. Eurodressage.com offered excellent coverage of the ups and downs each of these horses faced. http://www.eurodressage.com/reports/shows/2008/08wcyh/index.html
Comments have been made that the five year old class emphasized rideability and the connection, and the six year old class emphasized gaits. I think that is a bit too simplistic looking at the medalists in each division overall, but certainly speaks to the winner in each division. In the five year old class, Desperados (Dressage Royal – Rouletto) was the most consistent throughout the days, has three uphill quality gaits, is lovely in the connection and seems very happy in his work (a special plus as this horse just a year ago went through the Oldenburg auction in Vechta and was sold for a very good price). From the picture and consistency, Desperados deserved the win, although contrary to the stereotype that the five year old class is always won by the horse with the biggest gaits, those he did not have. Imperio (Connery – Balour xx), the second place horse and a very well regarded Trakehner stallion that apparently is also for sale, was absolutely lovely. I really hope we have a chance for him to be available for breeding in the U.S. He has an amazing trot, worth every bit of his 9.2 score in the finals, but lacked some strength and uphill push in the counter canter and maturity, which cost him the win. Silberaster (Sandro Hit – Canaster), already a very successful mare both in the Oldenburg breeding area and German national championships, had the most impressive outline and gaits of the finalists. However, she was rather inattentive and distracted during the test in small ways, and it detracted ever enough to push her from first to third. The riding on all of these three medalists in the five year old division was top class and they should be applauded for their generally quiet aids and sympathetic hands. Wynton (Jazz – Matador II), with a lesser known Dutch rider, also stepped up to the plate and did a good job to be the fourth place horse as he is already a popular breeding stallion. All three of his gaits are very, very good, and the horse is quite beautiful. I predict a successful breeding career ahead of him.
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For the six year old class, the horse with the biggest gaits won hands down. Dramatic (Don Frederico – Weltmeyer) is a stallion with a trot that is rarely seen even in the Grand Prix arena. Both his working trot and extended trot are of excellent quality and engender gasps. It was almost a little stingy to only give his trot a 9.5 in the finals, but given that the horse was a little bit tired the last day having had to qualify for the finals by winning the consolidation finals after a very poor showing due to distractions the first day, his trot tour in the finals did suffer a bit by not having quite the same steady connection as the previous day in the circles and lateral work. Dramatic’s walk and canter, although not the same quality of his trot, are solidly 8+ level gaits at his present level of maturity, and overall, I would give him a 9 on his gaits. Dramatic is quite tall and leggy, so all the more interesting to me that such a type would have the maturity and training to do the movements required in the six year old test with general ease and panache. That being said, Dramatic went second in the order in the final round and did have a little bobble in the changes, and as I mentioned, showed some slight deviation in the quality of the connection in the trot and also in the walk pirouettes, so we were all on tenterhooks the rest of the class to see whether his 8.84 score would “hold” in fist place.
Due to bad luck or the judges being wowed by Dramatic’s gaits, his score did hold, although two mares Polka Hit Nexen (Sandro Hit – Templewind xx) and Diamantenbörse (Diamond Hit – Rubinstein I) gave Dramatic a “run for his money.” Both of these mares were excellently presented. Polka Hit Nexen just danced easily through the six year old test with lovely flying changes, lateral work and ease. Only a little mistake in the last trot diagonal breaking into the canter disrupted the picture. Diamantenbörse made no mistakes and showed such confidence throughout the test. She also has very good gaits and one can easily see any FEI career ahead for this mare. However, a little bit of stiffening of the neck in the trot transitions and here and there caused a slight difference in their scores and this mare ended up in third. However, for the top three in the six year old class, it was nip and tuck. I must say that for me, I would have switched the placing on the fourth and fifth place horse. In my opinion, the fourth placed horse in the finals should have been Vivaldo (Polansky-Montechristo), a Dutch stallion that was also at Verden last year in the five year old class and was much improved this year, rather than NOH's Wizard (White Talisman-Ragazzo), which for me, should have been in fifth place, although still a very lovely gelding with a lot of talent for the upper levels.
The American riders in the five year old classes – Jennifer Hoffman with Rubinio (Rubin Royal-Florestan) and Katie Robicheaux with Williams (Paddox-Michelangelo) did a lovely job presenting their horses. Jennifer was only a touch away from making it into the big final, and that was really too bad. The Leatherdales’ stallion Damsey (Dressage Royal-Rubinstein I) also had a respectable showing in the consolidation finals for the six year olds and showed himself well. The Krack C horses in general found this to be a difficult year at Verden, and the DG Bar Ranch mare Valeska DG (Krack C – Farrington) was no different. Willy Arts did a very good job riding her to complete the test, but it did not look to be an easy job for this very experienced rider.
Videos of the five and six year old winners are available here: http://www.viddler.com/explore/snaketheweb/videos/1285/
Overall, each year I debate the merits of doing the young horse classes with the young horses versus going up the USDF levels (or whatever national level equivalents in the home countries). For the young horses classes, having such few scores (only five marks in total) are both an opportunity and a curse because unless you have a horse that can score above 8 in front of international judges in all five marks, it is hard to make it. To find and develop a young horse in that venue that will perform with all three gaits on demand to get 8s or 9s on each, to be completely on the aids and “submissive” in the dressage sense, plus beautiful enough with a quiet sympathetic yet effective rider such that the general impression score is in the 8s or 9s, is tricky. For that reason, I am beginning to think that the young horse classes are for even fewer of the young horses then I originally thought, and it is better or easier to get good scores by moving up the USDF levels. To illustrate what I mean: a 70 percent in a USDF level class is a great achievement, whereas a 7 in a young horse class is not such a great qualifying score.
As for Verden, I highly recommend that anyone who can, do make it over to watch the World Young Dressage Horse Championships because it is an education in and of itself!
Next year, I am thinking that I will go to the Bundeschampionate instead and witness that smorgasbord usually over our Labor Day holiday. It is something to look forward to!