The four-legged World Champion comes from Denmark, his rider from Germany, with the result that spectators from both nations were completely delighted after the FEI World Championship Final of five-year-old dressage horses. The Blue Hors Zack – Don Schufro-son, bred by Linette Jaeger and owned by the Gestüt Peterhof, won the 2014 FEI WC-title with a final score of 9.76. Dorotheo Schneider, Master of Equine Management, is only riding the beautiful, shiny black stallion since March. His brilliant trot was rewarded with the fantastic mark of 10, and he scored each 9.6 for his walk and his trot. The judges honoured overall impression with 9.9 so that the dream duo finally completed the test with 9.76.
A fantastic success for the Danish breeding association DWB and a great confirmation for the Saarland stud Peterhof to purchase Sezuan. “Incredible,” gasped Dorothee Schneider after having won the title. A more or less logical consequence as the duo already convincingly won the qualifier on Thursday. Nevertheless: such a World Championship-event for young horses is always not very easy and is exhausting for the horses with the fitness and form of the day frequently being the decisive factor. Different to the qualifier, the Westphalian mare Samoura M under Ann-Christin Wienkamp (Mesum) managed to move up two places in the Final. The Amour-Ferragamo-daughter, bred and owned by Heinrich Musemann, increased to 9.34. The mare was completely supple and relaxed, absolutely concentrated and reliably accomplished the exercises. Third place went to the KWPN-stallion Eye Catcher by Vivaldi-Partout, just as in the qualifier. His rider Kirsten Brouwer has only started to ride the stallion again since four weeks. She already trained the noble chestnut horse for two months in winter, and shortly before the World Championships, the owners van Uytert and Wilaras asked her again whether she would present Eye Catcher in Verden. Despite a mistake in the canter tour, the stallion achieved a final score of 9.3 with the fantastic score of 10 for the trot considerably contributing to this super result.
The judges also blamed the runner-up of the qualifier with its light-footed movement for one mistake in the canter. The Neustadt state stud stallion DSP Belantis by Benetton Dream – Expo`se came in fourth in the Final of the World Championships with an overall mark of 9.26. The stallion was bred by the Neustadt/Dosse National State Stud and has a new co-owner. Madeleine Winter-Schulze and the state stud are now both the owners of the incredibly noble grey horse that was perfectly presented by Beatrice Buchwald (Rheinberg). This will certainly ensure the future successful career and training in the stable of Isabell Werth.
Head Judge Ghislain Fourarge and his colleagues had a difficult task to complete – five horses earned overall scores of 9 and better, six horses ranged between 8 and 9, four more between 7.9 and 7.6. An obviously broad field of top horses and age-appropriate riding praised both, the Dutch Head Judge as well as the FEI-Director Dressage, Trond Asmyr from Norway. He was full of praise for the WC-venue Verden: “A fantastic tournament, perfect organization, perfect schedule.”
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