The final of the FEI World Dressage Championship for 5 year old horses was a triumph for Andreas Helgstrand, Denmark and Danish dressage horse breeding. Today Helgstrand was the first rider in the history of the FEI young dressage horse championships to win both gold and silver medal. His amazing Uno Donna Unique took silver and his long lined, breathtaking athlete Honnerups Driver came an inch closer to perfection and deserved the gold medal. Four Danish competitors, riding top dressage horses registered with the Dansk Varmblod dominated a wonderful final in Verden.
It was an exciting final too, starting off very well with four time World Champion rider Hans Peter Minderhoud from Holland presenting the KWPN approved stallion Zizi Top (Tango x Ferro), a horse with an active trot, a clear walk and a balanced canter. In this top quality field the mark of 8,54 proved to be only good enough for fifth place.
With Uno Donna Unique (Don Schufro x Falkland), his first horse in the final, Andreas Helgstrand made clear that he would be on the podium. His expressive, electrical mare Uno Donna Unique (Don Schufro x Falkland) is a very functional, highly talented horse, with a lot of energy. She received high marks for trot (9,3), walk (8,8), canter (9,2), submissiveness (8,9) and general impression (9,8), which was an average of 9,08.
The winner of the selection round Paul Schockemöhle's beautiful stallion Fürst Romancier (Fürst Heinrich x Romancier), ridden by dr Ulf Moller, was distracted by the huge crowd in a tent alongside the arena, and there was a hesitation in one of the simple changes of leg in canter. This was not the same horse that seemed unbeatable two days earlier: 8,74.
Directly after the test of Fürst Romancier, Andreas Helgstrand returned to the arena, riding what he later described as the best horse he ever tried. “I found this horse one year ago at a very small show. I sat on him and from the first step, I knew this was an exceptional horse.”
Above all, the FEI World Dressage Championship for 5 year old horses marked the rise of Danish dressage horse breeding and the importance of Don Schufro, who is either the father or the grandfather of all four Danish final horses.
WESTPOINT CLAIMED THE WORLD TITLE IN VERDEN
The KWPN stallion Westpoint (Jazz x Michelangelo), ridden by Emmelie Scholtens from The Netherlands, indeed was the best six year old at the FEI World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Verden. Hanoverian bred Florinero, ridden by Dorothee Schneider from Germany, took silver. Her compatriot Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn and last year's silver medal horse Imperio now had to settle for bronze.
The judges Bernard Maurel (France), Maria Colliander (Finland), dr. Wojtek Markowski (Poland) and Angelika Frömming (Germany) were totally impressed with the tall, black moving miracle from Holland. “In trot Westpoint was very active, very powerful”, commented Frömming. “But in his frame he became a little contracted. For that reason we had to lower the mark for trot to 8,8.”
But the canter – uphill, with a strong jump off the ground and very clear in three beat – came very close to perfection: 9,5. “For submissiveness we had to take into account that Westpoint was a little straight in the lateral movements to the left.” The mark for this trait, 8,4, lowered the final result to 9,0, which left plenty of space for victory.
This was a very successful weekend for the Rothenberger family. Daughter Sanneke won three gold medals in Ermelo and simultaneously in Verden their stallion Florinero (Fürst Heinrich x A Jungle Prince) took silver under the saddle of Dorothee Schneider. “We were very happy with this obedient horse”, said Angelika Frömming. “The contact was very consistent and very smooth, the high degree of accuracy in riding was shown in the lateral movements. So the highest mark is for submissiveness: 9,0.”
The total score for Florinero was 8,27. With this result the black stallion didn't quite follow in the footsteps of his father Fürst Heinrich, who won the World Title as a five year old in 2003.
Once more Imperio impressed the crowds in Verden. The elastic Trakehner stallion, ridden by Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn, returned to the FEI World Breeding Championship for Young Horses to add a bronze medal to last year's silver.