The World Champion of five-year-old dressage horses 2010, the black stallion Astrix, took the first step to winning his second World Championship gold medal in Verden. The Obelisk – Olivi-son, bred in the Netherlands, won the first qualifier for the WBFSH Championships for six-year-old dressage horses under his rider Emmelie Scholtens (Netherlands). Like last year, the judges honoured the three outstanding basic gaits of the KWPN-stallion with scores of 9.2 – 9.5 – 9.2 for his trot, the walk and the canter and rewarded the overall impression of the six-year-old horse with a score of 9.2. They decided on 8.7 for his suppleness which was the only difference to the horses placed second and third.
The 25-year-old Emmelie Scholtens competes for the Dutch show stable Laarakkers from Winschoten. She already presented Astrix in 2010 when both won the gold medal with an overall score of 9.18. Now they scored 9.16 in the qualifier – almost a precision landing and matching last year’s scores for the shiny black stallion and his rider.
Presidents Avanti was also bred in the Netherlands, a stallion by United out of a Farrington-dam, who was presented by the 2005 Team European Champion, Laurens van Lieren (Netherlands). The bay stallion earned his best score of 9 for his walk and finished with an overall score of 8.8. The best German horse took the third place only beaten by a hair: The Westphalian gelding St. Emilion by Sandro Hit – Ehrenwort, ridden by the Master of Equine Management Dorothee Schneider (Framersheim). The horse was excellently presented by his rider and rewarded with a partial score of 9 for his suppleness, the highest mark of the day. With an overall score of 8.78, St. Emilion is only a blink of an eye away from Presidents Avanti.
The Dutch team conquered the Championships with seven KWPN-horses, accompanied by four horses from the Swedish breed, 2 Austrian warmbloods, three Danish and each one horse bred in Latvia, Norway, Finland, Italy and France. Germany presents the biggest quantity of horses with three Hanoverians, five Oldenburger and each two Westphalian, Trakehner and Rhineland horses.
The first World Championship Final will be held in Verden on Saturday, 3.00 pm, the Prize of the Kreissparkasse Verden. The twelve best five-year-old dressage horses from the qualifier on Thursday will participate at the test, complemented by the three best horses from the so-called Small Final of five-year-old horses. The World Championship decisions will be broadcasted live on the Internet under www.verden-turnier.de.
Results international dressage test –
1st World Championship qualifier six-year-old dressage horses:
1. Emmelie Scholtens (Netherlands) with Astrix (KWPN), score 9.16
2. Laurens van Lieren (Netherlands) with Presidents Avanti (KWPN), 8.80
3. Dorothee Schneider (Framersheim/GER) with St. Emilion (Westphalian), 8.78
4. Matthias Bouten (Rheinberg/GER) with Lezard (Rhineland), 8.70
5. Andreas Helgstrand (Denmark) with Torveslettens Stamina, 8.64
6. Theo Hanzon (Netherlands) with I.P.S. Amazing Star, 8.42