The lady reaped thunderous applause and caused tears of joy, and she looked like she would know exactly what was going on: Woodlander Farouche is the new WBFSH World Champion of five-year-old dressage horses, and she earned outstanding scores. The British Hanoverian, ridden by Michael George Eilberg, even scored 10 for her walk. The judges honoured the presentation of the Fürst Heinrich/Dimaggio-daughter, bred and owned by Lynne Crowden from Great Britain, with a final score of 9.72. “It is incredible and just pure pleasure to ride such a horse,” the 25-year-old Michael George Eilberg happily said. He already rode Farouche’s dam Dornröschen. “They are both very similar characters. Both show up in the arena to do their job.“ Silver went to Damon’s Divene (9.12), the daughter by the double World Champion Damon Hill out of a Rubin Royal-dam and presented by Helen Langehanenberg (Havixbeck/GERMANY). The Dutch Emmelie Scholtens and the KWPN-stallion Bretton Woods (8.88) by Johnson/De Niro earned the bronze medal.
Woodlander Farouche’s breeder proudly followed the hype created by her mare, politely answered all questions, but nevertheless burst into tears of joy. It has been her deepest wish to participate at the 2011 WBFSH World Championships for Young Dressage Horses, and thus, the tension to be in Verden was high: “It was already difficult on Thursday, but today it was terrible.” The judges especially complimented Michael George Eilberg’s brilliant riding style. He presented the mare age-appropriately and developed all her natural qualities. He scored 9.4 – 10 and 9.8 for the trot, walk and canter, 9.6 for submissiveness and 9.8 for overall impression. “Well-done” – there is nothing more to say!
It was the first time that the WBFSH World Championships for Young Dressage Horses were supported by HKM, a company for sports equipment. The North German company HKM is the official provider of the WBFSH at the World Championships for young dressage, show jumping and event horses.
Helen Langehanenberg was very happy about her World Champion-daughter Damon’s Divene who does not look so much like her Westphalian sire. She is tall, her dad a bit smaller than the daughter. “But their work ethic is the same – simply fantastic,” Langehanenberg said. The professional rider lives in Havixbeck near Münster, and with Damon Hill NRW, she belongs to the German team for the European Championships in Rotterdam.
The Dutch Emmelie Scholtens and Bretton Woods moved up from the sixth place in the qualifier to the bronze medal in the Final. The noble grandson by the Derby winner De Niro is already sold to Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff (Kronberg) and Paul Schockemöhle (Mühlen). “Ann-Kathrin purchased the horse, and I participated. Next year, the stallion will be available for breeding via the service station in Mühlen,” Schockemöhle confirmed.
Results international dressage test, World Championships of five-year-old dressage horses:
Gold: Woodlander Farouche (Hanover) with Michael George Eilberg (Great Britain), score 9.72
Silver: Damon`s Divene (Westphalian) with Helen Langehanenberg (Havixbeck/GERMANY), 9..12
Bronze: Bretton Woods (KWPN) with Emmelie Scholtens (Netherlands), 8.88
4. Boston (KWPN) with Hans Peter Minderhoud (Netherlands), 8.74
5. I.P.S. Bon Bravour (KWPN) with Tom Franckx-Goen (Belgium), 8.64
6. Showtime (Hanover) with Dorothee Schneider (Framersheim/GERMANY), 8.58