The World Championships for Young Dressage Horses were held in conjunction with the Dressage and Show Jumping Festival, which attracted about 40,000 spectators to Verden in Germany, Aug. 1-5.

The focus of the event was on dressage and the promising young dressage horses in the CDI as well as in the CDN. Most important of all, of course, were the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses. In both the 5- and 6-year-old classes, the top horses were offspring of famous Grand Prix dressage mounts.

The Oldenburg gelding Deveraux, ridden by Dutch rider Miranda Rongen, claimed the 6-year-old title. The gelding, whose breeder is Auguste Berding from Dinklage (Germany) and who is owned by Harry Rongen, is a son of the German Dressage Derby winner and Donnerhall offspring De Niro, bred out of a Rohdiamant dam.

The Dutch-German duo won both the final and the qualifier, with no weak points. In the trot Deveraux Dutch received a 9, in the walk an 8.7, and in the canter an 8.8, while in submissiveness and general impression he came close to perfection and received both times the dream mark of 9.5, which made an overall mark of 9.1.

“I am just happy,” said Ronge.

Silver medalist Hans-Peter Minderhoud was similarly pleased. The Dutch rider, who had made an impressive CHIO Aachen (Germany) debut this year, improved with the Dutch gelding Freebird Ucelli from a sixth place in the qualifier to the runner-up position in the final. The strong points of the gelding, sired by Olivi out of a Garibaldi mare, were the canter with a 9.2, but his weak point was the walk, worth just a 7.7. His final mark of 8.44 gave quite a margin to the outstanding winner.

The 2006 World Champion of the 5-year-old dressage horses, Uzzo, ridden by Patrick van der Meer, completed a triple success for the Netherlands. The Dutch gelding, sired by top-placed Grand Prix Hanoverian stallion Lancet (ridden by Emma Hindle of Great Britain) out of an Indoctro dam, placed third in the qualifier. In the final he received a 9.0 for his expressive trot, but had just a 7.8 in the walk and finished with a total mark of 8.42, just .02 points behind the silver medalist.

Untouchable
The black gelding Devereaux had announced his claim for the title with his win of the qualifier, achieving an overall mark of 8.78.

Edward Gal of the Netherlands rode the runner-up in the qualifier, the Dutch stallion IPS United, who is by Anky van Grunsven’s Grand Prix mount Krack C. His dam was bred by another Grand Prix stallion of van Grunsven’s, by the Trakehner stallion Partout TSF. In the final the combination placed only sixth (8.28), since the Dutch stallion was lacking submissiveness (7.7), while the scores for the basic movements fell between 8.3 and 8.6.

Two U.S. riders competed in the qualifier for the 6-year-old horses. Placing 17th, with a score of 7.86, Jessica Jo Tate and Donnermuth just missed the top 12 (the 12th-placed score was 8.06), who qualified directly for the final.

In the trot and the walk the black Rhineland stallion sired by Don Belo out of a Workchamp dam, received an 8.3, but in the submissiveness just 7.4.

In the field of 33 horses, Lars Holmberg and the Danish bay stallion Mix Max (Milan—Bajazzo) finished 28th (7.08).

In the consolation finals, of which the top three horses of the 21 participating could qualify for the final, Tate and Donnermuth just missed this chance again. They scored 7.70 for seventh place, while the third-placed combination had a 7.96. Again a lack of submissiveness lowered the overall score.

With an 11th place (7.46), Mix Max and Holmberg showed some improvement. The canter was their

highlight, scoring 8.0, while the trot dragged down their score.

Blind Date Called Off
The chestnut Hanoverian mare Blind Date, ridden by Brigitte Wittig of Germany, won the 5-year-old qualifier for the final in superior style with the excellent mark of 9.1.

Blind Date’s top-scoring highlights included her excellent walk, marked with a 9.2, her submissiveness, scoring a 9.5, and general impression mark of 9.4. The beautiful mare is a daughter of Wolfram Wittig’s
successful Grand Prix dressage stallion Breitling W out of a Donnerhall dam.

Unfortunately, the mare was not able to compete for the title in the final. Just before her start, Wittig had to withdraw Blind Date because the mare had strained her leg somehow in the warm-up area.

“I do not know what it is,” said her rider. “After we had taken off the bandages to go into the ring, she still had so much energy that she bucked, and after that she was not sound anymore.”

Her husband Wolfram Wittig said later, “When we examined her we could not find anything. Also the next day, nothing was swollen. It should just not have been that day. But, I am sure if she would have won the title, this would not have been the last highlight in her career. We will certainly hear much more from this mare.”

And, certainly, Blind Date will be a favorite for the 6-year-olds in 2008.

The Wittig family ended up having another reason to be happy. They bred the Westphalian mare Cayenne W, who had been runner-up in the qualifier, and she took the title with the British rider Susan Pape in the final. The mare, sired by Carabas out of a Bismarck dam, achieved an overall mark of 8.82.

Her highlight was the trot (9.0), but the two other basic paces were also of highest quality, receiving an 8.4 for the walk and an 8.9 for the canter. The dark brown mare, who is owned by Akemi Tanaka from Tokyo, was very supple, with good inner balance, receiving for submissiveness an 8.8 and a 9.0 for the general impression.

Wolfram Wittig, also trainer of Isabell Werth and himself fourth-placed in the final of the 6-year-olds with the black Hanoverian, stallion Rascalino, was very proud of the mare he bred.

“Cayenne W is a very well-balanced mare, a very calm horse, but when she comes into the ring she knows that it counts and she brings top performances,” he said. “For me, she has always been something very
special. She was a lovely horse as a foal, and she has stayed like that. I am sure the mare will make her way together with Susan Pape into the Grand Prix sport, and I am helping both on their way to this goal.”

The silver medal was won by the Oldenburg stallion Revanche de Rubin, sired by Rubin Royal out of a Landadel dam, achieving—with the German rider Juliane Brunkhorst—an overall mark of 8.52. The stallion, which had been third in the qualifier, earned for his ground-covering, rhythmical walk one of only two 9s given among the 14 finalists.

The bronze medal was also won by a product of the Oldenburg breeding, the mare Noble-Dream (8.34). The Caprimond—Donnerhall daughter was ridden by Jessica Michel of France, which showed how many young German horses have made their way all around Europe.

Noble-Dream had no weak points, but again her highlight was the walk (8.8). Though Blind Date had dropped out, Brigitte Wittig was still present with a second horse in the final, finishing ninth with Bertoli W, another Breitling W offspring out of a Diego mare. She and Hans-Peter Minderhoud were the only
riders to qualify two horses for the final.

A total of 37 horses competed in the qualifier for the 5-year-olds. With Christopher Hickey placing 16th aboard the Hanoverian gelding Cabana Boy, sired by Contucci CWS out of a Bordeaux dam, another U.S. rider was not far from qualifying among the top 12 riders for the final.

Hickey, based at Bad Woerishofen, brought the gelding to a very balanced performance, receiving in all three basic paces marks between 7.20 and 7.60 as well as a 7.20 for submissiveness and a 7.60 for the overall impression, which made an average of 7.42. The last combination directly qualified for the main final received a 7.82.

The second U.S. rider, David Blake, rode the bay Hanoverian stallion Lord Albert, sired by Londonderry out of a Brentano II mare, to rank 24th (7.08). His walk was marked with a 6.10, while the trot was the highlight (7.90). In the consolation finals, Cabana Boy and Hickey finished in 10th place (7.56), Blake and Lord Albert in 16th (7.16) of the 24 participants.

Birgit Popp