VIDEO CLIP - 6 stallions selected from 1st Danish Warmblood pre-selection today

Riders Cup placed between Næstved and Ringsted at Sealand, Denmark were today´s host for the first of two Danish Warmblood pre-selection days.

Today 13 stallions were presented for the licensing commission and 6 stallions recieved a ticket for Danish Warmblood stallion licensing taking place in Herning from 6-10 March 2024.

All stallions were well prepared for the presentation and the licensing commission did selected the stallions with a good sharp eye today.

From H2R point of view Atterupgaards Beluga and both VH Stuteri stallions were the absolute top of today.

Next pre-selection is Wednesday at Vilhelmsborg where a total of 42 dressage stallions are ready for the pre-selection.

Selected stallions today:

Nalegro by Painted Black/Negro with Lottie Fry with 2nd victory in Dutch stallion competition

𝐍𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌-𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝟖𝟖,𝟐 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬

"Powerhouse" that's how judges Marian Dorresteijn and Sven Rothenberger described Nalegro after his performance in Ermelo. Just like in Kronenberg he won the M-Class of the Anemone Horse Trucks Stallion Competition. With his rider Charlotte Fry, the stallion received 88,2 points.

The judges rewarded him with a 9 for his amazing canter and overall impression. “This really is a powerhouse, a horse with a very strong hind leg,” tells Marian enthusiastic. “The walk has a lot of power. He has a very active way of walking. The trot is also characterized by strength, in which it shows the ability to easily collect on the hind leg. Today the canter was a highlight with a lot of power and good extensions, after which he collects back very nicely on the hind leg.”

Mecklenburger Körtage with "home soil advantage" for the 2023 Champion stallion by Danciero/San Amour/Fürst Romancier

Champion stallion bred by Gestüt Lewitz and presented by Paul Schockemöhle.

This years champion stallion did not stand out (from H2R point of view). A big framed stallion missing bit more sharpness from hind, like also the freedom of the shoulders were not as we want the best to show nowaday, but showing super walk like his World Champion sire. From H2R point of view it look a bit like a “home soil advantage” champion today.

Reserve champion by Vivaldos / Dancier / Rascalino bred by

From the presentation videos for the auction this stallion showed something extra and he did not disappoint for the licensing. Super supple from behind including supple topline making him able to push up and out through the shoulders in a very nice balance. Let´s see what the buyers think when the auction starts tomorrow online. Link for the auction here.

2nd reserve champion by Dynamic Dream / Finest / Dancier bred by

A super well moving boy with a lot of elasticity, missing bit of suppleness over the back and still not as appealing as no 49 mentioned above.

The other premium stallions:

2 - Birmingham/Fürstenball

8 - De Niro Gold/Abendtanz

10 - Diamond First/Christ

15 - Dynamic Dream/Franklin

42 -Totilas/Imperio (1D)

47 - Vitalis/Fürst Heinrich

53 - Zenon/Top Gear



Mecklenburger stallion licensing comes up Friday 8th and Saturday 9th December

Mecklenburger stallion licensing takes place from Thurday. A total of 53 stallions are selected for the licensing.

Gestüt Lewitz presenting a total of 11 stallions, and also for the licensing Dynamic Dream is the stallion with most sons a total of 5 stallions for this licensing at Landgestüt Redefin.

Schedule:

H2R picked the favourites from the auction collection, but from the total list of stallions more very interesting stallions are presented.

The V-blood dominates again with three very attractive stallions. From this video presentation no 1 by Vivaldos / Dancier is the BEST stallion seen in 2023. Super angles with active supple push from behind both free and by lunging in all three gaits - both videos here below.

Will keep an eye on all of them for the licensing as it is possible to follow the entire event at Clipmyhorse.

No 1 - Free and by hand

No 1 presentation by lunging:

No 5 - A super supple mover with stallion look.

Presentation free and by hand:

Presentation by lunging:

No 28 - Another attractive Vitalis son. From the free presentation he is not super attractive, but by the lunging he shows himself with super qualities.

Presentation by hand and free:

Presentation by lunging:


Blue Hors Zepter and Nanna Merrald were as close as just 0,67% from the victory today

Danish Nanna and Daniel at Lövsta Top 10 Dressage

Today Nanna and Zepter showed a brand new freestyle with 80´s theme. The music is produced by Dutch Joost Peters, the master of freestyle music, and it suits Nanna and Zepter perfectly. When it comes to practising the lines with the music Nanna did not manage to practise with the new music before today´s premier, but Nanna´s experience did not fail as she manage to show the test of high degree of dificulty and with smooth lines. The small transition issues from the Grand Prix were solved for today´s freestyle, only tiny things were the two times series at the end where Zepter nearly took of but Nanna kept the control, unfortunately two errors creeping in for the jokerline.

No doubt Nanna and Zepter were today´s winner, and both judge at E German Katrina Wuest and judge at H Portugues Frederico Pinteus saw them in front. Jessica it´s soon time to leave the top!

Huge progress for Vayron & Daniel

Lövsta Top 10 was first time out since the Europeans for Vayron and Daniel Bachmann Andersen. The huge stallion has really developed body wise since Riesenbeck, and in the arena he looks super confidente, as the arena is pretty much packed with huge back drop and running wide screen. For today´s freestyle some minor issues creeping in.

Overall the frame, the quality of the piaffe tours, balance in and out of the piaffe tours and passage has developed nicely. For both the Grand Prix and the freestyle the pirouettes still need a bit more control and balance. Extensions in both trot and canter and half passes are with top qualities. As Daniel tells he is very happy about the development of Vayron both physically and mentally, he has develop with big steps since Riesenbeck, and now he is able to bring big parts from the warm-up into the arena.

H2R comments during the tests:

Dalera - Good halt, passage half pass to trot half pass, to passage, piaffe at C 7-8 steps, out passage, diagonal small lack of balance into piaffe pirouette, passage half pass to trot half pass, extension to piaffe turn, collected walk in good balance to nice extended walk could be a bit more active, picking up for canter, half pass, extended canter, nice 1,5 pirouette left, 2 times on curved, extended to 1,5 pirouette, missing bit balance and control, to 1 times, half pass left, extended short diagonal, transition, to passage, to piaffe, half pass passage, piaffe to half pass passage to halt. 90,295%

Zepter - Super entry in passage, superb halt, out into passage to piaffe turn on the hind legs turn out into half pass passage to half pass trot, back to passage and change in music, WOW piaffe at C and transitions, half pass right trot to half pass passage left - WOW WHAT a super freestyle mood, piaffe turn on the hind legs, out into extended trot, transition to canter, 2 times tiny tense into 1,5 pirouette, extended canter, transition to walk, good extended walk stretching, collected walk short diagonal, transition to canter to super 1,5 pirouette, WOW 1 times, back to priouette, zigzag canter, end with another super sit balanced pirouette, joker line 2 times small error, transition to trot, passage springing from leg to leg, into piaffe fan WOW smooth on the hind leg and out into passage. Applauding audience. 89,625%

Vayron - Entering in BIG passage, super halt, out in WOW extension, to passage, piaffe turn at C to passage half pass left, to trot half pass right, passage, piaffe turn at A to passage half pass right, half pass left trot, big reach uphill to passage, piaffe at the spot in good rhythm nice transitions, to collected walk to extended walk - good quality, canter at C, change of music, bit unbalanced out of pirouette to half pass, better 2nd pirouette, extended canter WOW back to pirouette left, out into 2 times BIG, waiting for the music to extended again, better balance right pirouette, super 1 times, joker line with super 1 times, bit stocked for transition to trot, extended trot to X into piaffe fan, really nice balance out into passage on hand to superb halt. 83,125% (placed 6th.)

Here you find the entire results.


Match made in heaven - Mount St. John Freestyle and Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour

Double debut victory in Kronenberg for Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour with MSJ Freestyle - photo credit: Timo Martis

Two international debut starts - both above 80%

How can this even be possible?

It´s an outstanding horse, which had one of the world best riders Charlotte Dujardin in the saddle for the education, showing an outstanding former show record and competition experience, and now moved to another world class rider being able to continue this path - it´s the recipe on this weekends success.

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and her team are over the moon after such an outstanding debut. One thing is dreaming about success taking over a former top horse and make this horse “your own”, another thing is actually making it happen as we just experienced this weekend.

“To me this weekend is still totally unreal. Can’t believe that we actually did what we did, Free & I. When finishing the GP I had tears rolling down my cheeks after the last piaffe - unbelievable. I have said it before but from the first time I sat on her I felt that we were connected and being able to show such a partnership already truly shows that she’s allowed me into her heart already! I am beyond grateful to family Zinglersen & Family Blundell that they wanna be a part of this amazing journey - to me it is really something unique to share this journey with such lovely & passionated people ❤️thanks to Free and our whole team!”, tells Cathrine.

New co-owner Zinglersen family, Louise Zinglersen says: “I am just so grateful that Emma Blundell thought of Cathrine as Freestyle's new partner, and that it was possible to get the opportunity for us to join an ownership together with Cathrine and Rasmine. My family and I love following Cathrine's journey with the horses including her top management, dedication and deligence. Freestyle is undoubtedly a very special horse. You can feel her passion for it. She definitely knew that she was back at competition and she was shining together with Cathrine.

It was the first time during this weekend that we went as a team with Emma and her parents. A large team around Freestyle, which means that we are able share our journey together all of us. It's amazing, and really something special. And of course the support Cathrine gets from everyone around, it means a world to the entire team,” Louise said.

For now Cathrine has no new competition plans with Free.

Denmark and Danish dressage can only be humble and thankful for this new partnership. 🙏🏻

Dalera, Zepter and Emilio takes the podium for today´s Lövsta Top 10 CDI5 Grand Prix

Timing, accuracy, flow, suppleness, experience and partnership - all words for today´s top three in Stockholm.

Dalera and Jessica keep in shining and remaining the pair scoring highest, but said that with Danish glasses Nanna and Zepter look like the next combination to beat them. Could it be tomorrow? Zepter and Nanna are ready with a brand new freestyle with music from the 80´s.

For Dalera the unsteady entering halts has become a clear issue. A usual Jessica does not what´s in the tank for the Grand Prix even though some issues creeping - also today. For the first time the half pass to right was not in same balance and flow as the left, also reflected into canter zigzag.

Breaking the 80% barrier today, former best GP score was at the Europeans scoring 78,556%. Nanna presented Zepter in a very nice closed and powerful frame today, maybe a tiny release of the pressure into the piaffe tours would have kept the fluency from H2R eye, but asking Nanna about this tiny issue, the answer was clear “I should have made the passage a bit smaller on my way into the transitions”, Nanna said.

Werth and Emilio keep on performing and lately Werth was no longer that convinced about the forthcoming retirement of Emilio at Frankfurt event in a few weeks, as she might postpone his retirement date. He still look fit and motivated with his somewhat cheeky way in the contact for a few moments in every single test.

Daniel Bachmann Andersen and Vayron finished at a solid 5th place with 74,717%. More confident Vayron in the arena with clearly improved piaffe tours showing good balance and good transitions, like for the pirouettes the first becomes bit unbalanced and big while the 2nd is well performed. Unfortunately missing the two last flying changes for the 1 times.

You can find comments on every Grand Prix ride from today at Horse2rider Facebook.

Dalera - Unsteady halt steps back, supple diagonal, bit tension hind, bit unbalanced half pass right, better flow and go left, good halt with rein back, power diagonal, nice into passage, super into piaffe, good sit and balance for piaffe, smooth transitions, relaxed over the back extended walk with nice over track, bit unbalanced collected walk, good into passage, good 2nd piaffe with sit and balance tiny forward trend, smooth transition, good into canter, error hind mid 2 times parallel, power extension, bit unbalanced zigzag slow to right and quick to left, good 1 times, nice control bit big 1st pirouette, superb 2nd pirouette, smooth into trot, power balanced diagonal, super passage, transition on the hind legs, piaffe sit, passage power, and audience is there with applause.

Zepter - Super halt, power diagonal balanced uphill, nice crossing balanced half passes uphill, super halt at C nice rein back, power diagonal, super into passage on the hind legs, tiny tensions transition to piaffe but well managed, good out into passage, good extended walk nice stretching, super collected walk, at the letter for passage, super passage, small misunderstanding again into piaffe, super piaffe, super out, late into canter at E, good 2 times, power extension, well balanced zigzag, super 1 times, super preparation for 1st pirouette, well balanced, WAUW 2nd pirouette, nice into trot, power diagonal, super passage, super transition into final, super piaffe, smooth out, super final, Zepter becomes bit affected when audience starts applauding.

Emilio - Bit unsteady halt, well balanced diagonal, good crossing half passes, for transition Emilio becomes bit unstable in the contact, good halt with bit dragging rein back, smooth diagonal, super into passage, easy light of the ground piaffe with good transitions, small stumble for extended walk good relaxation, short slow collected walk, sharp at the letter for passage, nice passage, easy into piaffe bouncy at the spot, easy out, transition to canter at E!, nice 2 times, super nice extended canter, good zigzag, good 1 times at the end bit into the hand, good 1st pirouette, super 2nd with sit and balance, bit early into trot, nice diagonal end bit into the hand, nice passage, nice piaffe easy transitions, good halt.

Link here to the result lists.

81,196% international debut for Mount St. John Freestyle with Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour

Awesome new international combination for the Danish team

Danish Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour made her national debut in the beginning of November together with 14 year old top mare MSJ Freestyle scoring 76,767% and today they made history entering the international Grand Prix scene bringing themselves directly into the exclusive +80% Grand Prix list scoring impressive 81,196% with an AWESOME performance.

Last time MSJ Freestyle entered the international scene was back in May 2021 together with Charlotte Dujardin.

As the video of the full test is still not available online you here have the performance from H2R eyes:

Good halt, power balanced diagonal, good flow and crossing for both half passes nice uphill, superb halt with rein back, balanced power diagonal, smooth into passage, super passage, easy transitions, piaffe at the SPOT, trending 80,6%! good extended walk, super collected walk, bit late into passage, super passage, WAUW piaffe AT THE SPOT, smooth transitions, super passage, nice into canter, super 2 times, good extended canter, WOW zigzag, good 1 times, tiny 1st pirouette, WAUW 2nd, super into trot, power diagonal uphill expressive, TOP FINAL CENTERLINE.

Even with today´s impressive 81% score there is still room for improvements - of course in the tiny details. Today´s judging team did fully agree with at +80% test for Freestyle and Cathrine.

Cathrine is able to show our sport in the absolute best way - lightness, power, accuracy, balance, suppleness and not least happiness for both rider and horse in the arena performing as a true combination.

Cathrine also took the victory in the international 6 yr old preliminary test with Swedish bred mare Zimillione.

Top of the class:


Atterupgaards Orthilia is back home

18 year old Atterupgaards Orthilia is back at Danish Stud Atterupgaard with her breeder Kristine Munch Sinding - private photo

The now 18 year old Oldenburg brilliant ring mare Atterupgaards Orthilia by Gribaldi / Donnerslag is back where it all started at Danish Stud Atterupgaard.

Tilly has always been the heart horse of breeder Kristine Munch Sinding, and when she was asked whether she was interested in having Tille back she did not hesitate. “It´s kind of a dream being able to have her back in stable after she left 10 years ago”.

Tilly´s career started in 2009 where she was awarded Brilliant mare at OLD Elite mare show and under Maria Falkner Hansen and Katrine Sandholt Møller she was also successful at Young Horse level. Her first international start was in 2013 under Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour at Young Rider level winning individual competition in Addington, UK.

Fiona Bigwood and Atterupgaards Orthilia became partners in October 2013 (article at Eurodressage), and they made their international debut in Barcelona 2015.

2015 - Team silver European Championships with the British team, Aachen

2016 - Rio Olympics, British team silver

Beginning of 2017 Tille was back in Denmark sold to Agnete Kirk Thinggaard. They only competed ones in 2017 and twice in 2018, and after that Tille was sidelined and was first back in business under Nanna Merrald in January 2021.

2021 - Team bronze, Hagen

2022 - 5th in World Cup final, Leipzig

2022 - part of CDIO5 winning team, Aachen.

Final time Orthilia and Nanna competed was at CDI-W Lyon in October 2022.

Tilly is still in training and will of course continue with her daily routines back home at Stud Atterupgaard. As a youngster Kristine often rode her in the forest, and she always said whenever she had the chance to have one of her own Grand Prix horses back in stable she would pick up riding again. Tilly will now fulfill this dream eventhough the daily rider will be Kristine´s daughter Cornelia, who is successful at junior level and of course now able to learn from one of the absolute best Grand Prix horses in the world.


VIDEO - Martin Dockx and Malagueno turn on the magic in Madrid

There’s nothing quite like a home win, and today Spain’s Jose Daniel Martin Dockx and the 13-year-old stallion Malagueno Lxxxiiii thrilled the home crowd with a superb victory at the fourth leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League in Madrid (ESP).

Fourth-last to go in the field of 13 starters, they threw down the gauntlet from the very beginning of their Freestyle performance when moving straight into canter pirouette followed by tempi changes. And their foot-perfect piaffe/passage and seamless transitions between the two movements consistently boosted their scoreline to the winning mark of 80.870.

Yesterday the pair had to settle for third in the Grand Prix behind the French runners-up Morgan Barbançon and Sir Donnerhall ll OLD and Germany’s Matthias Alexander Rath and Destacado FRH at the head of affairs. But today Rath had to settle for second place with a score of 79.720 while Spain’s Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and Elegance lined up in third when putting 78.425 on the board and Barbançon slotted into fourth spot.

Martin Dockx could feel the improvement in his horse today. “The pirouettes, especially the one to the right was better, the relaxation was also a bit better, the changes felt more relaxed and I think all those things made a little bit of a difference between yesterday and today - I’m really very, very happy!”, he said this evening.

Surpassed

Once the eventual winners had surpassed Barbançon’s target score of 78.030 it was down to the final three to overtake them. And with too many mistakes fellow-Spaniard Jose Antonio Garcia Mena and Gladiador Do Lis did not present a threat when putting down a score of 75.330, although they finished strongly with marks of 8 and 9 towards the end of their test.

Rath and Destacado were the penultimate partnership but couldn’t quite make the 80 percent mark, although Rath was so pleased with his 10-year-old stallion’s performance that he clapped with delight after his final halt. And when Ferrer-Salat finished just behind him it was Martin Dockx who took centre stage at the post-competition press conference which was conducted in front of an eager and enthusiastic public audience. 

This was only Malagueno’s fourth Freestyle today. “We made one in Aachen (GER), one in the Championship of Spain, and one last year in Sicab (Seville) and my expectation was that if I could be third like I was yesterday in the Grand Prix it would be great to be on the podium again. But today the Freestyle went really well so we are very, very happy and proud of the horse!”, the 49-year-old Spanish rider said.

He said Malagueno is a lovely character.

"He is super nice and super sweet, I can put my little daughter on him, he’s not scared of anything yet he has enough power to do Grand Prix - so he is very special!"

Jose Antonio Martin Dockx ESP

The pair were in the Spanish team at the FEI Dressage World Championship in Herning (DEN) last year and at the FEI Dressage European Championship in Riesenbeck (GER) this summer.

“I see such an improvement in him now. In the beginning the difficulty was that he was always too tense, he’s a very sensitive horse with a lot of power and he wants to give you all he has and sometimes he can’t control the power. Now he’s getting more relaxed and making it more easy for both of us!”, Martin Dockx explained.

Breed

Malagueno is an Andalusian, a distinct breed also known as a PRE or Pure Spanish Horse (pura raza española) whose history can be traced all the way back to the 15th century. The stallion’s next outing will be at Sicab 2023 in Seville (ESP) next week.

“We have to be there because we have to make a good representation of our breed because people from all over the world come to this show! Then he will have a break that he deserves and then we would like to go to the World Cup in Doha (QAT) in February”, Martin Dockx said.

Further down the line is an even bigger ambition. “I would love to get him to Paris (2024 Olympic Games), it’s a long way but this is the goal even though it will be very difficult. In Spain now we have a lot of horses with a lot of quality and in eight months a lot can happen, but I hope we can make this goal come true!”, he added.

Today’s result has shaken up the Western European league leaderboard, with Rath moving up to fifth place behind fellow-German Raphael Netz in fourth and Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald in third place. With a significant 54 points Barbançon has improved to second position but Sweden’s Patrik Kittel still sits at the top of the rankings with 68 points going into the fifth leg in London (GBR) in three weeks’ time.

Don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Result

Standings

Top price at 44.000 euro for 5 yr old gelding Blue Hors Spectrum at Blue Hors OnLive Auction tonight

18 young horses were sold at tonights OnLive auction at Blue Hors.

Top price went to 5 yr old gelding Blue Hors Spectrum, former approved stallion by OLD and DWB by Sezuan / Sandro Hit, bred by Stutteri Pax sold for 44.000 euro to a local buyer.

Three horses were sold for 44.000 euro, 42.000 euro and 40.000 euro.

Belgium Frederic de Backer was ones again actioneer in the arena, and during the auction buyers from Great Britain, Swizerland, Austria, Spain, Norway, France, Finland and Germany were active bidding online together with the Danish bidders.

Here you find the full list of prices.

FEI statement on Danish TV2's documentary, "Operation X: Secrets of the Horse Billionaire"

FEI statement on Danish TV2's documentary, "Operation X: Secrets of the Horse Billionaire"

The FEI is aware of the distressing images presented in Danish TV2’s documentary, "Operation X: Secrets of the Horse Billionaire" that involved Andreas Helgstrand. The FEI takes all allegations of horse abuse very seriously and at all times the welfare of the horse must be paramount. 

The welfare of horses is at the core of our values and regulations, and any action or omission which causes or is likely to cause pain or unnecessary discomfort to a horse constitutes a violation of our rules.  

Equestrian sport is built on a foundation of respect and welfare for our equine partners. Any deviation from these principles is unacceptable, and the FEI remains resolute in its commitment to upholding the highest standards of equine welfare, maintaining the integrity and wellbeing of our athletes - both equine and human. 

As this is an ongoing situation, we are unable to provide further details at this time. The FEI will however collaborate closely with the Danish National Federation, and there is a mutual recognition of decisions and any sanctions imposed. We will continue to communicate as the situation develops, and want to assure the equestrian community, our stakeholders and the public, that we are rigorously addressing this issue. 

It is for the governing bodies to assure that there are rules in place to sanction any welfare breaches and uphold horse welfare, and there is an onus on everyone within the equestrian community to adhere to such rules and best practices in equine care and welfare, in order to maintain equestrian sport in a strong, healthy and ethically sound way for the future. 

Last year, in June 2022, the FEI created the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission, an independent body tasked with addressing societal concerns related to the use of horses in sport, and to provide an independent evidence-based ‘framework’ to guide FEI regulations policies and practices in relation to equine welfare and wellbeing. 

Their Final Report “A Good life for horses. A vision for the future involvement of horses in sport”, which was delivered to the FEI Board on 18 November 2023, and presented to the FEI General Assembly on 22 November, will now form the basis of an action plan and roadmap for implementation to be discussed at the upcoming FEI Sports Forum in April 2024. 
 
We are committed to ensuring that horses involved in sport experience positive welfare throughout their lives, and that the FEI’s regulations, policies and practices, as well as the wider community’s actions reflect these principles, and we will continue to address actions and behaviours that are in contradiction with our values. 

Official Press Releases from the Danish National Federation can be seen here: https://rideforbund.dk/nyheder-2023 

Detailed information on the composition, aims, work, and timelines of the EEWB Commission is available here:  https://equinewellbeing.fei.org/