Dressage-News

By ILSE SCHWARZ

VERDEN, Germany, Aug.6–At the grand old age of 22, Emily Wagner was in a prize giving , at the World Championships on her own stallion. She is neither wealthy nor heavily sponsored, just a lovely girl and rider, with a talented horse who managed to make it to Verden through the renowned Midwest generosity.

I had heard that she was lovely from so many different sources, the most recent being a couple of Aussies (yes, they are everywhere) who were sitting near her table in the VIP tent. She was also the only representative from the USA at these World Championships, so I figure she deserves a story of her own!

Emily and Wakeup (Wagnis v Matcho) finished in 18th place after the preliminary 5-year-old finals with a score of 7.84, just missing the cut for the big finals to be held on Saturday. In the small, or consolation, finals held Friday she improved her score to 7.94 to finish fourth, she missed qualifying for the finals by 0.02 per cent.

The winner was The Netherlands’ Laurens van Lieren on President’s Allright with a score of 8.36, with Germans Steffen Frahm on Henglein’s Licosta second on 8.18 and Jana Freund on Aaron third on 7.96.

I chatted with Emily immediately after the prize giving where she was quite emotional, her fourth place was really somewhat bittersweet. She was slightly overwhelmed at how fantastic Wakeup had been at his first event with this atmosphere, and also there was the slight tinge of disappointment at being so close to the finals (the top 3 move on to the finals). I asked if the experience had been anything like her expectations.

“I am so proud of my horse, it is by far the biggest show he has been to and he did everything I asked of him,” said Emily of Wally Woo Farm in LaCygne, Kansas.

“I was so proud to be able to ride him in a prize giving, and again he was perfect. He wasn’t even affected by the horse ahead of him” (who was not being so perfect).

“It has been amazing to have Ulf (Möller) helping and to also have Scott (Hassler) here.”

When I last read about Emily’s quest to come to Verden, it was entirely dependent on raising some money. The U.S. Equestrian Federation was not providing any funding this year so, apart from being given permission to compete, based on her qualifying scores in the USA, she was on her own.

She asked for private donations and “got a ton of support. We raised just under $30,000 €22,600), mostly from individuals in the Midwest. All sorts of people sending $25 with notes like, ‘have a beer on me’ or ‘buy a set of wraps,’ people who I have never met and it all adds up.”

“We started fund-raising with the idea that if we could find 30 people with $1,000 we could do it…and we did!”

It was tough for her to make the decision to attend the World Championships rather than the National Young Horse Finals, held at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Illinois just two weeks ago.

“It would be perfect if it were possible to qualify for the World Championships at the National finals, rather than having to choose” a sentiment shared, I’m sure, by many,” she said.

“However, my mother, Jana Wagner, was competing at the National finals, so I almost felt like I was there.”

Emily arrived in Germany early in June. She felt that with her horse being so young, it was important to give him plenty of time to adjust, and he certainly looked in top condition and with plenty of energy. She will stay in Germany for another week or so and then it is back home and back to school. She joked that when chatting about her summer with her school friends the conversation could go something like this:  “So I finished 16th in a World Championship in Germany! What did you get up to over your summer vacation?”

Placed competitors
1.	603	President’s Allright	Lieren, Laurens van	NED		430 EUR	Wertnote 8.36
	R 5-j.H v.Jazz/M.v.Royal Dance/KWPN/102ZN57/B: President Investment B.V.
2.	458	Henglein’s Licosto	Frahm, Steffen	GER		340 EUR	Wertnote 8.18
	DF 5-j.H v.Licotus/M.v.Rosenkavalier/WESTF/102ZI91/B: Henglein,Hans
3.	1	Aaron	Freund, Jana	GER		250 EUR	Wertnote 7.96
	DF 5-j.H v.Florencio I/M.v.Record/KWPN/B: Livens,Louis
4.	842	Wakeup	Wagner, Emily	USA		160 EUR	Wertnote 7.94
	R 5-j.H v.Wagnis/M.v.Macho/AWBLT/B: Wagner,Emily
5.	44	Aston Martin	Laarakkers, Christa	NED		120 EUR	Wertnote 7.92
	F 5-j.H v.Uphill/M.v.Cabochon/KWPN/B: Norel,G.W. van
6.	376	Ferry	Jancarikova, Eva	CZE		100 EUR	Wertnote 7.84
	F 5-j.H v.Federweisser/M.v.Weltmeyer/HANN/B: Jancarikova,Eva
6.	652	Rock’n Roll Star	Limousin, Philippe	FRA		100 EUR	Wertnote 7.84
	B 5-j.H v.Joeris/M.v.Jazz/SF/B: Michel,Jessica
8.	845	Wasabi OLD	Michalke, Victoria	GER		65 EUR	Wertnote 7.74
	DB 5-j.W v.Welt Hit IV/M.v.Lancer I/OLD/102ZE32/B: Michalke,Victoria
8.	572	Manchester	Larsson, Jennie	SWE		65 EUR	Wertnote 7.74
	B 5-j.H v.Weltman (SWE)/M.v.Midt-West Ibi-Light/S.WBL/B: Wilhelmsson-Silfven,Tinn
10.	679	Sacre Coeur	Schulz, Sascha	LUX		60 EUR	Wertnote 7.72
	DB 5-j.W v.Sir Donnerhall I/M.v.Pik Bube II/HANN/102YL79/B: S.Schulz & Ch.Umbach,
11.	451	Harmony’s Desiderio	Pape, Susan	GBR		55 EUR	Wertnote 7.68
	DB 5-j.H v.Dimaggio/M.v.Donnerhall/OLD/102ZM20/B: Harmony Sporthorses/L.Malone,
12.	705	Santana	Morris Talbot, Chloe	ESP		55 EUR	Wertnote 7.6
	SCHWB 5-j.S v.Sunny-Boy/M.v.Rubioso N/RHLD/102ZP32/B: Morris Talbot,Chloe
Other, non-placed competitors
13.	655	Ronaldinho	Weinbauer, Belinda	AUT			Wertnote 7.44
	DB 5-j.H v.Rohdiamant/M.v.Warkant/OLD/B: Gmoser,Peter
14.	690	Samba Queen S	Tuominen, Tuija	FIN			Wertnote 7.42
	SCHWB 5-j.S v.Sir Donnerhall I/M.v.Lord Liberty/OLD/B: Ympäristöpalvelut Tuominen
15.	770	Sopran Morso	Rasmussen, Jim	DEN			Wertnote 7.4
	SCHWB 5-j.W v.Soprano/M.v.Akinos/DK/B: Marcussen,Jens Erik
16.	849	Wellington	Högberg, Jeanna	SWE			Wertnote 7.38
	B 5-j.H v.Weltman (SWE)/M.v.Campari M/S.WBL/102ZV49/B: Absolut Dental AB,
17.	26	Annerijke	Sekreve, Jennifer	NED			Wertnote 7.36
	F 5-j.S v.Jazz/M.v.Gribaldi/KWPN/B: Essen,A.
17.	651	QC Roberto Cavalli	Bogaert, Natasja van den	BEL			Wertnote 7.36
	SCHWB 5-j.H v.Rotspon/M.v.Metternich/HANN/102YQ11/B: D’eer,Patrick
19.	60	Barclay	Pape, Susan	GBR			Wertnote 7.28
	DF 5-j.H v.Belissimo M/M.v.Prestige Pilot/HANN/102ZM37/B: Pape,Ingo
19.	80	Broere Argentino	Beckers, Kirsten	NED			Wertnote 7.28
	F 5-j.H v.Jazz/M.v.Ulft/KWPN/B: Broere,M.A.
21.	708	QC San Vino	Bogaert, Natasja van den	BEL			Wertnote 7.26
	B 5-j.H v.Sandro Hit/M.v.Winrich/OLD/B: D’eer,Patrick
22.	498	Kom Sandro Meyer	Vugt, Sofie	FIN			Wertnote 7.22
	F 5-j.W v.Sir Donnerhall I/M.v.Weltmeyer/FIN.WB./B: Meller A-L & Nordman-Rafaharj
23.	934	Andreo	Ellermann, Dina	EST			Wertnote 7.1
	DB 5-j.H v.Sandreo/M.v.Balzflug/KWPN/B: Ltd.Genofen & Dina Ellermann
24.	502	La Fleurette	Vasaryova, Hana	CZE			Wertnote 6.96
	F 5-j.S v.Laudabilis/M.v.Beltain/WESTF/B: Dressage Stall,
25.	366	Falbrus	Kobiernik, Daria	POL			Wertnote 6.88
	SCH 5-j.H v.Aviano/POL./POL10526/B: Lusina,Aleksandra
26.	669	Royal Pokemon	Ellermann, Dina	EST			Wertnote 6.78
	SCHI 5-j.H v.Royal Diamond/M.v.Heslegards Louis/DK/B: Ellermann,Dina
26.	236	Damino SD	Kohlschmidt, Maik	GER			Wertnote 6.78
	F 5-j.H v.Don Romantic/M.v.Amiral/S.WBL/102ZW89/B: Stall Damino HB & ASA Dressage
28.	465	Hexagons Adonie	Nitzani, Raz	ISR			Wertnote 6.58
	B 5-j.S v.Rubiquil/M.v.Partout/KWPN/102YY77/B: Nitzani,Raz