Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

HAGEN, Germany, April 17-–Charlott-Maria Schürmann, in the history books as the youngest ever winner with a record high score of the prestigious Nürnberger Burg-Pokal with Burlington, began the stallion’s 2013 show season with the victory in the Prix St. Georges at the Horses & Dreams CDI4* Wednesday.

The 20-year-old German college student and the Hanoverian stallion (Breitling W x Romina x Rohdiament) scored 73.132 per cent in their first CDI of the year and what will be their last at small tour as she is working on Grand Prix with her regular trainer, Oliver Oelrich, with extra help from German Olympic gold medalist and former United States team coach Klaus Balkenhol.

Swedish Olympian Patrik Kittel and Deja 5 were second on 72.974 per cent, the first CDI for the nine-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion (Silvano x Donelle x Don Schufro). German Olympic team member Dorothee Schneider and Fackeltanz OLD were third on 70.711 per cent.

The Nürnberger Burg-Pokal was created 21 years ago and has become Germany’s most pretisigious title for small tour horses between seven and nine years old and Charlott-Maria competed in the event only because she had set the Young Rider World Cup as a goal to ride in at Frankfurt in December. When the World Cup was canceled she decided on the Burg-Pokal just for the experience after winning the pair won the 2012 European Young Rider Championship team gold and double silver medals.

She competed Donna Jackson in the 2011 European Young Rider Championships and the former U.S.-owned World of Dreams in the 2009 and 2010 European Junior Championships when they won the Freestyle.

The cheerful Charlott-Maria still marvels at the Burg-Pokal victory four months ago.

“I didn’t expect very much. I was just happy I was there and it was so great,” she told dressage-news.com.

She has had Burlington since he was six years old, after he had a brief stint as a breeding stallion.

“He’s very calm and friendly, not stallionish,” she said. “When he’s being washed he just stands there. He doesn’t care if there’s a mare near him. He never spooks or is cheeky.

“But when he knows there is a test he is very concentrated and he does his thing.”

Charlott-Maria is midway through a three-year business management degree at the University of Munster. Her day is full with studies–“I’m an OK sudent, not excellent but good enough”–and riding her two horses at her home in Gehrde that she describes as a “horsey village” of 2,000 people. In her limited spare time she hangs out with her friends who understand the sport and go to shows when she competes to cheer her on.

Her family, that includes a 19-year-old sister, Johanna, who is a jumper rider, owns a business with 20 employees making clothes for handicapped people that she will go into when she finishes school.

The main goal this year is to ride the Louisdor Cup, a national Grand Prix championship for horses aged eight to 10 years in which many of the country’s top riders compete. Then in 2014 she and Burlington plan to enter the Piaff Challenge Cup for Under-25 riders that is a series beginning at Hagen’s Horses & Dreams is held at top shows in Germany with a final in Stuttgart in November.

Burlington is really talented in piaffe and passage, she said (and Klaus confirms), and Charlott-Maria said she’s having so much fun learning the Grand Prix. She plans a small national show to see how it goes

“His talent is so good that making a team would be possible,” she replies, shyly, to a question about her dreams. “We could be good enough. But we don’t know what next year brings. We will take it step by step.”

After this season, Burlington will resume duties as a breeding stallion to have offspring to join the small crop of “such good kids” he produced when he was younger, including the premium stallion Bodyguard.

RESULTS:
Prix St. Georges