Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

VERDEN, Germany, Aug. 10, 2014–Dancer Forever, a KWPN stallion, was ridden by Kirsten Brouwer of the Netherlands to claim the six-year-old World Young Horse Championship and upset hot favorite Dream Boy ridden by fellow Dutch trainer Gerdine Maree that placed third.

Auheim’s Del Magico, a Hanoverian stallion ridden by Stephanie Dearing, took the silver medal for the best finish ever by an Austrian entry in the history of the championships.

The upset win by Dancer Forever over Dream Boy, both sired by Vivaldi, brought shock to the face of Gerdine who had ended the last ride in the finale with a triumphant salute, and jeers from the crowd that packed the arena.

For Stephanie Dearing of Austria whose mother is American but she has never lived in the United States, her fist pump and display of sheer joy at being so competitive at Verden was well justified.

Dancer Forever was the only combination in the six-year-old championships to score better than 9, with a 9.8 for trot, 9.3 for canter, 9 for rideability, 9.3 for general impression but 7.8 for walk.

The judges described the trot as very elegant, powerful and uphill while the canter had a clear jump to it with good ground cover in the extended canter. One of the changes was late, but otherwise the horse was shown in a perfect frame with an obvious talent for high performance dressage.

“He did an amazing job,” Kirsten said later, “there were almost no mistakes, except for one flying change. He’s a competition horse that wants to go for it.

“The trot feels a dream to ride.”

Stephanie admitted she did not expect to be among the medal winners as she was competing at Verden for the first time.

“I had a dream to ride here once,” she said. “I was in a lucky position because we went near the end. I knew many horses had many mistakes so we could concentrate on not making mistakes.

The judges described the pair as displaying harmony, and a horse that was willing, obedient and showed clear rhythm.

The canter was one of the best seen in the finale, with suspension and really uphill.

“Very impressive and obedient,” they said, with really good basic gaits and a willingness to perform.

Dream Boy, winner of the qualifier two days earlier, was expected to be a shoo-in for the gold medal and was last to go in the championship.

After watching the ride, the judges had other ideas. Their only score of 9 came for the canter, while the trot received 8.6 and the walk 7.8–marks that drew a growing chorus of jeers from the crowd.

Gerdine’s reaction: “To come here is always to be among the best. I’m happy with him and with the result,  especially first day with so few points separating the top places.”

Results:

6-Year-Old World Young Horse Championship