Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WIESBADEN, Germany, May 25, 2015–Isabell Werth rode Don Johnson FRH to capture the PfingstTurnier CDI4* Grand Prix Special Monday and notch the fourth straight victory for Germany’s top rider for almost a quarter century.

Isabell and the 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding scored 77.039 per cent for the third victory this weekend, two on Don Johnson and one on El Santo NRW that she rode in the World Cup Final in Las Vegas last month. She won the Grand Prix Special at Munich a week ago that began the string of four wins for the 45-year-old rider.

Hubertus Schmidt, also a German Olympic team gold medalist, on Imperio 3 placed second with 75.490 per cent, a personal best that eclipsed the previous high of 75.196 per cent scored at Hagen, Germany six weeks ago.

Fabienne Lütkemeier on D’Agostino FRH, a team mate with Isabell at the 2014 World Games, was third on 74.412 per cent.

Isabell last had four straight victories exactly four years ago on the same two horses.

Throughout her career, though, she logged as many as 12 consecutive wins with Satchmo and Warum Nicht in 2008, according to official digital records that do not go as far back as the period she competed Gigolo that included the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

Isabell said that after this competition in which the horses were “really serious and concentrated,” Ernie, as she calls El Santo, will get a break while she will compete Don Johnson at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany this coming weekend.

She plans to compete both Don Johnson and Bella Rose, the mare that she rode on the German team at the World Games last year but recently sustained a minor injury, in the qualifiers for the European Championships team.

“The main thing is that I’m really satisfied with the horses,” she said. “At the end if they win that’s super and I’m proud. The way Johnny and Ernie went this weekend, that’s what makes me happy.”

“Bella Rose will start slowly to see if it’s possible to go to the Europeans,” she told dressage-news.com. “It’s nothing really serious and we hope we can manage this quite soon.”

Her focus is on the Europeans at Aachen in August and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 are not on her mind. She has five Grand Prix horses she rides and young ones coming up.

“I’ve been too long in the sport not to know that everything is possible. You can dream and tomorrow the dream can be over. I try to stay with both feet on the ground, and try our best.”

While at the moment she stays focused on the next shows, Isabell has ideas and thoughts for the long term future.

“I think hard to improve the stable, to prepare my team that I can have more holidays, have time with my family and my son.

“I have ideas that I don’t want to ride every weekend. Maybe I will do 10 shows instead of the 25 to 30 I do now, be more selective.”

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