Dressage-News

DEL MAR, California, Jan. 19, 2018–Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo in their first Big Tour competition won the Adequan West Coast Dressage Festival World Cup Grand Prix Friday night with big differences in the scores.

Sabine and the 12-year-old Hanoverian stallion that she took to Germany on a training grant in 2017, scored 74.000 per cent for the victory on what appeared to be an error-free ride in the cavernous indoor arena with only a sprinkling of spectators.

For the second event in the new four-show circuit in Southern California, there were big differences in scoring–for Sabine and Sanceo the results ranged from Cesar Torrente of Colombia at H on 78.913 per cent, Sarah Geikie of the U.S. at B 75.978 per cent, Raphael Saleh of France at C 73.043 per cent, Freddy Leyman of Belgium at E 71.304 per cent and Isobell Wessels of Great Britain at M 70.761 per cent.

Dawn White O’Connor riding Legolas in what owner Akiko Yamazaki has said is the last season for the 16-year-old Westfalen gelding that Steffen Peters rode on the U.S. bronze medal team at the 2016 Olympics scored 71.217 per cent for second place in the Grand Prix that had only four starting combinations.

Charlotte Jorst of Reno, Nevada on Kastel’s Nintendo was third on 67.413 per cent.

Sabine, of Thousand Oaks, California, plans to go to the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida at the end of the West Coast circuit.

The pair last competed in the international arena as part of the 2015 U.S. Pan Am team when the duo rode at small tour in squads of mixed levels at the championships to win team gold.

On a grant, Sabine took Sanceo to train in Germany with Jan Nivelle. The duo competed at Intermediate II and the small Grand Prix, both national classes.

Sabine has had Sanceo for nine years and competed the stallion when he was six years old at the 2012 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Germany.

The owners are Alice Womble-Heitmann and Dr. Mike Heitmann, of the Houston area in Texas.