Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Mar. 30, 2019–Christoph Koschel of Germany and Shakespeare won the final of the inaugural Iron Spring Farm Future Star Performance Series for horses aged seven to nine years old at Prix St. Georges that competed throughout the Global Dressage Festival for an invitation to the wrapup event that was highly praised by riders.

Christoph and Shakespeare, a nine-year-old Mecklenburg gelding, were awarded 74.575 per cent from the ground jury of five international judges of the Developing Prix St. Georges with $10,000 in prize money, the biggest purse for a national level competition ever in America.

Christopher Hickey of Wellington and Edgemoor, South Carolina rode Straight Horse Zackonik to runner-up on a score of 72.200 per cent.

Meagan Davis of Wellington and New York was third with 72.025 per cent on Damocles HLF, American-bred and, unbeknownst to her, was acquired by her father at an auction in Orlando, Florida as a two-year-old.

Australia’s Kelly Layne, based in Wellington, and Livio Felluga were fourth on 71.925 per cent.

The event was launched as an American version of the Nürnberger Burg-Pokal, the German Small Tour championship that is the Small Tour standard and was sponsored by Iron Spring Farm of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Cunningham & Cunningham Livestock Insurance of Goshen, New York and Legacy Farm of Melissa Taylor and Lars Petersen of Wellington.

Thomas Baur, Global’s dressage director, announced that the suceess of the Future Stars at Prix St. Georges had led to a decision to implement a similar series for developing Grand Prix based on Germany’s Louisdor Prize.

Christoph, who was a teenager when he competed as the youngest rider at the time in the Burg Pokal,  described the Future Stars as really well done with the qualifying on Global’s national rings throughout the three-month circuit and the final as a highlight in the centerpiece international arena.

Christoph rode Donnperignon for Germany at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and the 2011 European Championships before being sold to Anna Kasprzak who competed  the horse for Denmark at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and the 2014 WEG in Normandy.

He has been riding Shakespeare (Sancisco OLD x Lomber) since the horse owned by Carrie and Bernd Schopf was six and is schooling Grand Prix movements.

“The Future Stars at Prix St. Georges and a similar developing Grand Prix series could become great stepping stones to top sport as has happened in Germany where many of our team horses come from the Burg Pokal and the Louisdor Prize,” said Christoph, 42 who is based in Hagen next to the show grounds where the annual CDI4* is staged in April and the youth team competitions in June that this year will be a 2020 Olympic test event.

Chris Hickey, a Pan American Games team and individual gold medalist in 2007, described Straight Horse Zackonik as a “worker bee” who loves to work for him.

The Danish Warmblood mare was bought as a four-year-old in Denmark by Cecelia Stewart. Chris said he had taken the horse out of being a contender for the U.S. team for the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru in July so as to focus on developing her for Big Tour.

“As an American and having shown in Europe,” he said, “it is great to have a final like this here.”

The nine-year-old Damocles (Diamond Stud x Conneticut) that was ridden by Meagan Davis was bred in Orlando, Florida.

Her father bought the horse at auction and the first Meagan knew about it was when he called seven years ago to tell her to hook up the trailer in New York to pick up Damocles.

In addition to title sponsorship, Iron Spring donated an engraved sterling silver picture frame with a photo provided by Susan J. Stickle.

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