By ILSE SCHWARZ
VERDEN, Germany, Aug. 9, 2025–Wow, what a day! This is what a final should feel like. High quality, every horse showing that they deserve their place in the class and such a close finish that no-one could clearly predict the result.
I had not seen the first qualification, so I really had no idea what to expect. Of course I had seen the stallion Red Viper before, as he was the five-year-old champion in 2024. There was so much talk surrounding the two Danish mares, Slangerupgaards Saffron and Brandtbjergs Divya who finished in first and second place in the qualification that I was eager to see them. Everyone knows I love a good mare, and I have long been fan of the sire of Divya, Hesselhøj Donkey Boy, so there was a lot to look forwards to.
The day had already started in a lovely way with a slightly later start for me. I finally enjoyed a breakfast at the hotel and went for a walk along the river and took in the charming historic buildings everywhere, I may also have taken lots of touristy photos of said buildings. Don’t judge me, I grew up in a “historic town” in Australia where some of the buildings date all the way back to 1850 and now I live in Wellington, Florida. I shall say no more. After my leisurely wake up routine, I watched the Three-year-old Hanoverian Stallion Championship, and contemplated how my three-year old-gelding would cope in such an environment… not well was my conclusion…and then I watched the presentation of foals that were for auction after the six-year-old finals. Just as well my “new” horse budget is exactly zero, there were some real showoffs in the line up.
Then it was finally time for the six-year-old class to start at 4pm. The class is not a blind draw, with the top seven in the preliminary class going in the second half. So almost without fail the winner comes from this group. Nevertheless, the first group of horses had so many highlights that it was an absolute joy to watch and I shall talk about a few of them a little later in my story. The judges are being very transparent about why they award their scores and they were very consistent in their justification and what they do and do not want to see. Very clearly any transgressions in the contact/connection was heavily noted in the submission scores, as were a loss of balance in the canter associated with the flying changes and any disruption in the rhythm of the walk.
Knut Danzberg from the judging panel spoke for himself and his colleagues when he said: “It was really fun to judge this competition. With every horse that entered the arena, we said: ‘Wow, he can move!’ But the task is really technically demanding compared to the qualifying test.” In the final, four flying changes are required instead of two, and there is also the collected walk, which does not feature in the qualifying test. “It was difficult, but the riders did well. We all had the impression that the riding had improved significantly. The horses are presented in a much more natural way than a few years ago. We also focus more on lightness and soft contact when judging, and that was good all round.” I absolutely agree with the panel in this sentiment.
Ok, time to get to the actual rides!
The winner, the KWPN stallion Red Viper (Glock’s Romanov x Sir Sinclair) owned by Reesink Stallions who bought him as a foal, came as reigning World Champion from the five-year-olds in 2024, so I think he really was the favorite. He is such a beautiful type and exudes a feeling of quiet power, so I suspect there was much surprise when he had to settle for third place in the preliminary qualification. However, Olympic rider Dinja Van Liere certainly knows how to find all the extra points on her horses when it counts. They make such a harmonious picture, despite Dinja being absolutely tiny. It adds to the feeling of effortless energy, balance and self carriage that Red Viper presents. His trot is truly a “Wow” which I know doesn’t actually help to describe the details. It is expansive and always moving forwards and uphill in both the collection and the extensions. The transitions between the two were seamless. He showed good bend in all the lateral components and maintained both bend and swing in the half passes. It was a shame when it was time for him to walk…I could happily have watched that trot for quite a few more minutes.
His extended walk went out to the contact, had good shoulder freedom, covered ground and maintained the rhythm. He showed good collected walk but in the preparation for the first walk pirouette he lost the balance and showed a few steps of piaffe. The judges don’t reward this of course. The canter had good uphill jump and expression from the first stride. He showed his ability to extend and collect here, too. He had three very good changes and then a bit of an “oopsie” in the last change. It happened well after the aids and definitely lost the balance. The immediate thought of everyone was “did that just cost him the gold medal?” His performance was good enough for 90.400% and first place with three horses left to go, including the two Danish mares. Trot 9.8, walk 8.5, canter 9.0, submission 8.4, perspective 9.5
Slangerupgaards Saffron (Secret x Scolari) and Anne Troensegaard entered to great anticipation from the crowd and it appeared that this combination was up for the challenge. Anne has ridden this mare since she was broken in and rehabbed her through a fractured splint bone that required surgery, so they are an absolute team. This is the first horse of this class that I can really say has a light footed way of trotting that is simply ethereal elegance. She shows so much bend through her body in the lateral components, I am deeply envious of her half passes. The balance, reach and swing she is able to achieve at this young age is extraordinary. Just so much harmony through the work. In the walk there is unfortunately some loss of rhythm in between the pirouettes, which is very, very costly in the scores. The canter is in lovely balance except for the changes. Only the last change was really uphill and jumped through. The crowd absolutely loved her ride and their reaction plus the commentary regarding the quality of her trot had Anna in an absolute flood of tears of joy. It was such a beautiful emotional moment to bear witness to. Final score 87.600%–trot 9.7, walk 7.9, canter 8.8, submission 8.2, perspective 9.2.
She is now hands down my favorite horse by Secret that I have seen.
The Hanoverian stallion, Endorphin FRH (Escolar x Don Nobless) ridden by the local favorite Greta Heemsoth, she is a Verden girl, were next to go. This a striking very masculine stallion, with the most rich red/brown coat that only stallions have. This was a really enjoyable ride to watch. The trot has great freedom, although he could maybe have shown a little more trot in the first medium, but by the final extended trot, he extended through his whole body with much power and a soft and clear transition back to collection. A lovely extended walk that checked all the boxes but unfortunate losses of balance before each pirouette hurt the walk score. What a canter tour though! He actually received the highest score of the class for the canter with a 9.3. He also had a loss of balance in the final change after the three previous had been spectacular. Trot 9.4, walk 7.9, canter 9.3, submission 8.5, perspective 9.2. The spectators went absolute wild for her and had a series of banners they held up that said “Great, Greater, Greta”
Anders Sjobeck Hoeck, only 23 years old, entered for the last ride of the day with the Danish mare Brandtbjergs Divya (Hesselhøj Donkey Boy x Blue Hors Don Olymbrio). It’s impossible to imagine the pressure he was under to really deliver a great performance. Honestly, you would not have thought there was any pressure at all the way this mare trotted around in her familiarization before the bell rang. She simply oozes quality with absolutely extraordinary freedom of the shoulder in both the trot and the extended walk. The walk tour was clearly the best of the day with everything you want for a good walk clearly demonstrated. Perfect rhythm, good overtrack, swing through the whole body, and then clear collection for the pirouettes which maintained good balance and rhythm. The canter had clear uphill jump, a beautiful frame, the ability to extend and easily return to collection so that after the medium canter there was a clear sentiment that we may be seeing the next gold medalist, and then came the first flying change, which was clean but against the bridle enough that her neck almost inverted. Unfortunately, some variety of this lack of balance happened with all the changes… to a lesser degree with the two on the long side but still clearly present. Even so, it was so so close. 90.000% and the silver medal. Trot 9.6, walk 9.2, canter 9.0, submission 8.2, perspective 9.0.
A few other fun horses that went earlier in the class:
Ann-Christin Wienkamp and the Oldenburg stallion Schatzmeister MZ OLD (Secret x De Niro) finished in 5th place with a “better than very good” trot score of 9.4 and a high perspective of 9.0, final score 86.400%. I adored the “next level” self carriage, shoulder freedom cadenced balance and swing that he showed in the trot. So very impressive.
The delightful KWPN stallion Obsession Taonga (Vitalis x All at Once) is ridden by the diminutive 20-year-old rider, Lara van Nek, daughter of the stallion’s owner. He was compact and light footed in the trot and showed four easy, very high quality changes, without losing even a hint of balance. Trot 8.7, walk 8.7, canter 8.6, submission 8.2, perspective 8.8, final score 86.000% for sixth place.
Hope Cooper and the charming American-bred KWPN stallion O’Romeo S (Charmeur x UB 40) finished equal 12th in their first experience at the World Championships with a final score of 82.400%.
