October, 2006

Once Again Blue Hors Don Schufro Wins It All

"He was really good although he is tired today", said Andreas Helgstrand said directly after the ride. "I only started riding him again after the World Championships and he is not yet 100 percent in condition."

It was a very successful weekend for BLUE HORS DON SCHUFRO and Andreas Helgstrand (DEN) at the World Cup Qualifier in Aahus, Denmark. Despite one misunderstanding at the end, when DON SCHUFRO cantered during a passage half-pass, it was a superb performance. With more than three percent in hand (79.00), the 13-year-old Oldenburg stallion won against Kyra Kyrklund (FIN) and MAX (75.75). Laurens van Lieren (NED) and HEXAGON's OLLRIGHT ranked third with an overall score of 75.30 percent. Please see the videos below.

October, 2006

A Speciel Pleasure - The Spanish Riding School in Vienna 

The famous Lipizzaner horses are not only one of the most famous horse breeds in the world, they are also one of the most interesting assets of European culture. The more than 400-year-old eventful history of these noble horses is closely related with the history of the Austrian court. It does not only reveal pomp and pageantry at the imperial court, it also tells about wars. For safety reasons, the famous stallions had to move from one place and settle in another during times of war. This autumn, the world-famous stallions will leave the Vienna Hofburg one more time to travel to Cologne, Zurich, London and Birmingham where they will captivate the audience. It is a special pleasure to follow their incredible, high-quality performances directly on the spot in Vienna during a champagne breakfast in the garden restaurant. Please do also have a look at the "video-pictures" below of the Spanish Riding School.

October, 2006

2006 Dressage at Devon (USA)

It has been a fantastic 2006 show season for Susan Jaccoma (USA) and the licensed stallion WEISSMULLER (the full brother of our WEDGEWOOD LADY). They achieved top placements at countless small tour level competitions. At the 32nd International Dressage Competitions at the Devon Horse Show, they placed fifth at the Intermédiare I-test. The extensive show grounds in Devon, Pennsylvania, are the venue of this annual event that is considered as being one of the most prestigious dressage competitions in North America. There are top competitors, horses, trainers and judges from across the continent and the globe at the show in Devon. It is one of the highest-rated international dressage competitions and one of the most complete breed shows outside Europe. If there is a Horse Show in the United States you shouldn’t miss at all, it is the Devon Horse Show at the end of September!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

September 2006

News From Our Big Equstrian Family

We are always very happy about news and photos from the countless relatives of our horses. This month, we received greetings and fascinating photos from the Trakehner mare KAPERIED by Pascal, the half sister of our SPM BYZANTINA. The well-known animal photographer Jutta Bauernschmitt from Germany is her owner. In the meantime, the mare is 18 years old and apart from her sport career, she has given birth to five foals by the stallions Salazar, Elimcal xx and Parforce. One of these foals was sold at the Elite Auction in Neumünster. Her son is four years old now (also owned by Jutta Bauernschmitt), and he will start his sport career in autumn. At the age of three, KAPERIED won her mare performance test with excellent scores, and she was awarded premium mare of the Trakehner Breeding Society.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

September, 2006

De Niro Had the Majority in the Arena

The Federal Championships in Warendorf are always a good opportunity to assess the prepotency of breeding stallions. Since it is very difficult to qualify for these championships of young horses, it is very exciting to see which breeding stallion has the most offspring in Warendorf. As expected, there were competitors of only few bloodlines at the dressage contests.

The dressage derby winner DE NIRO was the number one and represented by nine five- and five six-year-old youngsters. Following some years of absence at competitions, the black stallion from Klosterhof Medingen (see the photo) staged a comeback in 2006 under Theresa Wahler. He is the most important representative of the D-bloodline. Via Donnerhall, this blood was directly represented in Warendorf with five five- and two six-year-old horses.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

August, 2006

Fantastic Dressage in Front of an Imposing Audience

It was an impressive celebration of dressage sport at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen. 45.000 spectators on the crowded stands celebrated horses and riders. As expected, Germany won the team competition, followed by the Netherlands and the United States. Isabell Werth (Grand Prix Special) and Anky van Grunsven (Freestyle) won the single competitions. The bronze medal for Andreas Helgstrand (photo) was the surprise of the first single test, although the Danish rider and the nine-year-old Matine did already prove their qualities at the Grand Prix. Matine was the youngest horse of this competition, and Andreas Helgstrand could hardly believe his luck: “Matine’s performances are simply incredible!” He had to compete with his substitute horse because his regular top-class horse BLUE HORS DON SCHUFRO was injured shortly before the highlight of the year. Please feel free to look at our summary including video pictures, photos and final results from the AMAZING DAYS IN AACHEN. We hope you will enjoy it. 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

July, 2006

Again "Champion Mare of the Show"

There are good news from State Premium Candidate LOVELY KISS by Londonderry (breeder and owner: Kathrin Knöss, Lauterbach, Germany) out of our State Premium Mare BYZANTINA: She won the division of three-year-old mares at the Mare Show in Fulda and was the overall champion of the 2006 Fulda Regional Animal Show.

This was what the judges said: “She is certainly the best mare of the day. She was the convincing winner of her division first and later on, the unchallenged champion of this regional show. Her walk can hardly be topped.” Following the award ceremony and the show program, her impressive skills were once again presented to the public by Heinrich Brähler.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

July, 2006

State Premium Mare Summer Night Proved Hard To Beat

With excellent results achieved at tournaments, the three-year-old Hanoverian mare SPM SUMMER NIGHT by Sandro Hit (owner: Nicole Wanning, Germany) out of the sister of our SPM WOITANA II is currently very popular in Germany.

The performances at her first two tournaments (exclusively against four-year-old competitors) under the professional training and riding instructor Ludwig Huser were very impressive and resulted in outstanding scores of 8.6 and 8.5. Because of her extraordinary quality, she qualified for the International Dressage Festival “Kampmann-Cup” in Lingen where she ranked third under Denis Huser (see the photo). The young, successful mare completed her mare performance test with a fantastic final score of 8.3.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

June, 2006

State Premium Candidate Lovely Kiss - A Dream of a Horse!

The performances of State Premium Candidate LOVELY KISS by Londonderry (breeder and owner: Kathrin Knöss from Lauterbach/Germany) out of our SPM BYZANTINA and her rider Heinrich Brähler are simply amazing. On the occasion of the “Young Horses’ Day” in Alsfeld, she achieved a second place at the riding horse ability class. Later on, she won the riding horse ability class at the Whitesun Championships in Wartenberg-Landenhausen against strong competitors. Highest single scores resulted in a fantastic final score of 8,6: trot 8,5 – canter 8,5 – walk 7,5 – conformation 9,5 – overall impression and rideability 9,0 (the two latter scores were the highest ones of the whole competition). She was backed only 10 weeks ago, and therefore, this result is simply incredible!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

June, 2006

Convincing Grand Prix Victory in Wiesbaden

“He is simply an exceptional companion,” Andreas Helgstrand said deeply impressed by BLUE HORS CAVAN. At the tournament in Wiesbaden, Germany, he won his third Grand Prix-competition in series.

“When we arrived and I unloaded him, he raised his head, neighed and went to the stable. He is so happy to be here and he has a lot of experience. His competition training does not exceed two weeks, and I’m always reassessing whether it is reasonable to compete or not. Our presentation today could have been more spectacular, but this would require a completely different basic constitution, and he is now already 16 years old. We just talked about him and found out that in the meantime, he has certainly established a world record because he already competed at international level at the age of eight,” said a very happy Andreas Helgstrand. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

June, 2006

State Premium Mare Byzantina Is Simply Sensational

The accomplishments of our SPM BYZANTINA by Brentano II are simply amazing: two of her offspring were the best mares of the mare show in Göttingen in 2005 and 2006. State Premium Candidate LONDY’s PRINCESS by Londonderry was the champion mare in 2005 and this year, State Premium Candidate LOVELY KISS by Londonderry (breeder and owner: Kathrin Knöss from Lauterbach, Germany) was the convincing winner in the division of three-year-old horses. She also competed against the two-year old champion mare by Rubin Royal and against the winner in the division of four- to six-year-old horses, an impressive four-year-old black mare by Wolkentanz II. The unanimous verdict of the judges left no doubts: SPC LOVELY KISS (photo) was awarded champion mare of the whole show. Her walk was especially convincing, but also her supple, swinging movements and her captivating type. Four three-year-old mares were awarded state premium mare.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

May, 2006

2006 Bundeschampionate Qualifiers

RICCIO by Riccione (Photo) x Florestan presented a sparkling, winning performance at the national show in Bad Salzuflen, Germany. This dressage horse test was also an official qualification for the Bundeschampionate. In the division of 5-year old dressage horses, Martin Stamkotter rode the Westfalian stallion RICCIO to a score of 8.8 and dominated the field of seventeen competitors.

Brigitte Wittig and her own bred BOHIGAS W by Breitling W x Fabriano reached the second place with 8.6. Stamkotter completed the top three by finishing third with a score of 8.4 with the Westfalian stallion DANCING DYNAMITE by Don Bedo x Fidermark. Six 5-year olds in total scored more than 8.0.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

April 19, 2006

Current Dressage World Ranking List

    _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

March, 2006

Performances Beyond Compare

The Swiss Silvia Iklé and SALIERI CH – both are on the road to success and raring to compete at the World Championships. In the course of her successful career, Silvia Iklé has been leveraging 13 horses from youngster up to Grand Prix-level. The current no. six of the world rankings is 57 years old now. With her top-class horse SALIERI CH by Sinclair, bred in Switzerland, she has definitively reached the peak of her career.

Silvia Iklé: ”Like all my other horses, SALIERI had enough time to mature as well as to relax and to recover. Apart from talent and eagerness to learn, the horse’s physical health and its mental balance are the basis for a successful career in the dressage arena. SALIERI is an especially sensitive horse and therefore, I have to plan his competitions thoroughly. For this reason, and especially in view of the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, I did not compete at this winter’s World Cup events.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

March, 2006

Special Thanks to Regina Galoppi-Benfante (USA)

It took a long time to find a way to get in touch with Regina Galoppi-Benfante (USA), the rider of DISKRET - one of the most successful dressage horses in the United States from 1991 – 1995. DISKRET is closely related to WEDGEWOOD LADY, who is one of our best broodmares.

I finally succeeded, and I am very thankful to Regina for sending beautiful pictures and some more information about this wonderful horse. “DISKRET made a lasting impression on most people that knew him and watched him compete” Regina writes. “I am so pleased to share him with other people - he was one in a million!” See the lovely pictures and read more about their successes under WEDGEWOOD LADY.

     _________________________________________________________________________________________________

February, 2006

Blue Hors Don Schufro Wins the Grand Prix in Bremen

“It's a fantastic day,” that was Andreas Helgstrand's statement shortly after his victory at the Grand Prix decision of the 42nd Kampmann Equestrian Festival in Bremen: “Don Schufro is my best horse!”

Andreas Helgstrand (Denmark) and BLUE HORS DON SCHUFRO (77.08%) won this competition, followed by Heike Kemmer (Germany) on BONAPARTE (76.50%). Jan Brink (Sweden) ranked third on BJÖRSELLS BRIAR (75.17%).

The next day, Heike Kemmer and BONAPARTE (78.60%) won the Kampmann Cup Finals, second was Nadine Cappellmann (Germany) and ELVIS VA (77.60%), Andreas Helgstrand and BLUE HORS DON SCHUFRO (77.00%) achieved the third place.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

February, 2006

Blue Hors Cavan Wins the Grand Prix in Neumünster

Jan Brink (Sweden) and BJÖRSELLS BRIAR won the Grand Prix Freestyle at the CDI World Cup in Neumünster, Germany. Following the second place at the Grand Prix before, the last year's bronze-medal winner of the European Championship finished first in the freestyle with a score of 79.53%.

Close behind was Isabell Werth (Germany) and the only ten-year-old WARUM NICHT FRH (79.33%). Third was Andreas Helgstrand (Denmark) and BLUE HORS CAVAN (77.88%); they were the convincing winner of the Grand Prix the day before.     

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

February, 2006

The Best World Equestrian Games Ever Held

Half a million visitors are expected to come to Aachen in Germany, for the World Equestrian Games from Aug, 20th until Sep, 3rd 2006. 30 veterinarians will be responsible for the approximately 875 horses; the 800 competitors come from more than 50 countries. The subject of the opening ceremony will be “Germany – equestrian country – country of horses and humans”. One part of the program will be the world biggest quadrille with national state stallions. Conclusion: Aachen is preparing for the best World Equestrian Games that were ever held.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

February, 2006

Don Schufro's Dam Passed Away

Due to a bad case of colic at the age of 26, elite mare FIESTA had to be euthanised. The brown mare descends from the famous Vornholzer dam line of Clemens Freiherr von Nagel, her breeder is Henrik Schulte-Frohlinde.

Mated to Donnerhall she gave birth to the mares FANTASTICA (dam of the approved stallions Classico and Sunny Boy), FINE FEELING (successfully competing up to Inter I-level), DONNA PRIMERA (dam of the approved stallion Ron Rubin) and FABINA (champion mare of the mare show 2003 in Rastede). Last but not least, elite mare FIESTA is the dam of the approved champion stallion BLUE HORS DON SCHUFRO (successfully competing up to Grand Prix Special at international FEI-level). 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

January, 2006

Brentina Awarded USEF Horse of the Year

On the occasion of the annual meeting and gala ceremony of the United States Equestrian Federation’s (USEF), Dressage Champion BRENTINA was awarded USEF Horse of the Year.

It was the first time that one horse has been selected among all breeds and disciplines as the year’s most exceptional horse. BRENTINA by Brentano II is one of the most successful horses in the history of U.S. Dressage. With her rider Debbie McDonald, BRENTINA led the 2004 U.S. Olympic Dressage team to a Bronze medal finish.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

January, 2006

Happy Birthday Dr. Uwe Schulten-Baumer

On January 14, Uwe Schulten-Baumer, one of the most famous and successful dressage trainers, celebrated his 80th birthday. He is well-known as an advocate of classical equitation, and during his career, his countless protégés won gold medals at Olympic Games, World- and European Championships.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

January, 2006

World Championships 2010 in Kentucky

The FEI world association has decided that Lexington, US state Kentucky, will host the World Championship 2010. This is the first time that this event will be held outside Europe. Apart from that, the name “World Equestrian Games” was changed into “FEI Games” (with a new logo).