The British bred Totilas x Rotspon colt Totil Platinum, owned by Louise Davies of Platinum Stud in Hampshire, has sold a three quarter share to Janet and Dominique Tardin for an undisclosed sum.
Dominique Tardin who rides on the Swiss Young Riders team and trains in Germany with Dolf Dietram Keller, wants "William" as her future Grand Prix stallion. William will stay in the UK until the spring of 2012, when he will be transported to Germany to start his preparation for the stallion gradings in 2013. “I am incredibly lucky to have found such people to partner William with me as Janet and Dominique," said owner Louise Davies. "Their horses are treated as part of the family and that was very important to me. From the first day of speaking with Janet, it just felt right. I was inundated with offers for him from all over the world, especially once Totil Ideal had sold in Vechta, but after having met Janet and Dom, there was no way I was going to let him go anywhere else." Totil Platinum is a stunning colt with looks and personality just like his famous sire.
Don't forget to participate in our second "Test Your Freestyle Knowledge Quiz" to win wonderful prizes sponsored by the World Dressage Masters. Identify the riders and horses riding to seven intro's to famous freestyles and you're in the running for a prize.
The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) announced that they will be hosting a Dressage Young Horse seminar restricted to licensed Dressage Judges, and a Dressage Equitation seminar open to licensed Dressage Judges and L Program graduates. It will be held at Lamplight in Wayne, IL, August 24-26.
Danish junior rider Nanna Bronnee Madsen, who won team silver at the 2011 European Championships in Broholm last week, has been offered a working student job at Karin Nissen's barn at the Frederiksvaerk Riding Club. The junior discovered her horse Monte-Vo at her current trainer Rune Willum's barn, where she has been a long time student.
Hans Peter Minderhoud competed Bart van Malderen's Belgian warmblood stallion Whitney van 't Genthof for the first time at the 2011 CDN Kootwijk on 2 July 2011. The pair won the Grand Prix with 71.30%. Whitney (by Ferro) was previously competed by Stefan van Ingelgem but a fall out between the owner and rider made Van Malderen look for a new rider. "I have been riding Whitney for about four months and I'm very happy about how it went today," Minderhoud commented about his victory. "I'm starting to become a combination with him and I have the feeling that we can still make progress."
Norwegian young rider Catharina Lorentzen Lund has been hired by the Danish Blue Hors stud to complete their team of riders. Lorentzen Lund starts her new job on 22 August 2011.
American Grand Prix rider Pierre St Jacques and his wife Samantha, a Canadian Olympic team eventing rider, have become the proud parents of son Stirling Keaton St Jacques. The baby was born on June 30, 2011 at 11:23pm at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. He weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 21 inches long. "We are all home and doing well. Pierre and I are so in love with him," Samantha told Eurodressage. "It is a wonderful feeling having this new addition to our family."
Belgian Grand Prix rider Philippe Jorissen has started training with Belgian born German trainer Jan Bemelmans in preparation of the 2011 European Championships in Rotterdam and 2012 Olympic Games in London. Jorissen has two horses at his disposal: the Oldenburg Grand Prix horse Le Beau (by Le Coeur) and his small tour mare Agenta (by Abanos).
British Dressage reported the sudden death of Andrew Graham on Friday night 1 July 2011 from a heart attack. Through his company Dressage Horse International (DHI) Andrew supplied many top sport horses and will be remembered for his passion for all things equestrian and his desire to raise the standard of competitive horsemanship across all discipline's and levels. Over recent years Andrew had found great happiness with his life and business partner Jo, whom he married 5 years ago. Jo is naturally devastated by the loss of Andrew. ''Andrew had so many plans for the future and I wish to see them fulfilled'', Jo has vowed to continue his work through DHI.
Ridehesten.com reported that Danish Grand Prix horse Michigan (by Michellino) has been sold to England based Dane Ulrik Molgaard. Last year Michigan made his Grand Prix debut in Kolding under his steady rider and trainer Sanne Henningsen, who works for Danish horse dealer Klaus Munkedahl. Molgaard and his Danish wife Henriette Andersen (who rides for England as well) have been living in the Cotwold area in Great Britain for the past twenty years.
Talk about an ingenious idea to lock a tack room door at competitions. Eureka.
BCM, publisher of the international monthly Horse International, has announced its new editor in chief Claartje van Andel (1959). Director Eric Bruger says: “I’d like to express my gratitude to our former chief editor Pamela Young first. She has directed and lead the magazine to a strongly positioned one. As we say, the professional’s choice. We wish her a continuing successful career in her future activities. However sometimes changes and new insights are necessary for even more growth. I feel in the rapidly changing media world with internet and social media, we also have to be open for that and more. It’s the right moment for a change and we are very happy to introduce Claartje van Andel as our new editor in chief. She is an internationally respected journalist and knowledgeable on a lot of subjects. We are looking forward to a stable relationship with Claartje with many highlights to come.”
German equestrian magazine Reiter Revue has exposed a Rhinelander based dressage rider who has bought her way to a Golden Rider Badge. In the magazine the rider's name has been changed into Corinna D. In order to earn a golden rider badge, a German rider has to achieve 10 S-level victories in Germany. This not so very talented rider has achieved this by competing at tiny local, late-entry shows which she sponsored and where the same judges' panel was appointed at each show. She took training lessons with a judge and a befriended trainer of a judge.By sponsoring the show, Corinna D was able to manipulate the entries of the classes (for instance S-class for 7 and 8 year old horses, ridden by riders of Performance Level 2 and 3) as well as the date of the show. She made sure the shows were hosted on a Monday, for which other riders were hardly interested, so a victory would be easier. In principle, Corinna D has not broken any rules towards obtaining the badge, though many riders consider it unsportsmanlike and foul play. The Rhinelander regional equestrian association is looking into the matter.