American dressage sponsor Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer has acquired Anabel Balkenhol's 13-year old Westfalian mare Winci as new Grand Prix horse for Guenter Seidel to ride.
Sontheim Meyer owns Coral Reef Ranch in Rancho Santa Fe, California, where the 52-year old Seidel has based his horses for many years. Coral Reef also owns Beezie Madden's U.S. Olympic show jumper Via Volo.
Winci is a chestnut mare by Weinberg x Saluut which was owned by Klaus Balkenhol. The Grand Prix mare was briefly trained by Hubertus Schmidt in 2010, but Anabel Balkenhol started competing her at Grand Prix level in 2012. The pair performed at the CDI Lingen and CDIO Aachen as well as at the 2012 German Dressage Championships.
According to Dressage-News, Winci arrived in California a month ago and the tentative plans are to compete her at national shows in Thermal and Del Mar over the next few weeks. Their CDI debut is scheduled for February 2013.
"It’s a bit premature," Seidel told Dressage-News, “but it would be nice to try for the World Equestrian Games in 2014 and maybe the Olympics after that. It certainly will be a goal if things work out well."
Winci has been renamed Coral Reef Wylea.
Photos © Astrid Appels
Related Links
Eurodressage Photo Database: Winci
Photo Report: Training Sessions with Klaus Balkenhol in Morning Frost
Anabel Balkenhol's Dablino Makes Winning Come Back at 2012 CDN Aachen