Husenbeth and Florida Gain Golden Momentum in 2013 Piaff Forderpreis Finals

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 23:23
2013 CDI-W Stuttgart

Golden girls of the 2013 Piaff Forderpreis Finals held during the CDI-W Stuttgart, Nadine Husenbeth and Florida rose to claim the top spot in the German Under 25 Championships finals completing the 2013 show season with an absolute career highlight. The 21-year old from Sottrum, Germany, found the whole experience unbelievable and indescribable.

“I was so happy that I promised my horse  a big bag of carrots just for her, as she loves carrots and sugar,” Nadine told Eurodressage. “This was my biggest success with Florida so far and I am so proud of it. We are a real team.”

After winning the warm-up with 71.349% the favourite for the title was  21-year old Sanneke Rothenberger and her Rhinelander gelding Favourit (by Fidermark), but the pair dropped to a fourth place in the final after a few hiccups, giving Nadine plenty of room to claim victory with 70.255 %. The golden duo proved to be the more consistent pair on this occasion.

“I trained for Stuttgart like for every other competition, and I feel that Florida and I did a good job over the year. We were very consistant, so I just tried to keep that up," said Husenbeth.

On board her father's 14-year old Rhinelander mare Florida (by Fidermark x Grosso Z), Nadine admitted she did not expect to do so well, particularly as it is her first year at Grand Prix level and also her debut round at Stuttgart. “Of course anytime I take part in a competition I aim to win, otherwise there is something wrong," she stated.

Trained up to Grand Prix level by Nadine’s father , Florida, or Flo as she is known around the stable, really knows that she is a star.  “She always wants to be the centre of attention,  like a real diva, and she has a strong character which makes her very unique and distinctive,"  Nadine added, “because of this I love her so much."

Nadine confirms her mare is relaxed in competition and always fights for her. She believes that if Flo could talk she would tell Nadine to please feed her before the other horses get something, because she hates to not be the number one!

With an action packed 2013, Nadine’s biggest highlights were the CHIO Aachen,  the European Championships at Herning, and this recent Stuttgart debut. She told Eurodressage just how great it was to start at all these shows.  “One year ago I would not have imagined this," she admitted.

Studying industrial management at the University of Bremen, Nadine has a second passion next to dressage: karate. She also tries to find time to indulge in her love of shopping and meeting up with friends. "For 2014 I want to tie my dressage in with this year and I also want to get some experiences with my young horses," she said.

Nadine has a 7-year old gelding by Dimaggio x Prince Thatch xx who qualified for the 2013 Bundeschampionate. "He is a horse with high potential," she revealed. She also schools  a 6-year old gelding by Rubin Royal x Wordly and a 7-year old mare by Ricardos x Sevilliano xx.

Her parents Klaus and Britta Husenbeth train together with Nadine and the family has a private stable at their home. Nadine admits she is living every horse girls dream. “I can wake up and look out at the horses through my bedroom window.”

Nadine’s philosophy is that success is a result of four key principles and she is lucky to have the support that enables her to put those principles into effect! “Effort, endurance, capability and luck," she stated firmly. "Willi Schultheis said to my father that everyone has at sometime the horse of his/her life. I hope for this.  For now I can say that I want to be established at Grand Prix level with my young horses in 5 years and I want to be able to say that I am proud of what I have done.”

by Sarah Warne for Eurodressage
Photos © LL-foto

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