The chestnut stallion Furstano and the black mare Weihegold stole the show in the Louisdor Cup tests for Developing Grand Prix horses held at the 2014 CDI Hagen. While Furstano won the warm up class, it was Beatrice Buchwald and Weihegold claiming highest honour by dominating the actual series qualifier on Sunday 27 April 2014.
The 2013 Nurnberger Burgpokal winners for Developing Prix St Georges horses, Beatrice Buchwald and Weihegold, made a seamless transition to Grand Prix level and showed incredible maturity in the Intermediaire II and short Grand Prix tests. The pair won the qualifier for the finals on Sunday with 72.256%, while the winners of the warm up test, Juliane Brunkhorst and Furstano, were second with 71.721%
Eurodressage witnessed and photographed the warm up test on Friday. The Intermediaire II featured a field of 24 horses of which many showed good talent for the Grand Prix. There were no real jaw-droppers in the class, but several horses did stand out with their potential. The judging was a bit hard to follow though, with several horses scoring less than what we expected and others a lot more than what we thought they earned. Nevertheless the top ranked horses were all interesting to watch.
Juliane Brunkhorst won the warm up Intermediaire II with a big 73.289%. Furstano is a 9-year old Hanoverian stallion by Furst Heinrich x Brentano II. Owned by Pferd 24, the stallion stayed at Emma Hindle's Brookhouse stud for a while before returning to Brunkhorst for training. The chestnut paddles a lot in front, but his passage was energetic and eager. The piaffe was still very forward and too much on the forehand but he was willing to perform. The trot work was not super balanced with a regular loss of balance but the rideability of this horse stood out. Furstano opened his mouth a lot despite a light contact.
Oliver Oelrich presented the 8-year old Hanoverian gelding Doktor Schiwago (by Don Frederico x Weltruhm), which is owned by German Young Rider team member Florine Kienbaum. The duo scored 71.684%. The tall black gelding is not the most supple horse in the top line, which showed especially in the trot half passes, but the regularity in the passage was excellent and he showed great promise in the piaffe. Also the two and one tempi changes stood out in their straightness and ground cover.
Buchwald and Weihegold (by Don Schufro x Sandro Hit) landed a third place in the Intermediaire II with 71.632%. The black mare should have crossed more in the trot half pass to the right. In the extended trot the rider was almost standing in the stirrups. The piaffe was very nice, even though it's not very settled yet. The passage was sweet. The extended walk had two hooves overtrack, the collected became lateral on the long side. The flying change after the extended canter on the diagonal was early. The pirouettes were small, but the transition from canter to trot hesitant. Weihegold appeared very secure in the Grand Prix work except for the piaffe.
Hubertus Schmidt and the 8-year old American owned Hanoverian stallion Flynn (by Falsterbo x Walt Disney) slotted in fourth with 71.500%. The ponyesque liver chestnut stallion is very cute to look at but is still green at Grand Prix. There was a lot of tail swoosh in the half passes. The piaffe was mediocre as the stallion executes it with a straight hind leg and lots of crossing in front, but the passage was expressive despite several irregular steps. The tempi changes were nice. The pirouettes were big and unbalanced and there was a mistake in the rhythm in the final extended trot.
Schmidt also brought along his second rising Grand Prix horse, Estobar, a 10-year old Westfalian stallion by Ehrentusch x Ferragamo, with which he ranked fifth posting a score of 69.789%. The chunky bay stallion showed big trot half passes but swooshed his tail a lot throughout the test. Both the passage and the piaffe were underwhelming: they were croup high, with the hocks out from under the body and taking no weight at all. The canter work was appealing though with its sweet uphill flying changes and good extended canter. In the final extended trot the hind legs needed to move more towards the point of gravity.
Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - No Reproduction allowed
Eurodressage's Astrid Appels was on the scene taking photos of all Louisdor cup riders as well as the CDI riders. Contact us if you are interested in photo prints, collages or albums
Related Links
Scores 2014 CDI Hagen
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2014 CDI Hagen