No less than four horses so far have received a wild card to compete at the 2015 World Young Dressage Horse Championships in Verden, Germany, on 5 - 9 August 2015. Holland and Germany have received two wild cards each for foreign based dressage horses that these want to field for their studbooks.
The KWPN society / Dutch Equestrian federation has received two wild cards
- First Lady (KWPN by Sir Donnerhall) - rider and owner Julie Dossin (BEL)
- Franklin (KWPN, by Ampere) - rider Severo Jurado Lopez (ESP) - owner Andreas Helgstrand (DEN) / Nico Witte (NED)
The Belgian team has had one withdrawal. Tom Heylen has scratched his top 6-year old qualified horse, El Capone (by Tuschinski). He will be substituted by the first reserve, Tom Franckx on the 6-year old Dutch warmblood Evento D (by United x Rubiquil) as appointed by the Belgian equestrian federation.
Two further Belgian combinations are competing in Verden based on the wild card system. The wild cards were requested by the German federation:
- Quaterdance (DSP, by Quaterback x Expose) - rider Amandine Prevost (BEL) - Owner S.A. Montaigu (GER)
- Forever Love (HANN, by Floriscount) - Rider and owner Anemone Samyn (BEL)
The FEI rule about wilds cards states:
"NFs may apply for wildcards only for horses that are registered in member studbooks of the territory of the respective NF and are trained abroad, but only in close cooperation with the national WBFSH breeding organisation(s) within that respective country. These horses must have shown results of at least 75% in a selection procedure."
Germany and The Netherlands are once again in a preferable position. They are allowed to send the most horses to Verden because of the size of their studbook and both nations also get preferential treatment in the wild card system:
"The number of wildcards depends on the total number of horses entered - a max. number of 50 horses per age group will be admitted. Wildcards will be decided by the WBFSH and the FEI in close cooperation with the OC’s NF and the OC. Wildcards will be assigned in the following proportions: GER max 3, NED max 2, and all other NFs max 1."
Photo © Focussed.nl
Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2015 World Young Horse Championships