German Under 25 rider Sarah Runge has given the ride on her 14-year old Westfalian gelding Furst Kaspar (by Furst Piccolo x Attraktiv) to German junior Emilie Kirsch. Both Runge and Kirsch are trained by Claudia Haller. Emilie made her show debut at regional M-level with Furst Kaspar in March.
Zuchterforum reported that the 19-year old Trakehner stallion Lücke (by Friedensfurst x Ibikus x Frostwind) has passed away. Bred by the Ernst-Heinrich Lampe and owned by the Merzdorf family, the chestnut stallion already passed at the end of 2016 but the news only just became known. Lücke only began breeding at age 7 and was never very popular. He sired two state premium mares. His most famous offspring is Keanu, who qualified for the 2010 Bundeschampionate under Dirk Seewald.
The 6-year old Dutch warmblood licensed stallion Guardian S (by Bodyguard) will not be vying for a team spot for the 2017 World Young Horse Championships. Co-owner Sjef Janssen told Horses.nl that the bay stallion has too busy a schedule breeding. Van Grunsven and Janssen acquired a share in the ownership of the stallion from Mr van der Sande last year and allocated the ride to Kirsten Brouwer instead of Kim Koolen who had ridden him before. Janssen said that as of 2018 Anky van Grunsven will be competing the stallion at small tour level. At the stallion show on 16 April, Kim Koolen was back on board of Guardian S though.
The Schridde family also had to say goodbye to their 27-year old Holsteiner licensed stallion Ramiro's Son II (by Ramiro x Moltke). Although the stallion was mainly used by show jumping breeders, Ramiro's Son II is also a dam sire to several international dressage horses, including American developing Grand Prix horse Sanceo (Sabine Schut-Kery) and Horsebo Smarties (Michael Sogaard, Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein).
KWPN stallion Ironman (by Ferro x Tuschinski) and Oldenburg stallion Bonds (by Benicio x Sir Donnerhall) were approved for Hanoverian breeding at the Stallion Approval held in Wickrath on 20 April 2017.
Two stallions have moved to Hungary. Zuchterforum reported that he 19-year old Hanoverian licensed stallion D-Online (by De Niro x Wanderbusch II) moved from the state stud Dillenburg to Aranykapu Stables in Hungary. D-Online is a full brother to Anabel Balkenhol's Dablino. Their dam Wanda was the 2011 Hanoverian Mare of the Year. D-Online was never very popular as a breeding stallion and has only one offspring in international sport: Eiren Crawford's Dejavu (by D-Online x Rubinstern Noir) who competed at small tour level at the 2016 CDI Devon. The 17-year old KWPN licensed stallion Trento B (by Krack C x Ramiro) sold to Hungary 3.5 years ago, according to Horses.nl. Under Kim Leduc, the bay stallion was reserve champion in the 2005 Pavo Cup Finals. He is now a small tour schoolmaster for Hanna Kriszt. Trento B sired successful international Grand Prix offspring such as Ambience (Roland Tong), Briolinca (Gareth Hughes) and the recently deceased international small tour horse Aesthete (Silva Martin).
South Korean dressage rider Yoora Chung is appealing the decision of the Danish court for her extradition to Korea. Chung, who trains at Helgstrand Dressage, was arrested in January 2017 for her and her mother Soon Sil Choi's involvement in a major money scandal in Korea which has led to the impeachment of Korean president Park. In October 2016 Chung had gone into hiding in Denmark but private investigators and the police discovered and arrested her on 1 January 2017. She has now been battling her extradition to Korea in court but lost her last case. Her lawyer Michael Juul Eriksen has now filed an appeal.
Retired soccer super star Luis Figo from Portugal bought the 5-year old Dutch warmblood Hey You (by Romanov x Democraat) at the 2017 Excellent Dressage Sales for 170,000 euro. The bay gelding is meant for his wife, Swedish top model Helen Svedin.
Another dressage horse sold to a soccer family. The 14-year old KWPN gelding Winner (by San Remo x Gribaldi x Variant) sold to the 17-year old Lotte van den Heerik, grand daughter of former Feyenoord soccer club chair Jorien van den Heerik. Winner was discovered by Wendy Scholten and sold as an 8-year old to the Turkish junior Selen Efe. When she went to college the horse went into training with Kim van der Velden who took him to Grand Prix level. Horses.nl reported that Winner will be a schoolmaster for Lotte. Her family also purchased the equestrian facility of Tamerus Beheer in Schijf, The Netherlands.
For those eager to get an update on the former World Cup Champion and multiple championship silver medal winner Damon Hill, here it is. The stallion injured himself in the spring of 2015 during his campaign towards the European Young Riders Championships under Jill Marielle Becks. Since then he's been out of the picture. This week, owner Melanie Becks revealed to St. Georg that the 17-year old Westfalian stallion (by Donnerhall x Rubinstein) is fit enough to breed again, but is still not being ridden. Jill Becks has continued her competition career with Damon's Satelite (by Damon Hill x Rubin Royal) and was member of the German Young Riders team at the 2016 Euros.