German Grand Prix rider Bernadette Brune has sold her 4-year old Oldenburg gelding Sirano de Luxe (by Sir Donnerhall x De Niro) to the Bouche family. Grand Prix rider Ludovic Martin, who used to ride the Lusitanos for Sylvain Massa, will be the new rider of Sirano de Luxe.
The black Oldenburg won bronze at the 2015 French Young Horse Championships in Saumur under German Tassja Janssen.
Dutch FEI level rider Joyce Lenaerts has taken over the ride on the KWPN licensed black stallion Fellini. The 5-year old stallion by Ampere x Jazz x Ramiro Z was previously ridden by Leida Collins-Strijk. Lenaerts and Fellini made their M-level debut the first weekend of October.
German born and Danish based Irene Braun has passed away on 30 September 2015 after a short period of illness. The 55-year old Braun lost her fight against cancer. Braun was the wife of Danish stallion owner Niels Grøndahl and managed Støvring Hingste Depot. The funeral took place at the Gravlev church on 9 October.
Former French team rider Jessica Michel-Botton and her Belgian husband, show jumper Gilles Botton, became the proud parents of their first child. Jessica gave birth to a baby boy, Tom, on 26 October 2015 at 9 AM. The baby weighed 3290 grams at birth. Mom and baby are in excellent condition.
The 5-year old chestnut KWPN mare Filegra (by Zhivago) has been sold to Germany. Under Gerdine Maree she placed fifth at the 2015 Pavo Cup Finals and was the highest scoring mare in her division. She was owned by Tim Coomans and Manon Verzendaal and she will now move into training with Holga Finken.
Swiss equestrian journalist Helga Eppler has passed away on 23 September 2015 right before turning 80 years old. Eppler spent a brief period in the hospoital of the Vaudois University Hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland before she passed. A funeral ceremony was held on 1 October at the funeral palour of Montoie in Lausanne.
Nanna Skodborg Merrald has sold her second Grand Prix horse Weltliebe (by Weltjunge x Andiamo) to the Swedish Tovek family. The Danish bred Weltliebe was first ridden by Sandra Skodborg Merrald up to Intermediaire I level and Nanna took over to introduce the horse at U25 Grand Prix level. At the CDI Falsterbo in July 2015 they did their first senior Grand Prix and scored 68.560%.
Semmieke Rothenberger's third FEI dressage pony, Paso Double, has been sold to the Hamburg based young pony rider Lisa Widmayer. With Rothenberger definitively moving to junior level in 2016, her pony career has ended. The Rothenberger family acquired the Dutch bred Paso Double (by Bodo x Inselfurst) in 2012 but it took until 2014 before Semmieke seriously started campaigning the chestnut pony internationally. Paso Double was alsways a high scoring pony but never her first choice for German team selection as Deinhard B was favoured.
Danish Grand Prix team rider Daniel Bachmann Andersen and his wife Tiril Bachmann Ånerud have become the proud parents of their second child. Tiril gave birth to a baby boy on Thursday 22 October 2015. The baby weighed 3280 grams and was 49 centimeters tall at birth. Daniel and Tiril also have a 3-year old daughter Filippa.
Horses.nl reported that Christa Larmoyeur's Grand Prix horse Aston Martin NL (by Uphill) has been operated on following an accident on 25 October 2015. The Dutch rider did not disclose any information on what the accident was. Her chestnut gelding was transported to the equine clinic in Emmeloord and operated on. The pair made its Grand Prix debut at a national show in August and scored 68.45%.
A rider making a welcome return to competition at the British national show at Vale View on 15 - 18 October 2015 was British superstar and Olympic rider, Emma Hindle, who has had a spell out of the limelight, focusing her time on her young son and her commitment to the family business. Emma rode the 9-year old Romy Del Sol (by Romanov) to win the Grand Prix Special with 68.86%.