Dambacu NL Retired from Competition Sport

Dressage

U.S.A.

American Grand Prix rider Cynthia Makishima has decided to retire her number one in the barn, Dambacu NL, from competition sport.

Dambacu NL is an 18-year old Hanoverian gelding by Danone II out of Atakama (by Atlantas xx x Wagner x Gropius I). He is bred by Frauke Niemann-Laue.

Emma Kanerva

Dambacu NL started his competition career as a young horse in Germany under Alicia Heise, Andreas Homuth and Marco Bührig.

In 2017 the German based Finnish Olympian Emma Kanerva took over the ride and debuted him at international Grand Prix level at the World Cup qualifier in Neumunster in February 2018. They had an active year on the CDI scene with starts in Dortmund, Aalborg, Hamburg, Cappeln, Frankfurt and Helsinki, where they won the Grand Prix and Kur to Music.

In 2019 Kanerva rode the World Cup qualifiers in Neumunster and Zakrzow, while in the 2020 corona year they produced solid performances in Neumunster, Dortmund, Hagen, Donaueschingen, and Vilhelmsborg. Their last show together was the 2021 CDI Hagen in April, where they posted 70.761% in the Grand Prix.

Cynthia Makishima

In the winter of 2021 Thomas Walker scouted Dambacu NL as a Grand Prix schoolmaster for his friend and student, California based Cynthia Makishima.

The new duo made its national show debut in November 2021, first at small tour level to gain mileage and experience as a pair.

In May 2022 they moved up to Grand Prix level and competed regularly with stable scores. In 2023 they earned their USDF Gold Medal and rode the Grand Prix freestyle at the USDF Region 7 Dressage Championships. In 2024 Cynthia continued to favour freestyle riding in competition. Their last show was in October 2024 at the Foothills Fall Classic. The pair has received training from Heidi Gaian and Kathleen Raine over the years.

Happy Retirement

Makishima has decided the time has come for her loyal equine partner to have a happy retirement. He has been a perfect professor for Cynthia, who is grateful for the experiences he gave her.

"Dambacu has generously showed me the way to Grand Prix," said Cynthia. "He helped me to understand the energy, power and enthusiasm in a horse to succeed at FEI level. Always on fire at the show and ready to work, he is a horse with tremendous work ethics and always on task to perform."

Cynthia added, "Dambacu will be retired in the Gilroy area, south of San Francisco, where he have a horsey life in a pasture with my retired mare Chanel."