Genay Vaughn's Donarweiss GGF Passed Away

Dressage

U.S.A.

Genay Vaughn's career-starting Grand Prix horse Donarweiss GGF has passed away. He was 24 years old.

Donarweiss GGF was an American bred Hanoverian by De Niro out of state premium mare Highlight (by Hohenstein x Archipel x Wolfsburg). He was bred by Rachel Ehrlich at Greengate Farms.

Licensed stallion

Breeder Rachel Ehrlich first took Donarweiss into the spotlight by presenting him at the 2001 Devon Breed Show in the colt foal class. She also presented him at several east coast breed shows as a 2-year old and 3-year old in 2003 and 2004.

Approved by multiple registries in the USA, including the American Hanoverian Society, German PRPS, ISR/Oldenburg NA, CWB, and AWS, he won the 30-day performance test with an overall score of 8.33.

As a young horse his first ridden competition classes were under Kate Bacon, Cassandra Martin, and Meredith Morray. The latter showed Donarweiss in the FEI young horse tests up to third level until 2007.

Chris Hickey took over in the winter of 2007 and showed Donarweiss through the small tour up to national Grand Prix level. The stallion did his first Inter II tests in 2010 and was established at Grand Prix level in 2011.

Starr Vaughn

The stallion sold to the Vaughn family later in 2011 and Genay made her national show debut on him as a young rider at the CDN Golden State Dressage Premier in February 2012. Their international show debut followed in June 2012 at the CDI Rancho Murieta. They competed at the 2012 North American Young Riders Championships in Lexington, where they won team silver and were 5th in the Kur Finals. They won bronze at the 2012 U.S. Young Riders Championships.

As of 2013 the pair moved to Under 25 level with their first CDI at that level in Rancho Murieta in June 2013 followed by CDI's in Del Mar and Rancho once more. They won silver at the 2013 U.S. Under 25 Championships. A 1.5 year break from international showing followed. They returned in 2015 and campaigned in California, after which they headed to Europe to show in Rotterdam and Hagen.

Vaugn continued with Donarweiss in the Under 25 division until the spring of 2018. She last showed him in Wellington at the Global Dressage Festival. Their final show was on 18 March 2018 after which the stallion was retired from competition sport at age 17.

The pair recorded 10 international wins out of 46 CDI starts.

Retirement

Donarweiss, who was affectionately known as “DW”, spent his retirement at Starr Vaughn Equestrian in California, where he also stood up for stud.

The stallion passed away half a year ago, but his death was only communicated recently.

"DW was the first horse Geñay showed internationally, and tragically, she received the news of his passing while preparing to compete in the 2025 World Cup Final in Basel (at the start of April)," said Genay's mom Michele Vaughn.

“Donarweiss wasn’t just my teammate — he was my heart horse, my best friend, and my greatest teacher,” Geñay remarked. “The bond we shared is something I’ll carry with me forever. Every milestone we reached, every moment we shared; those memories are etched into who I am. I owe so much of my journey to him. What brings me the most comfort now is seeing his beautiful character live on in his offspring. I feel so lucky, so proud, to be part of the legacy he left behind.”