Helen Erbe Wins 2022 Piaff Förderpreis Finals in Stuttgart

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2022 CDI-W Stuttgart

Helen Erbe and Carlos FRH became the winners of the 2022 Piaff Forderpreis Finals at the 2022 CDI-W Stuttgart on 11 November 2022.

The Piaff Forderpreis is German show circuit for Under 25 riders. Only a small group of riders is eligible to compete at the four selection trials held during the spring and summer show season. The competitors group is decided at a training seminar and selection trial held in Warendorf, where German team trainers Monica Theodorescu and Sebastian Heinze picked 15 riders last March. Of that group, just 8 moved on to the finals in Stuttgart.

After a two year break from being hosted in Stuttgart due to the corona pandemic, the Piaff Forderpreis Finals returned to the Stuttgart German Masters CDI-W competition.

Helen Erbe Wins Title

Helen Erbe and her sister Hannah's 15-year old Carlos (by Carabas x Weltmeyer) were the winners of the selection trial in March and ended up at the top of the board at the finals in Stuttgart.

The pair won the warm-up round on Thursday and in today's finals, which is held not with the Under 25 Grand Prix but with the classic long Grand Prix for seniors, they received the high score from judges Sonja Pilton (GER), Christof Umbach (LUX), Henning Lehrmann (GER), Gotthilf Riexinger (GER), and Evi Eisenhardt (GER). The pair posted 74.180% for the victory after placing first unanimously.

"I was a bit more careful in the preliminary test, but in the finals it doesn't matter if you are third or eight, there is nothing to lose. That's how I rode. I wanted to enjoy it," said Erbe. "It was nice to leave the U25 Grand Prix at the end of the year and ride a normal Grand Prix.”

It was sister Hannah who told her to enjoy her ride. Hannah is familiar with the Piaff Forderpreis, having finished third with Carlos in the 2019 Finals in Stuttgart and ninth in the 2020 Finals in Kronberg.

"I watched Hannah's tests beforehand and got tips from her," said Helen, who trains with Christian Wendel. "She told me to try to get points where I could and enjoy the rest. It felt really great to ride a Grand Prix test on this stage."

Söder Runner-Up

While Helen Erbe was also member of the German gold medal winning team at the 2022 European Under 25 Championships in Pilisjaszfalu, the runner-up in the Piaff Forderpreis finals - Selina Söder and Zaire E - were not selected on the German team for the European Championships. At national level, however, Söder stood her ground this year.

After winning Kur bronze at the 2022 German Under 25 Championships, where Erbe won kur gold, Söder and the Werndl family's 18-year old KWPN mare Zaire E (by Son de Niro x Jazz) posted 71.460% to finish second in the Piaff Finals.

The pair trains with the Werndl family in Aubenhausen, Germany.

Bronze for Westendarp

German European Championship team rider Alexa Westendarp landed third place aboard the home bred 11-year old Hanoverian mare Four Seasons (by Furstenball x Fidertanz).

Westendarp scored 70.300% to place third in Stuttgart, edging out German team rider Alina Schrader on the 13-year old Oldenburg mare Paola (by Lord Loxley x Friedensfurst) with 69.420%.

Alexa works as a professional rider and in the sales department at Hof Kasselmann while her father Johannes rears and trains young dressage horses at the family's farm in Wallenhorst,