Nymphenburgs First Ampere Passed Away

Dressage

Great Britain

First Ampere, a WCYH finalist and British Young Riders' team horse, has passed away. He was 15 years old.

First Ampere was a Hanoverian stallion by Ampere out of Wellness (by Weltruhm x Latimer). He was bred by Jan Siemsglüss.

Licensed Stallion

First Ampere was discovered by Helmut von Fircks of Gestut Nymphenburg as a foal.

The bright bay became a premium licensed stallion at the 2013 Hanoverian licensing in Verden and was later on approved for Westfalian, Oldenburg, Rhinelander and Mecklenburg breeding.

He did the 30-day Stallion Performance Test in Munster-Handorf in the autumn of 2014 and scored 7.53 for show jumping and 9,09 for dressage, finishing on a total of 9,49 points. He achieved his life-time licensed status through sport.

Bewerungen, Frank, Fischer

The stallion had a great career as a youngster.

Under Eike Bewerungen he was the 2014 Hanoverian Young Horse Champion and bronze medalist at the 2014. He showed only a few times in 2015.

In 2016 Tessa Frank took over the ride and she also earned bronze at the 2016 Bundeschampionate. He also competed with her at the World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo in 2016 and 2017 placing 9th and 6th in the Finals.

In the winter of 2017-2018 Lukas Fischer took over the ride on First Ampere and produced him to small tour level. They were 6th place in the 7-year old division at the 2018 World Championships in Ermelo

Cosima von Fircks

In 2019 First Ampere became the young riders' horse for Helmut's daughter Cosima von Fircks.

She competed him in one international show, in Mariakalnok where they won the Young Riders' nations cup with a triple victory. It was the pair's first and last CDI. In August 2019 they rode in the Nurnberger Burgpokal qualifier in Donaueschingen.

A two-year break from competition followed and von Fircks and First Ampere came back in September 2021 at a local show in Heile. In the summer of 2022 they rode in their first Grand Prix level test. Another long show break followed and in April 2023 they were back at small tour level with starts in Helle, Hamburg and Rastede. At the latter event they won the Oldenburg Regional Champion’s title.

Great Britain

In July 2023 Helmut von Fircks responded to a reverse ad posted on Eurodressage in which an international young rider was looking for a suitable horse. He offered First Ampere to the Lickley family and a deal was made.

The new duo made its show debut at the CDI Addington in April 2024 to a double win, but then had to retire in the kur to music and the stalliony bay was eliminated from the team test at the CDI Wellington Heckfield three months later. In the individual test they found their groove again and won the class with 72.108%. They were nominated on the British team and competed at the 2024 European Young Riders Championships in St. Margarethenn where they won team bronze and were 13th in the individual test. They retired in the freestyle.

The Europeans was the pair's last competition, both nationally and internationally

Sad Passing

First Ampere stayed in the U.K. with Lickley, who continued competing internationally with Katniss. He passed away last week.

"A few weeks ago he wasn’t quite right in himself and we did lots of tests and investigations and some treatments," Lickley told Eurodressage. "We hoped he was getting better but sadly he got quite sick really quickly and there was nothing anyone could do to make him even comfortable to live in the field. It’s so sad."

She continued, "all his blood tests, examinations, etc were normal and we checked for everything imaginable. He was sound and didn’t have colic or infection. Several top vets were involved in his care and they have no definitive answer - their best opinion is that it was something neurological in his brain or spine. It has been a very distressing time for us all."