Congratulations to Danish Grand Prix riders and trainers (and long-time partners) Joachim Thomsen and Rune Willum who got married on Saturday 5 May 2012. The couple has been dating each other for 17 years and have their independent business for 5 years now.
After the civil ceremony, the couple celebrated their marriage with 140 friends, family and business associates with a beautiful reception at Næsbyholm Castle.
The Trakehner stallion Houston (by Sir Chamberlain x Saros xx) passed away at age 18. The stallion died in the field last Saturday 5 May 2012. Bred by the Dutch stud farm Berkenhoeve, Houston was approved at the 1996 Trakehner Stallion Licensing and the stallion sold for the then record price of 80,000 Deutsch Marks (40,000 euro). The bay was acquired by the Schultzke family and did his stallion performance test in Mittelfeld. He was trained as an eventer by Marina Köhncke and competed at the 1999 Bundeschampionate finals. The stallion stood at stud at Klosterhof Medingen for one season and then moved to the Kretschmer station where he died.
Pferdeplus reported that the Austrian based Oldenburg licensed stallion Paquirri (by Pik Bube I x Weltmeister x Furioso II) passed away at age 25 on 30 April 2012. Based at Birkenhof in Austrian since 1998, Paquirri was licensed and become reserve champion of the performance test in Medingen in 1990 with an index of 140.81. He was trained and competed up to S-dressage level but an injury ended his competition career in 1998. Paquirri sired the licensed sons Puschkin, Thisbe, Pierrot, and Pinor Noir.
Beate Conle-Hüttner's renowned stallion station Gestut Wiesenhof is closing the doors of its stud facility. As of 2013 no more stallions will be available for breeding at Wiesenhof and the focus will be entirely shifting to their training as dressage horses. Wiesenhof's owner announced this news in a short statement on her website, but she did not react to any of the emails Eurodressage sent for more information. Wiesenhof stands for instance Trakehner stallions Munchhausen, Hibiskus and Kentucky.
The 12-year old Bavarian licensed stallion Rivero III (by Rautenstein x Argentan II) was humanely put down begin May because of cancer. The youngest of the three Rivero brothers stood at stud at the State Stud Schwaiganger. Bred by Ferdinand Salanderer, Rivero stood at Schwaiganger for 9 years. In 2005 he qualified for the Bundeschampionate under Dorothee Schneider. Under Frederike Schulz-Wallner he won his first S-level test and enabled Wallner to earn the Golden Rider's Badge. Rivero III has only one licensed son, Ritz Carlton.
Minor health scare for 2000 Olympic champion Bonfire. The 29-year old bay Oldenburg gelding (by Welt As x Praefectus xx) was not fit on the weekend of 11 - 13 May and got transported to the equine clinic in Someren. "We noticed he didn't feel well and took him to Someren," Van Grunsven commented. "It turned out he had some problems with his kidneys and there was some blood in his urine. Fortunately he's doing fine again after he got some medicine to cure the problem. I'm happy he's back home."
A growing number of young riders are being able to attract corporate sponsorship in their pursuit of a dedicated, professional equestrian career. Dutch young rider Debora Pijpers recently got sponsored by feed company Besterly, while British young rider Olivia Oakeley has received support from Old Park Lane Capital Plc+, a London based stockbroker company. The funding will enable Olivia to campaign her Young Rider horse Donna Summer with a view to European Team selection in the summer. Olivia, who attended Wildern School, Hedge End is currently based at Hartpury College, Gloucester where she is studying for her A levels.