German dressage maecenas Sara Marburg acquired no less than five international top dressage horses from Helgstrand Dressage as future competition horses for German dressage riders Anja Plönzke, Andrea Vodermaier and Yeliz Marburg. Marburg bought Polka Hit, Stevie Wonder, Floricello, Didando and Zardetto.
Enterpreneur Sara Marburg bought a whole collection of horses, aged between 5 and 12, at Andreas Helgstrand's dealing yard in Denmark. "What happened here was serendipity," Marburg commented. "It's not obvius to find so many top quality horses in one barn and they all pass the veterinary exam so we can buy them."
Marburg acquired the 12-year old Polka Hit Nexen (by Sandro Hit x Temple Wind xx), a Danish gold medal mare and silver medallist at the 2008 World Young Horse Championships. She was competed in Verden by Dorthe Sjoebeck Hoeck and then trained to Grand Prix level by Andreas Helgstrand. The sensitive bay mare quickly moved through the levels and competed at Grand Prix in 2010. The mare struggled to cope with the highest level and was dropped back to Prix St Georges in 2013.
The German internet enterpreneur also bought Catherine Rasmussen's 8-year old, Grand Prix ready Stevie Wonder (by Stedinger x White Star). She also invested in the 6-year old Oldenburg reserve licensing champion Floricello (by Florencio x Dormello) which was previously owned by Swedish Inger-Marie and Jörgen Hemmingsen. The liver chestnut stallion won the silver medal at the 2013 World Young Horse Championships under Helgstrand. The 6-year old KWPN licensed stallion Didando (by Tuschinski x Jetset) was 16th in the 2013 Pavo Cup Finals and 7th at the 2013 Danish Young Horse Championships. The Danish bred 5-year old Zardetto (by Zack x Romanov) is the youngest amongst the new acquisitions.
"In our business we stress that fact that our horses can be trained in peace. Those who work with horses know you can't force anything and besides will power you need perserverence and especially patience," said Marburg when asked when the horses would make their show debut.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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