Local hero Jenny Lang swept the board in the Grand Prix and Kur to Music at the 2015 CDI Mannheim on 1 - 3 May 2015. Lang and her 15-year old Holsteiner gelding Loverboy (by Lorentin x Alcatraz) won the Grand Prix with 73.320% and the Kur to Music with 77.050%. Swedish Rose Mathisen booked a surprise victory in the Special aboard her rising Grand Prix mount Zuidenwind.
"We get a great feeling riding in this stadium," said Lang. "It's always something special with this back drop."
Lang continued her Mannheim success tour with a win in the Grand Prix Kur on Sunday morning 3 May 2015, her third Mannheim freestyle victory in three years time!
"I did feel a lot of pressure when the announcer called me the favourite for the victory and about to produce a hattrick before I even had entered the ring," Lang admitted. "Still I tried my best to stay focused the entire ride. We didn't find our rhythm at the start but then managed. It went pretty well despite a few small issues."
The Wittig couple came full force to Mannheim with Wolfram saddling the 13-year old home bred Bertoli W (by Breitling x Diego xx) and his wife Brigitte riding the 14-year old home bred Brioni W (by Breitling x Diego xx). Wolfram was second in the Grand Prix with 71.740% and Brigitte third with 70.980%. Both moved on to the Special in which they captured fourth and sixth place.
The Grand Prix Special was won by Swedish routinier Rose Mathisen on her young Grand Prix horse Zuidenwind, an 11-year old KWPN licensed stallion by OO Seven x Jazz. The duo scored 72.090% for victory after placing sixth in the Grand Prix with 70.800%. Mathisen is based in Engelholm, Sweden, where she runs a dressage and breeding yard.
"I'm over the moon. This is a real shock, in the positive way," said the 55-year old Mathisen. "I didn't expect this at all. It's Zuidenwind's third Grand Prix show and only his second international and straight away we get a victory in the Grand Prix Special. He breeds a lot and has done no more than twenty shows in his entire life. I know he has a lot of quality but didn't expect him to translate this so quickly to shows."
The 2015 CDI Mannheim also featured a national Nurnberger Burgpokal qualifier for Developing Prix St Georges horses. This show circuit is open to riders from all nationalities and featured German, Belgian, British and Australian combinations.
Dorothee Schneider and the 8-year old Hanoverian gelding Santiago (by Stedinger x Dacaprio) bested the field with 74.439%, edging out Belgian Carl Cuypers aboard Anna Jaworska's Swedish warmblood Bilan (by Bocelli) on 71.317%.
"It will be my eleventh or twelfth Nurnberger Burgpokal finals," said Schneider who earned a ticket for the Finals in Frankfurt by winning the class. "It is always a great feeling to ride in Frankfurt. My wish to qualify for the finals is always a big motivation when I'm training young dressage horses. I believe Santiago is a high qualiity horse I get to ride and he'll be able to cope with the special atmosphere in Frankfurt. But of course the Finals always bring its own conditions."
Photos © Karl Heinz Frieler
Related Links
Scores 205 CDI Mannheim
Jenny Lang and Loverboy with Mutual Love and Respect to the Top
Zuidenwind Most Popular Breeding Stallion in Sweden in 2009
Kur Debutante Jenny Lang Dances into Winner's Circle at 2013 CDI Mannheim
