Russian Olympian Marina Aframeeva has given up the ride on her number one Grand Prix horse Vosk. The chestnut gelding has now been allocated to Stanislav Cherednichenko.
Vosk is a 12-year old Russian bred Hanoverian by Vodoley out of Sudarynia. He is owned by Russian Olympic Grand Prix rider Inessa Merkulova (née Poturaeva), who is Marina's aunt.
The now 26-year old Aframeeva made her international show debut on Vosk at small tour level at the 2012 CDI Zhashiv in Ukraine. They moved up to international Grand Prix level in 2013, when the horse was 8-years old.
The pair represented Russia at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Caen, France, where they finished 55th in the Grand Prix, and at the 2015 European Championships in Aachen, Germany, where they were 25th in the Grand Prix Special. Their career highlight was qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they were 31st in the Grand Prix.
Marina did her last international on Vosk at the 2016 CDI Oldenburg in Germany in November. They were fourth in the Kur to Music with 73.150%.
Marina's decision to focus more on her own training business in Moscow instead of developing an international show career, which entails much traveling, had led to the end of the combination. Merkulova has therefore assigned the ride on Vosk to Stanislav Cherednichenko who is eager to compete. The 26-year old Stanislav has been working and training with Merkulova for years and has mainly been their young horse rider.
"A few months ago Marina began feeling tired and asked for a break for a while," Anatoly Merkulov told Eurodressage. "The length of the break was unclear. We could agree to wait for her, and Vosk couldn't. Vosk has been prepared for Grand Prix by Inessa and according to our opinion Cherednichenko is quite a good rider to show him in the best way. It doesn't mean that Marina will not be back in the international sport. Everything is up to her. Maybe with another horse."
Stanislav and Vosk made their international show debut at the 2017 CDI Moscow at the beginning of April, where they were 4th in the Grand Prix and Kur. At the 2017 CDI-W Minsk last weekend, Stanislav and Vosk were second in the Grand Prix (70.180%) and fourth in the freestyle (72.150%).
It is unsure with which horses Marina will continue her show career at international level. In 2016 she also competed Merkulova's now 8-year old Latvian bred Arums (by Aromat x Amulets) and Alla Nabieva's 12-year old Latvian bred Belmondo (by Bastejs x Obelisks). On a national level, however, Aframeeva is very busy with a large client base and several horses to compete. She currently shows the 15-year old Oligarch fon Zeus at national Grand Prix level.
Photos © Astrid Appels - Lukasz Kowalski
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