Westwind Sold to Japan

Dressage

Japan

Olympic fever has started to rage as yet another Grand Prix horse has been sold to Japan; this time it is the 16-year old KWPN gelding Westwind, who will be getting his ninth rider on board in his 10 years at FEI level.

Westwind is a 16-year old Dutch warmblood gelding by Jazz out of Nekina (by Zeoliet).

He was first competed internationally at M-level in the Owners Class by Polish-Italian Anna Paprocka Campanella at the 2010 CDI Vejer de la Frontera in Spain, and a few months later at small tour level at the CDI La Mandria. In 2011, the pair made its Grand Prix debut at the Sunshine Tour in Vejer. Campanella took the tall bay to CDI's in Saumur, Kaposvar, and Arruda dos Vinhos.

In 2012 Polish Michal Rapcewicz showed him once at the CDI Wroclaw in February, but just a few months later it was Italian young rider Leonardo Tiozzo who campaigned the gelding at young riders level, only once though at the 2012 CDI Arezzo. In 2013 it was Italian young rider Carlotta Marconi who got on board and she rode him at the CDI's in Vidauban and Caselle di Sommacampagna.

The gelding then disappeared for a year from the international scene. He sold to Belgian Christoph Binnendijk as the new ride for French Grand Prix rider Ludovic Henry. This pair competed internationally in 2015 in Nice, Saumur and Compiegne. The CDI Saumur in September 2015 was Westwind's last international start.

The horse sold via the 2015 Equine Elite Auction for 110,000 euro to Dutch amateur Grand Prix rider Valentijn van Weeren. Westwind has been in The Netherlands since, but under a different name, Wise Guy, which refers to the birth name breeder Wim Sprey of Reduson Stables gave the horse (Wise Guy RS) initially.

In the autumn of 2018 Dutch paralympian Frank Hosmar got to ride the gelding as his Grand Prix schoolmaster and he competed him lightly at national level in the able bodied classes.

In January 2019 Dutch Under 25 rider Emma Laarkamp began showing Wise Guy/Westwind and she rode him at a few national shows. They were 6th at the 2019 Dutch Indoor Under 25 Championships.

Wise Guy has now been sold to Japan as a schoolmaster.