At the Sport Horse Breeding (SHB) Studbook stallion licensing, British dressage rider Carl Hester had one of his youngsters approved. The 5-year old KWPN branded Negretto (by Negro) passed the grading at Addington Manor last week. Negretto was discovered by Hester's trained Anne van Olst “I really like Negro and asked Anne if she could keep her eyes open for a stallion by him,” Carl to the British magazine Horse and Hound, “and this one's wonderful. To me, he's a real grand prix horse as well as a stunning stallion.” Hester owns Negretto in partnership with Jill Hodges.
Photo courtesy: Horse & Rider Magazine
British Peter Storr hasn't been so lucky lately. He had to put down his 5-year old young Hanoverian Big Spender, who broke his leg coming round from the anesthesia after being gelded in a clinic. Storr, who just bought a new yard in England, still has a very good 6-year old Florestan coming along. He also confided that he will not actively campaign Gambrinus for a spot on the British Team for the 2005 European Championships. "It's not easy to get to shows. I just bought a new place and it costs a lot of money to compete. It all depends on what I can afford. I'm going to do my own thing," Storr said.
The German Equestrian Federation has a new president. Breido Graf zu Rantzau has been elected as president at the general assembly in Kassel, Germany. Graf zu Rantzau is 55 years old and has a major in economics. He's succeeding Jurgen Thumann, who no longer wished to be re-elected because he became the president of the German Industrial Federation (BDI) this year. Graf zu Rantzau was a successful show jumper and is currently breeding horses. He used to be the vice president of the German Equestrian Federation and chairperson of the German Olympic Equestrian Committee.
World Champion Florencio is back in the Netherlands. The Westfalian stallion was in Germany for a couple of months to be treated for EVA. On his website, Minderhoud reported that Florencio is finally home again in Holland. "He got a bit fatter and is very happy to be home again," Minderhoud wrote. "I wanted to check in what shape he was and he almost bucked me off." Hans Peter will be slowly preparing Florencio for the 2005 World Young Horse Championships in Verden.
And we picked up more news from Holland. The renowned composers' duo Cees Slings and Victor Kerkhof, who used to work exclusively for Anky van Grunsven, but have established themselves as independent kur composers after the 2004 Olympic Games, are working on two new freestyles!! Broere Stud from Ablasserdam, The Netherlands, have asked Slings and Kerkhof to design a unique kur for their top stallion Broere Jazz. Rider Kirsten Beckers will premier this new kur with Jazz at the 2005 Dutch Dressage Championships in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Slings & Kerkhof are multitasking at the moment, because besides Jazz' Kur they are also composing one for a British A-team Dressage Rider. More news on these two kurs coming soon.
Dressage at Devon, probably the best dressage show in the United States, has announced that it will be hosting the 2005 American Junior Riders Championships this year. Twelve juniors will be selected to compete in Devon and they will be split up in teams of three. The Junior Riders' team competition has more a bonding function between the juniors than being a real nations' cup. The individual competition will be more exciting, as the winner will become the 2005 American Junior Dressage Champion.
We were saddened to hear that the 2003 American Junior Rider Champion, Suzanne LaPorte, the then 18-year old who won the special three month internship with Lisa Wilcox and Ernst Hoyos at Gestut Vorwerk in Germany, has stopped riding. Suzanne is walking new paths in life which have nothing to do with horses.. talk about an unfortunate waste of talent. We're still hoping that Suzanne will jump back in her boots and start riding again!
The American magazine Horsedeals published that Robert Dover's apprentice Katherine Bateson will be taking over the ride of FBW Kennedy. Surprised to read this, Eurodressage contacted Dover to get the facts confirmed. Dover replied, "that information is not correct. I have no immediate plans for Kennedy and am enjoying being home and relaxing a bit." Robert also joked, adding "if everything that got published about me is true, I would be leading a much more exciting life."
The deed is done, as of Tuesday May 10, Per Sandgaard is officially a Swedeinstead of a Dane. "It went faster than I expected and it was easier to change nationality than I thought, but in fact I doesn't mean that much. I live in Sweden and now I can ride with all my Swedish friends instead of against them," Per told the Danish Equestrian Federation. Per is doing extremely well with his new Grand Prix horse Memphis (by Larome). "Only three weeks after I got him, I rode a Grand Prix in Sweden and won the class. He's really a sweet horse and he's so cool." Sandgaard will be competing Memphis at the shows in Stromsholm and Falsterbo.
Have you all seen Dirk Caremans' new website? The Belgian equestrian photographer, known for being one of the best indoor horse photographers in the world, has a new database system on his site. You can see all photos from the World Cup Finals in it, and much more. Also check out the news database which brings up to date articles from around the globe. Most articles are in Dutch, but the site in general is in English. Go to Dirk's website by clicking here