British Olympic team rider Emma Hindle has retired her long time Grand Prix partner Wie Weltmeyer from competition in a very emotional farewell ceremony at the Stallion Show of Privately Owned Sires in Verden on February 4, 2006.
The Hanoverian licensed stallion Wie Weltmeyer (by Weltmeyer x Dynamo) has been Hindle’s first international Grand Prix horse which took her to two European Dressage Championships (2003, 2005), one World Cup Final (2004) and, of course, the Olympic Games in Athens (2004). Wie Weltmeyer was one of Britain’s most solid team dressage horses ever.
Wie Weltmeyer’s retirement in Verden became a very emotional farewell ceremony for rider Emma Hindle. “I cried from the moment I went in,” Emma confessed. “He trotted round like never before and was just amazing. They had the spotlight on us all the time while we did the Grand Prix. Then I walked him and threw my arms round his neck and cried even more. The ceremony was so beautiful. His breeder was there, Thomas [Hoffmann] came in the ring, ‘Wally’ got carrots and I got flowers, and the played the video of our ride at the European Championships in Hickstead.”
Wie Weltmeyer’s career as a breeding and dressage stallion is filled with glorious moments. After his victory in the 1993 Stallion Performance Test in Medingen, he began a versatile sport career winning show jumping classes up to L-level and dressage tests up to M-level. At the 1996 Bundeschampionate he won the qualifier for the finals with a score of 9.3 and won the bronze medal in the finals for 6-year old dressage horses. In 1999 he made his big international break through. Under Emma Hindle he was short-listed for the British Dressage team for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
In 2003, the combination was at the top of the international dressage world. As best British dressage pair, they won team bronze at the 2003 European Dressage Championships in Hickstead (GBR) and placed eight individually, taking the lead on the British Dressage Riders’ Ranking. In 2004 they competed at the World Cup Finals in Dusseldorf and were member of the British team at the Olympic Games in Athens (GRE). In 2005, Wie Weltmeyer maintained his excellent form by placing at the top at various CDI competitions throughout Europe. He was member of the British team at the 2005 European Championships in Hagen, Germany.
To Emma Hindle, her nicest moment with Wie Weltmeyer was winning the Grand Prix at the 2003 World Cup Qualifier in Berlin. “The award ceremony was so amazing, standing in the spotlight with the national anthem playing.” Wie Weltmeyer will be honoured one last time at the Brookhouse Stud stallion show at his home base Rollehof in Erbach, Germany, February 11, 2006. “They have planned a surprise and I think they are going to play ‘Land of Hope and Glory,’ so that will be another sniffle for me,” Emma stated.
From then on, Wie Weltmeyer can look forward to a relaxed life of grazing in the field and breeding at the Rollehof.
Photos copyrighted: Kiki Beelitz
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