Dutch Olympic team rider Diederik van Silfhout has become a dad again. His girfrlend Cindy de Mooy gave birth to a baby boy, Quint, on Tuesday 13 February 2017. Both Van Silfhout and De Mooy have one son from a previous relationship.
Horses.nl reported that more changes have happened at Van Silfhout's barn. The small tour horse Bon Jovi (by UB40) has been sold to a British junior rider, while his Grand Prix horse Vorst D (by Hors la Loi) has been sold to California as a schoolmaster. Van Silfhout also took over the ride on El Torro (by Painted Black) from Danielle Heijkoop, who competed the American owned 7-year old at the 2016 World Young Horse Championships.
Japanese Olympic team rider Akane Kuroki has undergone surgery for appendicitis. Her Valentine's Day was a little less fun because she was operated on that day. The rider is recovering well.
The Swedish warmblood society has proclaimed the 17-year old Hanoverian stallion Danone I (by De Niro x Weltmeyer) and 18-year old Dutch warmblood stallion Silvano (by Rubinstein x Cocktail) elite stallions.
Stephanie de Frel has sold her 13-year old chestnut Dutch warmblood Zethar (by Parcival x Cabochon x Vosmaer) to the same Korean rider who already purchased her small tour horse Carstenwaard a year ago. De Frel and her Grand prix horse Zethar last competed at the 2016 CDI Saumur in September, where they scored 63.940% in the Grand Prix. She did not ride the Special nor the freestyle there.
The FEI announced that FEI Dressage Freestyle tests have been updated to allow for 0.1 decimals for the artistic marks. The tests can be found here.
May Cools, co-founder of the Belgian dressage and show jumping horse breeding farm Het Gestelhof, has passed away at age 61. The stud farm is home to the very popular show jumping sire Turbo van het Gestelhof (by Darco) and dressage sires Saros van het Gestelhof (by Ramiro x Pik König) and Warkant van het Gestelhof (by Ferro x Furioso).
The arrested South Korean dressage rider Yoora Chung will have to stay in Danish custody for another four weeks. The Aalborg court decided to extend her custody. Chung was initially arrested for staying illegally in Denmark, but the arrest was prompted by her involvement in shelter companies in Germany that received money from South Korean foundations, to which Samsung generously donated. The foundations were originally intended to support art, sport and culture in Korea, not the private dressage career of one rider for buying horses and training in Europe.
According to Dressage News, three American dressage trainers became the recipients of the Order of Ikkos medal, awarded to the coaches of Olympic medal winners. Debbie McDonald (trainer of Laura Graves and Kasey Perry-Glass), Michael Barison (trainer of Allison Brock) and Robert Dover (trainer of Steffen Peters) were decorated with the Order of Ikkos medal as the U.S. team won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, their first team medal since 2004. The United States Olympic Committee awards these medals. "The USOC’s Order of Ikkos medal allows for each U.S. Olympic or Paralympic medalist to acknowledge one coach for their leadership in achieving world-class success."