Hubertus Schmidt's Escolar and Benjamin Werndl's Famoso OLD became the winners of the 2019 Otto Lörke Prize for being the two most successful rising Grand Prix horses in Germany this year. They were honoured at the 2019 CDI-W Stuttgart on Sunday 17 November 2019.
The Otto Lörke Prize is given annually at the international dressage competition in Stuttgart in November. Initially only one horse would win the prize, but between 2011 and 2016, there were multiple recipients. For the first time, in 2017, there was no recipient as there was no horse that fitted the criteria to become a recipient! For 2018 the selection committee of the German Olympic Equestrian Committee (DOKR) went back to one winner. In 2019 they appointed two horses as winners of the prestigious prize.
The prize is awarded to Grand Prix horses between the ages of 8 - 10 and it recognizes the horse, trainer and owner.
Escolar and Famoso's international dressage careers run parallel. They both had their CDI debut at the 2018 CDI Munich Indoors, where Escolar won the Grand Prix with 75% and Famoso the Special with 77%. Four weeks later they competed in the 2018 Louisdor Cup Finals, where Famoso became second and Escolar fourth. Both horses are now part of the German A-team. In 2019 Famoso won the CDI Donaueschingen, while Escolar dominated the CDI Oldenburg.
The 10-year old Oldenburg gelding Famoso (by Farewell III x Welt Hit III) is ridden by Benjamin Wernd and coached by Jonny Hilberath. He is owned by Swiss Flora Keller.
This year the Otto Lörke Prize was awarded for the 32nd time. Previous Otto Lörke recipients are Satchmo, Bonaparte, Elvis VA, Chacomo, Farbenfroh, Rusty, Grunox, Gigolo, Goldstern, Rembrandt, Bella Rose and Showtime FRH.
Photos © LL-foto
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