Where are They Now? Sir Olli

Focus

F.O.C.U.S.

At the 2016 World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo, the Oldenburg stallion Sir Olli won the bronze medal. Three months later he sold to Spain at the Oldenburg Autumn Elite Auction, but since then Sir Olli has disappeared from the scene. Where is he now?

Sir Olli is an Oldenburg stallion by Sir Donnerhall I x Florestan I x Landadel. He is bred by Gerd Küst and was owned by Vivien Küst.

Start in Germany

He was licensed as a 5-year old at an Oldenburg stallion licensing in March 2015, but had already done a stallion performance test as a 3-year old in Munster-Handorf. In the 30-day testing he scored 8.79 for dressage and 7.60 for show jumping.

Sir Olli's sport career began in 2013 under Ann-Christin Wienkamp, even though Laura Klein competed him more at the start. The horse was named after Wienkamp's employer, Olivier Oelrich, who is nick-named Olli.

In 2015 Wienkamp was back on board and qualified him to represent Germany at the 2015 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden, Germany, where they were 7th in the 5-year olds finals, scoring 8.58.

In 2016 Wienkamp and Sir Olli returned to the World Young Horse Championships, who then took place in Ermelo, The Netherlands, and they finished with bronze on a score of 87.60 points. They also qualified for the 2016 Bundeschampionate but did not compete there.

Sold in Vechta

Sir Olli at the 2015 World Championships in Verden

Sir Olli became the top lot in the collection of the 2016 Oldenburg Autumn Elite Auction in Vechta and ended up selling as a price highlight to Spain.

Anunciada Torras de las Cuevas of dressage stable Don Lunas in Cadiz, Spain, paid 370,000 euro for the stallion.

Where Is He Now?

Sir Olli moved to Spain and has been gelded to focus on sport. Since then he has only been doing national shows with the goal being Grand Prix.

"Olli is one in a lifetime horse," owner Anunciada Torras told Eurodressage. "He is so intelligent, clear in his mind and always wants to work and please. We are all in love with him. He is doing very well. We did no present him at shows in the past years, because our final goal is set on Grand Prix."

He was twice competed by the owner in 2017, before the ride was given to professional Alfonso Expósito Santiso.

In 2018 Alfonso and Sir Olli did just two shows, one national home show at Don Lunas, followed by the the 2018 Spanish Developing Prix St Georges Championships in Segovia, Spain, where they were fourth overall.

In 2019 the pair followed a similar strategy with starts in three classes at the CDN Dos Lunas, followed by the Spanish Young Horse Championships in Granada, where there was also a division for mature small tour horses. They were fourth again.

Alfonso Exposito and Sir Olli at the 2018 Spanish
Young Horse Championships

"We have already checked that he was excellent in shows, centered and concentrated on the test and the rider, so we did just a few to remind him once in a while and make him happy, because he loves to show," said Anunciada. "So we decided to go on with our training program focused on Grand Prix."

In 2020 Alfonso and Sir Olli made the transition to medium tour level and won an Intermediaire A class at a CDN at Don Lunas.

"We were very happy with the test," Torras explained. "Although there are some things we still have to work on, normal on such a young horse, you can see the Grand Prix is almost there."

She continued, "the plan is to show him in Grand Prix at the end of this year, but due to the terrible situation right now, we don´t know if it will be possible. Meanwhile we will keep on working and enjoying him, and praying that this horrible pandemic ends as soon as possible and we can all go back to our normal lives."