David Lessnig's highly praised Grand Prix horse Dior has been sold to German amateur dressage rider, Ute Kröger-Rück.
Dior is an 11-year old Westfalian gelding by Desperados out of Whispering Dream (by Winterwald x Atlantis x Maat II). He is bred by Ramona Schnippe and was owned by Heinrich Ramsbrock.
Dior was first competed as a 4-year old by Molly Stratemeier. He finished 8th at the 2013 Westfalian young horse Championships in Munster. In 2014 the ride was given to Karin Arntz and then Annemarie Finger (née Krone). From 2015 till the spring of 2017, Dior did not compete.
In June 2017 the gelding made his premier under new rider David Lessnig, who works for Heinrich Ramsbrock and who took the horse all the way to Grand Prix. The pair had its break through year in 2019 competing in the Louisdor cup qualifiers for developing Grand Prix horses. They claimed a spot for the Finals in Frankfurt, where the horse placed 7th and made an impression with its talent and potential for the future.
A lot of interest in Dior was shown by powerful German dressage horse buyers, but none of the deals went through. German amateur Grand Prix rider Ute Kröger-Rück, however, persisted and acquired the gelding this spring. After a long purchase process the horse has now been secured by Ute, who competed Sao Paulo and Farinia at S-level in 2019.
The 77-year old Kröger-Rück made her fortune with a very successful furniture business (Möbel Kröger and Möbelstadt Rück) and has owned several prominent dressage horses, including Jochen Vetter's Eliot (bought in 2015 but resold to Nina Neuer (née Weiss)), Martin Schaudt's Despino (went lame and was returned after lawsuit), the Rhinelander stallion Dream of Heidelberg II (went lame, lawsuit followed), and the KWPN bred Zidane (by Jazz x Voltaire x Mytens xx). He started his career in Holland under the name Zaragoza. In 2013 the horse was shown by Jennifer Hoffmann and in 2015 by Michelle Hagman before selling to Ute. Zidane passed last year from colic.
Kröger-Rück is trained and assisted by Thomas Schmitz.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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