The German Equestrian Federation announced the updated German dressage squads for 2020 following the German Championships in Balve last weekend.
Big Names Out
A big clean-up has taken place and Germany's long-time top team horses and medal winners Bella Rose, Showtime and Cosmo have all been removed from the A-squad.
They have not competed or shown fitness since the 2019 European Championships in Rotterdam. These three horses were all excused from the German Nationals last week before of minor injuries sustained this summer.
"Because of the many cancellations of shows due to the corona pandemic, some squad horses have not yet competed in a show this year," the The dressage selection committee of the German Olympic Equestrian Committee (DOKR) stated. "That is why we only nominated those pairs for the squads of which we have been able to get picture of their training level at a competition."
In Germany the show circuit kicked off the quickest of all European countries post-corona lockdown, with national shows back on the calendar in May and international shows already begun in July (CDI Hagen).
There certainly were opportunities to compete at CDI's in Europe. There were three CDI's in Achleiten, three World Cup qualifiers in Mariakalnok, Pilisjaszfalu, and Brno, and two CDI's in Sint-Truiden and Donaueschingen with Grand Prix level classes.
Also Helen Langehanenberg's Damsey has been removed from the A-squad, even though the horse competed at the 2020 CDI-W Mariakalnok in May. He was absent from the German Championships last weekend though.
New Comers In
The dressage selection committee of the German Olympic Equestrian Committee (DOKR) has now updated the squads going into the 2020 indoor show season.
Two new riders have been submitted to the B-squad: Carina Bachmann and Senta Kirchhoff.
The new squads are:
A-Olympic squad
- Jessica von Bredow-Werndl - Dalera BB and Zaire-E
- Ingrid Klimke - Franziskus
- Helen Langehanenberg - Annabelle
- Dorothee Schneider - Faustus and DSP Sammy Davis jr.
- Benjamin Werndl - Daily Mirror and Famoso OLD
- Isabell Werth - Emilio and Weihegold OLD
B-Perspective squad
- Carina Bachmann - Tarantino
- Senta Kirchhoff - L’Arbuste OLD
- Sönke Rothenberger - Santiano R
- Frederic Wandres - Duke of Britain
Photo © Astrid Appels
Related Links
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Isabell Werth are the 2020 German Grand Prix Champions
Carina Bachmann and Tarantino, A Pair to Watch for Germany
2020 German Championships Without Star Horses Bella Rose, Showtime and Cosmo
Senta Kirchhoff and L'Arbuste, Surprise Winners of 2019 Louisdor Cup Finals for Developing Grand Prix Horses