The elegant, grey Grand Prix mare Half Moon Delphi was a star on the British Dressage Team at the 2013 European Championships and 2014 World Equestrian Games under Michael Eilberg. Dancing to a Shakira freestyle, Half Moon Delphi enthused the crowds. In 2015 she sold as an Olympic hopeful to the U.S.A. but her competition career was only short stateside. Where is she now?
British Hanoverian
Born in 2002, Half Moon Delphi is a British Hanoverian mare bred at Julie Deverill's Half Moon Stud.
She is by Dimaggio out of state premium mare Waldfee (by Westwall x Trapper). Breeder Julie once said that Delphi's cross was not a fluke. “It wasn’t exactly scientific,” Julie told Horse & Hound. “As the Germans say, put the best with the best and hope for the best.”
Delphi, who was nick named "Maggie", made her competition debut in 2007 as a 5 year old under Dan Odell, who at the time worked at Half Moon. Later that year she moved to Darren Mattia's Court Farm Stud, where Tim Sillevis took on the ride. She placed in Novice and Elementary championships in 2008 and was reserve champion behind Valegro in the 2008 British Young Horse Championships for 6-year olds.
Upon the recommendation of Christian Heinrich, Julie decided to move Delphi, along with Half Moon Delicato (now Carl Hester's team ride) to Germany to be further developed by Stefan Puschman and potentially be sold. In the spring and summer of 2009 the grey mare was competed in Germany in Prix St Georges and Intermediaire I level classes by Stefan.
Team Horse with Michael Eilberg
In 2010 Deverill came in contact with the Eilberg family and decided to bring the 8-year old Delphi back to the U.K. Michael Eilberg became in charge of her training and the star mare became Michael's first British team horse.
For the 2012 Olympics in London, her time was too soon, but they claimed bronze at the 2012 British Grand Prix Championships.
Delphi caught the eye of the selectors in 2013 with consistent, low and mid seventy percentage scores in three CDI's that year: Hagen, Hartpury and Perl. The pair represented Great Britain at the 2013 European Championships in Herning, where they won team bronze. Eilberg's Grand Prix score in Herning became the basis for intervention in the judging system as there was an unacceptable 10% difference between two judges (6 judges averaging 73.39%, one at 65.53%).
Their career highlight year was 2014. The pair made it to the Kur finals at the CDIO Aachen, where they posted an 80.475% score and placed 8th. At the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Caen, they won team silver and finished 8th in the Kur to Music finals with a 79.696% score.
Injury
The 2014 World Equestrian Games turned out to be Delphi's last international under Eilberg. The mare struggled with injury since then.
After the WEG the mare had to recover from a tendon injury which she most likely sustained in Caen due to the hard footing, as Eilberg disclosed at the time.
A come back to competition was scheduled for the 2015 CDI Windsor in May, but she was withdrawn. Delphi was also scratched from the national show in Somerfield two weeks later.
Owner Julie Deverill never bred to her mare, but has two full sisters in her breeding programme at Half Moon stud.
"I do not have any foals out of Delphi," Deverill told Eurodressage. "At the time I did not want to interfere with her competition career by trying to do embryo transfer with her."
Rio Hopeful for Sarah Daehnert
In June 2015 the mare sold to American entrepreneur Robert "Bob" Price as a schoolmaster and Rio hopeful for Sarah Daenert, his head trainer at Pegaso Farm in Mettawa, Illinois and Wellington, Florida.
"We were looking for another horse to add to our string of younger horses at the time that I could potentially be a candidate for CDI's and possibly bigger sport for me to ride and compete," Sarah Daehnert told Eurodressage. "We never intended to buy an older and experienced horse but when the opportunity arose to go try Half Moon Delphi, I was so excited as she had been one of my favorite horses at the WEG. I rode her and I immediately loved her."
The 2016 Olympics in Rio were set as dream and target and the new pair made its American show debut in Wellington, Florida, on 16 - 17 January 2016. They scored 68.50% and 66.10% in two national Grand Prix classes.
"I had some mistakes for our first time in the ring," said Sarah, "but overall I was very proud, and she was so amazing to ride in the test."
Their international show debut, Sarah's first CDI at big tour level, followed one month later in Wellington, where they earned 61.620% in the Grand Prix. The combination withdrew from the Special.
"We started to have some major farrier issues," Sarah reminisced. "The farrier that I had just started using in Wellington completely changed her angles and shoeing. Which we all know, should never be done with an older horse. She became extremely foot sore. I did compete in one Cdi, but had to withdraw for the Special because she had so much hoof pain."
This was Delphi's last CDI competition at age 14. Where is she now?
Where is she Now?
She continued, "it look almost a year and a half to slowly correct her shoeing again. We went to Patrik Kittel's to train in Germany fall of 2017 and things started to get back on track again," said Sarah.
However at the beginning of 2018, "she suddenly came up dead lame on the right front out of nowhere," Sarah explained. "She was "abcess lame" so we treated her for an abcess, but the lameness was not resolving but we could not find anything so we decided to let her rest. Two months later my vet from Germany did another x-ray and she found a hairline fracture in her articular ringbone. With her age and the chances of her becoming 100% sound again for sport we decided to retire her as a broodmare. This was an extreme shock to Bob and I.
"In 2019, she gave birth to a very lovely and sweet Totilas colt," said Sarah smilingly. "In 2020, she did not get in foal. In 2021, we will breed her again. I am still in the process of choosing the stallion for next year. She is an amazing mother and her colt has the best temperament just like her. Even if the sport career did not work out with her, I am so lucky and fortunate to have such a special mare in my life."
Photos © Astrid Appels - private
Related Links
Eurodressage Photo Database: Half Moon Delphi
Half Moon Delphi Sold to the United States
British Team Named for 2013 European Dressage Championships
A Fresh Wind for US Dressage: Price and Daehnert Acquire Grand Prix Hopeful Breezer
Eilberg Back In Front on Day Two of 2011 British Championships
Where Are They Now?
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