German junior rider Shona Benner has received the ride on the Warendorf state stud owned stallion Velvet. The pair is trained by German Olympian Helen Langehanenberg, who rides Zoom for Warendorf.
Velvet is a 7-year old Westfalian premium stallion by Van Vivaldi out of Finlay (by Fidermark x Domenico).
He is bred by Nel ten Heuvel-de Vries in The Netherlands and was presented at the 2016 Westfalian stallion licensing by stallion rearer Mathieu Beckmann. In December 2016 the newly licensed colt moved into the state stud.
Sport Tests and Bundeschampionate
The liver chestnut did his 14-day suitability test in Neustadt/Dosse in April 2017 and scored 7.66 for dressage and 7.53 for show jumping. He did his mandatory sport test in Verden in March 2019 and got 7,59 points. He redid the test a month later on home turf in Munster-Handorf and scored 8,08 points.
Velvet was first competed by Henrike Sommer in June 2018 as a 4-year old, while in 2019 the reins were passed on to Nele Lübbehausen and Ann-Christin Wienkamp. The latter took him to the 2019 Bundeschampionate, where they finished 15th in the finals, and they were third reserves for the German team for the 2019 World Young Horse Championships.
In 2020 Lübbehausen did two shows at M-level with the stallion.
Junior Ride
Velvet will now continue his sport career under German junior rider Shona Benner.
Benner represented Germany at the 2019 and 2020 European Pony Championships with Der Kleine Sunnyboy. They won team, individual and kur bronze in 2019, and team gold in 2020. She rode her first year at junior level on Brisbane by Belissimo M x Furst Heinrich) in 2021 and was selected on the German team for the 2021 Europeans but had to pull out due to an injury.
"The amazing Warendorf State Stud has given me the exceptional opportunity to train him, and I am so thrilled," Benner explained. " I have a great feeling for the future! I am really amazed by his willingness to work and learn! He is just so much fun."
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