Evi Strasser's Fleur Belle Tyme OLD Turns Heads at Oldenburg Young Horse Championships in Rastede, Ready for Bundeschampionate

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2022 Oldenburg Young Horse Championships

Evi Strasser's Oldenburg mare Fleur Belle Tyme OLD turned heads at the 2022 Oldenburg Young Horse Championships in Rastede, Germany, in July by winning the 4-year old Championship with a whopping 9.0 score. Ridden by Anna Mitter, the beautiful mare subsequently got selected for the prestigious Bundeschampionate, the German Young Horse Championships, which will take place in Warendorf this week.

Bred by Beate Wedermann, Fleur Belle Tyme OLD is by Furst Romancier x Don Larino x Wolkentanz. She was originally owned by Stefanie Dresch.

Great Find in Oldenburg Auction

Canadian Olympian Evi Strasser discovered Fleur Belle as a 3-year old in the 2021 Oldenburg Special Edition auction in Vechta, Germany, and was able to secure her through the bidding process.

Evi has been a regular auction shopper of Oldenburg horses in Vechta the past two decades. She bought her career making Grand Prix horse and Pan American silver medal winner Quantum Tyme based on the auction catalog photo and his pedigree (Quattro B x Argentinus). Since then, more auction horses have joined her own or clients' collection, such as her most recent Grand Prix and FEI level horses Disney Tyme, Renaissance Tyme , Rigaudon Tyme, Dancing Tyme, Super Tyme, Action Tyme, as well as young stars Vive la Vie OLD (by Honoré du Soir x Detroit) and Vinja OLD (by Antango x Detroit).

When she saw Fleur Belle on the video, however, Evi knew that this mare was a keeper.

"Fleur Belle impressed me from the beginning with her amazing gaits and rhythm and on top, here amazing rideability," Evi told Eurodressage. "She's the full package."

Paying it Forward

Instead of enjoying the thrill of riding a high class horse herself, Evi decided to leave Fleur Belle in Germany and brought her to Benjamin Mitter's training stable.

"It was not easy to make the decision to not ride the horse myself," Evi admitted. "As I was aiming for her to compete in the Bundeschampionate she would have to do a fair amount of flying and multiple quarantines if I kept her in Canada. Instead of all the travelling I felt it was in her best interest to stay in Germany and have a horse life. Here she gets brought along quietly."

Strasser continued, "she was only three when I bought her and I wanted her to grow up like a normal 3-year old with less travel and better shows for 3 and 4-year old horses in Germany.

Initially it was decided for Benjamin Mitter to produce Fleur Belle Tyme, but after a few months the choice to match her to his wife Anna seemed a logical one.

"We wanted to give Anna the opportunity to fulfil her dreams," Evi said with a smile. "It worked out very well," Evi said with a smile.

2022 Oldenburg Young Horse Champion

Mitter and Fleur Belle Tyme OLD made their competition debut in May 2022 at the local show in Okel, where they straight away scored a convincing 8.6 score. In June they won the riding horse class in Vechta and then headed to the 2022 Oldenburg Young Horse Championships in Rastede.

Rastede turned out to be a grand success. They pair won the warm-up round with 8.7, staying miles ahead of the competition, with no less than 33 horses entered in the class. In the Final round, which fielded the six best scoring horses of the warm-up, Mitter and Fleur Belle Tyme OLD were a league of their own, winning the title and championship with 9.0.

The judges rewarded the mare with 9.5 for walk, 9 for trot, 8.5 for canter, 9 for training and 9 for conformation. The gap with the second place horse was huge, as the runner-up scored 8.4.

"The next day after the show I woke up and thought 'did this really happen or was it all a dream?"," but it was a reality," said a thrilled Anna Mitter. "For me it was a dream come true and I have to keep pinching myself. I already broke out in tears when we won the first round with 8.7 despite the heat. The next day we gave it our best and couldn't believe our ears when the scores were announced. 9.0 Incredible."

Evi added, "Raststede was an amazing experience and we couldn't have been more happy with the rest. I'm so thrilled for Anne and my mare. Our focus now is on the Bundeschampionate. After we will regroup and make a plan for the future. Should Fleur Belle be ready for it, we'd like to try for the World Championships for 5-year olds. But one step at a time."

Euro Time - Family Time

The Quebec based Evi Strasser has been spending the summer in Europe to compete her Grand Prix horses at landmark CDI's and be closer to her family in Bavaria, Germany. The personal invitation to the "Horses & Dreams Meets Canada" competition at the CDI Hagen gave her the push to cross the Atlantic.

Evi and Disney Tyme at Horses & Dreams in Hagen

"I want to spend more time with my family and when I got the invite to Horses & Dreams Meets Canada, I knew this was the moment to do it and come Europe again with the horses," Strasser explained. "It was amazing to be back at legendary competitions such as Horses & Dreams in Hagen, or riding in front of the pink castle in Wiesbaden, or in the Alps at Swarovski's Schindhof in Fritzens."

Evi has been based at the amazing Gut Ising near Chiemsee, which is close to her home town Inzell.

"This winter we will return to Wellington for the season, and hopefully next year we can come back to Europe again and see Fleur Belle Tyme compete at the World Championships in Ermelo. It never hurts to dream," Evi concluded.

Evi will continue to have her eye on the autumn auctions coming up in Germany as she has proven to have an excellent eye spotting young talent and developing horses up the levels to Grand Prix. Strasser, for instance, discovered and produced Olympic horses Hiscox Artemis (Richard Davison) and Taiso Aurel (Mieko Yagi), as well as international Grand Prix horses Andiamo Tyme (Kyra Kyrklund), Santana (Patrik Kittel), and Show Tyme (Kristy Oatley) amongst others.

"I see many of the same qualities in Fleur Belle Tyme as these previous top horses that came out of my barn," Evi stated. "I think she has the similar super traits as all these wonderful horses that have made so many riders happy and brought them success. I am so looking forward to the future with this mare. I truly believe this is one of the best horses that i have had the fortune of owning. She has all the of the qualities i look for in a horse: great presence, top movement and character, and an amazing work ethic. I have no doubt we will see her shining in all that she does."