Lyngbjergs St. Paris Beats the Boys in 5-YO Finals at 2022 World Young Horse Championships

 - Text and Photos © Astrid Appels (this article expresses Appels' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition).

The black beauty Lyngbjergs St. Paris beat boys Vitalos and Fashion Prinz OLD to the punch and captured the 5-year old champion's title at the 2022 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Ermelo, The Netherlands, on Saturday afternoon 10 September 2022. 

It was a true Danish triumph of breeding and training as the 24-year old Victoria Vallentin rode to gold medal on a mare which she and her boyfriend Jesper Bisgaard Nielsen discovered as a 2.5 year old in March 2020 and trained herself. Although Vallentin is an established face on the Danish dressage scene and a multiple youth team rider, she was now up against the world's biggest horse dealers, owners, and breeders: Paul Schockemöhle, Hof Kasselmann, and Andreas Helgstrand. This young woman figuratively flexed her biceps and with her young four-legged St. Paris showed some serious girl power in Ermelo.  Her title was celebrated by all. 

Celebrated Champion

As last pair to go in the Finals round, Victoria Vallentin and Lyngbjergs St. Paris competed in much better conditions compared to the preliminary round on Thursday. She was one of the first to go on the day and rode her unpleasant rainy weather. They landed third place then and established themselves as medal contenders.

In today's finals round, Vallentin and St. Paris improved their act and had the mare in a better frame. The trot work was super elegant, sharp and engaged from behind, but at times a bit hurried. The walk was clear in rhythm but could have had even more ground cover. St. Paris has an outstanding canter with each stride uphill and under. The simple changes could have been a bit smoother, but overall the mare is brimming with talent and produced an excellent test. 

The judges' panel consisted of Henning Lehrmann (GER),  Kurt Christensen (DEN),  Alban Tissot (FRA), and Monique Peutz-Vegter (NED) and the latter judge provided the public commentary at the end of each ride. They praised St. Paris for having "a lot of elegance, she is so lightfooted" and has ""and amazingly good hindleg." She got 8.5 for walk, 9.5 for trot, 9.3 for canter, 8.8 for submission and 9.5 for general impression. This totalled 9.12 points for the victory. 

"It's a dream, but I didn't expect to win," said a beaming Victoria at the press conference, who explained she changed her warm-up a little bit before today's ride. "The horse is super easy to ride, she was not even sweating. I can't believe it. And when people start ed clapping on the final centerline I thought, "ok maybe it was good today."

Lyngbjergs St. Paris is by Blue Hors St. Schufro x Blue Hors Rockefeller. She is bred by Bente Børjesson and owned by Vallentin and Bisgaard Nielsen in partnership with Ingrid and Poul Thøgersen. Only last week, the Thogersens took over the half ownership share from investment company United Dressage and thereby secured the ride for Victoria in the future. 

"She is very special to me. I have been riding many horses. We bought her when she was almost three and trained her all the way," said Victoria. "I have the opportunity to keep her for the long term."

Silver for Vitalos

Maybe the best day of the day was again delivered by German Leonie Richter on Paul Schockemöhle and Andreas Helgstrand's Hanoverian stallion Vitalos (by Vitalis x De Niro). The pair was already second in the preliminary round and could easily have topped the board then, and also today they delivered a superb ride that could also have made them win had the stars aligned differently. 

The imposing liver chestnut Vitalos, who is bred by Josef Bramlage and bought by Schockemöhle as a foal, was presented in a spot on tempo with good cadence and rhythm on the straight lines and voltes. At times the horse tilted its head to the left and he dropped in the poll on the right volte. The walk had good overtrack, but lacked some V-moment in the rhythm. The canter was so soft footed, but in the counter canter the stallion still struggled to stay engaged from behind and got slightly shorter in his striding with the hindlegs. The second simple change was the best one. Richter finished with a lovely trot in which the horse stretched into the contact when given the reins. 

The judges praised Vitalos for being a "powerful horse" with a "will to work" and "beautifully uphill in the contact." They scored his test with 8.5 for walk, 9.8 for trot, 8.6 for canter, 9.0 for submission and 9.4 for perspective. They got silver with 9.06 points. 

"From the first day I rode him, he was my dream horse," Richter said at the press conference. "He's a breeding stallion and had a hard job this year. He has so much power, but also so relaxed and focused. He was more relaxed today, the walk was better." Vitalos was first licensed for Oldenburg through a special "home" licensing before being approved for Hanoverian breeding.  

Bronze for Fashion Prinz OLD

Frederic Wandres and the Houston family's Oldenburg stallion Fashion Prinz OLD (by Furst Romancier x Sarkozy) were the winners of the preliminary round and today settled for third place and the bronze medal, even though today's ride was in fact better. 

The massive liver chestnut stallion, who stands 190 m high, showcased very good cadence today in trot with a super steady rhythm and much airtime in the extensions. In the right volte he tilted and dropped in the poll. The extended walk had huge overtrack and a good V-moment in the rhythm. Fashion Prinz has a ground covering canter, but is not yet as balanced in that gait and leans on the forehand and gets croup high in the counter canter. Wandres, however, expertly rode this big boy through the programme and never made the horse look out of his element. 

The judges praised the stallion for his "swinging, well balanced trot and very good medium" and the walk for its "clear big steps." They gave 9.7 for walk, 9.3 for trot, 8.4 for canter and submission and 9.2 for perspective. He finished third with 9.0 points. 

Fashion Prinz is bred by Paul Schockemöhle, was first trained at Hof Kasselmann, and sold for 750,000 euro to the American Houston family at the 2021 PSI Auction, but remained in training with Frederic Wandres. 

"I think he is the tallest horse on this show ground. He is over 190 cm. I'm also tall so he is my size to ride," said Frederic. "The first day he won, now he's third. It's still very nice. It's a medal. It's so close in the ranking. They are so close to each other. It depends on the shape of the day, who has the nose in front. The 5-year olds are always a strong class."

Wandres will continue to produce the stallion in the future.  "I will develop him over the winter for the next year and the 6-year old classes," he said. "I know what he is able to do and we will prove the people wrong next year," Frederic replied in response to the rumour that the horse is less advanced in his training. 

My Precious Fourth

Kirsten Brouwer, one of Holland's most successful young horse riders, landed fourth place with My Precious (by Ferguson x Vivaldi). Aside from this achievement, the most impressive feat was achieved by the mare's breeder, Indonesian Titan Wilaras, who had no less than five (!!) of his home bred horses competing at the World Championships this week: My Precious, Lightning Star, Lord Platinum, Kyton, and Nero.. all by Ferguson.

Brouwer and the beautiful liver chestnut My Precious, named after the One Ring to Rule them All from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, showed lightfooted trot work in which the hindleg was quick and engaged at all times. The walk was ground covering and rhythmical but could have had more overtrack. The canter was powerful, but both counter canters were crooked in the body.  Although she was very steady in the head-neck position, the mare showed tension in her mouth by zig-zagging her mandible. 

The judges scored the mare, who is owned by the rider with 8.8 for walk, 9.3 for trot, 8.6 for canter, 8.5 for submission and 9.2 for general impression. She totalled 8.88 points for fourth place. 

Racoon on the Rise

One of the sensations of the 2022 WCYH in Ermelo is Arjan Bekkers' Belgian warmblood bred stallion Racoon (by Hero x De Niro). The Dutch bred, but Belgian registered black stallion was presented by Dutch Franka Loos.  They were 9th in the preliminary round and finished fifth in the finals, although it could even have been a higher ranking. 

Racoon trotted with uphill tendency at all times and although there were sometimes tiny little rhythm mistakes, he was so lovely in the frame with the nose out. There could have been a bit more flexion to the right. The walk was good and in canter the hindleg always reached under the body, but in the right canter extension he lost some elasticity in the back. The left counter canter could have been a bit more collected, but overall Racoon presented himself as an international calibre dressage horse.

The judges scored him 8.5 for walk, 9 for trot, 8.6 for canter, and 9 for submission and perspective. He was fifth with 8.82 points. Peutz clearly praised the very nice, open frame in which the horse was presented with the nose out, instead of tucked or pulled behind the vertical. 

The 5-year old finals was a very strong class with many wonderful young stars for the future. The action at the World Championships concludes tomorrow with the 6 and 7-year old finals. 

Photos © Astrid Appels  - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED (NO SCREEN SHOTS!)

Eurodressage photographed all riders competing at the 2022 World YH Championships. If you are want to use our photos for social media or prints, email us first.

Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2022 World Championships Young Dressage Horses