Niina Nilosaari's Quentano, Finnish Olympic Team Hopeful for Henri Ruoste

Dressage

Finland

Finnish Niina Nilosaari has reached an agreement with fellow country mate Henri Ruoste to hand him the ride on her number one Grand Prix horse Quentano. Ruoste now has several horses to campaign towards Paris in 2024.

Quentano is a 15-year old Hanoverian gelding by Quaterback out of Dancing Lady (by Dartagnan). He is bred by Wilfried and Udo Eichler.

German Start

Quentano first came to prominence owned by German Isabelle Bergmann. He was nicknamed "Quatsch" at the time. Under Madita Zurheide he had his international show debut at a 6-year old in the young horse classes at the 2015 CDI Perl.

Niina Nilosaari

In 2018 Quentano sold through Hof Kasselmann to the British based Finnish Niina Nilosaari, who developed the horse to Grand Prix with her then-coach British Olympian Emile Faurie in the U.K.

Faurie put the first Grand Prix miles on the bay and competed him at a select few CDI's in 2019 and 2020, achieving 70.340% at the 2020 CDI Lier and 72.935% at the 2020 CDI Keysoe.

In the spring of 2021 Niina moved Quentano to former Finnish team trainer Rien van der Schaft in The Netherlands. The new collaboration convinced Van der Schaft to put his tails back on and show Quentano in a national show in Tolbert that year. Rien's last competition start, at least internationally, dated back to November 2008.

In April 2022 Nilosaari moved the bay in training with Spaniard Manuel Dominguez in Germany. He premiered the horse at the CDI Troisdorf in October 2022 and scored 70.935% in the Grand Prix.

Two months later Nilosaari rode Quentano in their first international Grand Prix together at the CDI Kronenberg indoor. In 2023 she showed him at two CDI's: in Mariakalnok and Jardy.

Three for Henri Ruoste

Niina and Quentano at the 2022 CDI Kronenberg Indoor

Since then Quentano was put in training with German based Finnish ride Henri Ruoste who has been schooling him at home.

Shortly before the FEI Ownership Deadline of 15 January 2024 Ruoste and Nilosaari reached an agreement. The horse's FEI passport was changed to Henri's name. Finland only recently saw itself confirmed with a team for Paris as South Africa failed to field on.

Ruoste now has several horses as potentials for Finnish Olympic team selection: his own Campari, which he qualified on the Finnish team for the 2023 European Championships but withdrew due to fitness issues, Quentano, and a younger rising GP horse he hasn't shown yet, Victoria Marie Schonhofen's 11-year old Danish warmblood Tiffanys Diamond (by Tailormade Temptation x His Highness), which Fie Skarsoe competed at the 2019 World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo.