Bundeschampionate Finalist Rock'n Roll Boy Passed Away

Dressage

Germany

Rock 'n Roll Boy, the horse which Portuguese Nuno Palma e Santos rode at the 2020 Bundeschampionate, has passed away. The bay was know by two different show names: Rock Amaro and Rock 'n Roll Boy.

He was a rising 11-year old Wesfalian by Rock Forever out of Seraphina (by Sir Donnerhall x Wachhorst x Carprilli) and bred by Katharina Hadeler.

Rock Amaro

The bay first came into the spotlight at the 2013 Westfalian Elite Foal Auction, where he sold for 20,000 euro.

He was presented and accepted at the 2015 Westfalian Stallion Licensing in Munster-Handorf.

He never did his stallion performance test and has no offspring registered with the German equestrian federation.

Rock'n Roll Boy

Instead of breeding, a career in sport was chosen for the Westfalian whose sport name became Rock'n Roll Boy. Owner Barbara Welding moved him to Hamburg to be trained and competed by Nuno Palma e Santos.

The pair made its show debut in 2018 when the horse was five and tried for the German team for the 2018 World Young Horse Championships.

In 2019 he competed on the Bundeschampionate circuit and qualified for the Finals in Warendorf, where he was a group winner in the preliminary test and finished 6th in the 6-year old dressage horse finals.

In 2020 Nuno and the 7-year old Rock'n Roll Boy made the transition to S-level and was entered for the German team for the 2020 World Young Horse Championships. They competed in the Nurnberger Burgpokal qualifier at Hof Bettenrode, Kronberg, Herbergen and Schenefeld.

In 2021 the pair moved up to Intermediaire II level, but then a 1.5-year break from competition followed. They returned to the arena in Pinneberg and a month later again in Schenefeld at Grand Prix level, but those were the horse's last shows.

Untimely Passing

Rock 'n Roll Boy sadly has passed away.

"Unfortunately he had an accident a while ago," Antonia Palma e Santos told Eurodressage. "We tried everything to keep him alive, but it was not a option. For the wellbeing of the horse we made this decision. He was fantastic. A big mover and beautiful."