Polish Team Horse FairPlay Sold to Germany

Dressage

Poland

Beata Stremler's Polish Grand Prix team horse FairPlay has been sold to Germany, which will rule Stremler out for Polish Olympic team selection in 2024 with this horse.

FairPlay is an 11-year old Rhinelander gelding by Feedback out of Camilla R (by Rubin Royal x Davignon). He is bred by Ursula Engelbrecht.

Beata Stremler

Owned by Stefan and Fiona Heister since he was a foal, the dark bay gelding was trained from young horse level to Grand Prix by the German based Polish rider Beata Stremler.

She made her show debut on him when he was 4 in 2017. Two years later the rode him at M-level in 2019 at local shows in Rhineland and by September 2020 did his first Prix St Georges level test. They hit medium tour level in 2022 and broke through at Grand Prix level in 2023.

Their international show debut was at the 2023 CDI Hagen in April, where they posted 69.304% in the Grand Prix and from there went to Mannheim where they secured a spot on the Polish team for the 2023 European Dressage Championships in Riesenbeck. They finished 41st in the Grand Prix with 69.643%

Sold to Germany

Stremler will not be pursuing a Polish Olympic team spot this year as the owners decided to sell FairPlay.

"This ex owners have always told me that their dream is to get to Grand Prix with their own horse one day but also that they will have to sell at some point," Stremler told Eurodressage. "So it was not a surprise for me and I totally understand that because I know how expensive this sport is and I also try to fight my way through it without having a big sponsor in my back."

Beata continued, "Fiona and Stefan Heister bought FairPlay as a foal and I started riding him by the end of 3-year old, so it’s really pretty amazing that their dream came true like that. After Europeans they said that we can start thinking of selling him but with no pressure and only in good new home and than the first person who came to try him was directly the perfect match."

FairPlay has been sold to German Grand Prix rider Natalie Stickling-Morzynski, who also after the 2022 World Championships bought the Polish team horse Dean Martin.

"I have the best experiences with Polish horses," Stickling smiled. "With my Dino (Dean Martin) I was able to have my first Grand Prix year after my 12-year break and after a few competitions we were able to win with 71%. I fell in love with Fipi (Fairplay) when I saw him the first time, because I saw Dino in him."

Stremler will continue with her young Grand Prix horses For Magic and her 2023 Louisdor Finals winner Furstin Bea.

"We take it step by step with her (Furstin Bea) with no pressure for Paris," said Beata. "We are ambitious but the horse will tell us if she’s ready to take a try to qualify or if we wait a bit longer for the challenge of international championships."