-- by Agata Grosicka, edited by Eurodressage - Photos © Lukasz Kowalski
Last weekend 19 - 21 April 2024 the town of Gościszów located in the south-western part of Poland near the German-Polish border made its debut on the map of international dressage shows.
Polish Grand Prix riders rallied once again to score the desirable MER’s for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but the venue also offered an opportunity for many riders to test their horses and themselves in very demanding, changeable weather conditions
For many it was the first outdoor competition after almost six month indoor season.
Treffinger Books Solo U25 Victories
One of the highlights of the show was the German Under 25 combination Moritz Treffinger and Gestut Bonhomme's licensed stallion Morricone (by Millenium x Rubin Royal OLD). Despite his young age Moritz has already proven to be one of the rising international dressage stars, while the stallion Morricone can easily claim the title of the Best Stallion in the Show. The pair competed as solo pair in CDI U25 scoring 72,794% in Intermediate and 70,975% in Short GP.
"It is an amazing opportunity for me to ride a horse like him," he said. "He’s the prettiest horse on earth and to ride him it’s really just a pleasure. Of course he’s really popular and a lot of people know him so for me it’s a great thing that I have the privilege to ride him."
The 20-year old Treffinger moved to Gestut Bonhomme near Berlin last June. He is aiming for the German team for the European Under 25 Championships in St. Margarethen later this summer.
"We have the first qualifications in Manheim where I will compete Cadeau Noir (by Christ x De Niro) and Fiderdance (by Fidertanz x Don Schufro). We’ll see how it goes," said Mortiz. "I will do my best as the horses can do everything. With Morricone I would like to start the national series which is quite new and maybe next year also EU Under 25. I have five years to go in the U25. Now in spring season Morricone has to breed a lot which is his main focus and then we’ll see whatever the future will bring us."
Young Riders: Maike Springmeier Scores Hattrick
"It was a wonderful and super organized show with top conditions for the horses and the riders," Maike told Eurodressage. "But due to the weather and the cold, it was not so easy for every horse. Fortunately, Sempre Meo didn't let the weather get to him. He was always focused in training and in the competition. He gave me a great feeling, which I am very proud of."
Springmeier trains with Austrian Manuel Springhetti and Italian Philipp Paradiso. She debuted Sempre Meo internationally at the CDI Waregem in September 2023 and has been to Leeuwarden and Wroclaw since. With the scores achieved in Gosciszow, Maike moved up the 20th place on the FEI World Young Riders Ranking.
Maike has been partnered with Sempre Meo, aka Sam, since July 2019 after buying him from Paradiso. "I have been training with him ever since. We make a really good team and have a lot of fun together," she said. When asked about her plans for the near future Maike replied, "the most important thing for me is that he stays healthy and enjoys his work. But of course, I would love to experience some more nice international shows with him this year."
Children: Strzeszewska On Top
"Mombassa is the young one which still needs to get experience and that’s why I’ve decided to ride him in the Sunday final," said Liwia who has been training with Joanna Tragarz since 2022. With the 17-year old Polish bred Harley Zof (by Chester x Hippies) she won the team test. He was her ride at the 2023 European Children Championship in Kronberg.
“We wanted to give Liwia a chance and a choice because a rider feels much more secure riding two horses in the test," said coach Tragarz. "To see what may happen when at the very important competition Liwia’s left with Mombassa alone and doesn’t have the experienced Harley to help her go through the show. And we were successful. Here the conditions have been challenging – for the first time in the season competing in the open air with wind and very low temperatures playing tricks. Despite that both our horses performed really well."
Liwia is aiming to ride at this year's Europeans in Opglabbeek (BEL) and is heading to the CDI's in Olomouc and Sopot next.
A New CDI In Poland
The CDI Gościszów is a brand new international on the calendar. Dawid Szelechowicz is the owner of the venue and co-organizer of the CDI alongside the experienced Lewada Equestrian Club). He admitted that he hosted the show for his daughters.
“Both of my daughters Patrycja and Klaudia are dressage riders and I do it all for them," he said with a smile. "I am very pleased with the show and our center because we did everything here ourselves. I like manual work and I can say clearly that every piece of soil went through my hands. I am very satisfied with that. Up there on the terraces, where we have warm-up arenas the ground is made of 10 different layers of sand, ground and eco-fibres. The place has both great conditions and very convenient location close to German and Czech border."
“The fact that the Polish dressage team has qualified to Olympics gives a great opportunity to promote that sport locally, especially among young riders," said Christensen. "For about 15 years we have had these ECCO cups in Denmark which sponsor the Danish youth sections. Every year we have three preliminary competitions with as many as 15 top riders qualifying for the final which is very attractive both for young people and for the riding clubs to organize shows as they also get huge support from the sponsors. It has made a big difference in Denmark for the development of the sport. Now normally in pony competitions we have 40 riders and 30-35 in Junior class. And we’ve also improved the U25 division and raised from 10-15 to 25 riders in this class. We have been very successful with that system. Some of our top riders like Nana or Daniel come from that system.”
The first edition of the CDI has whetted the appetite of show host Szelechowicz for more.
"We are planning to organize another CDI next spring sometime in May and hopefully the weather will be on our side," said Dawid. "We are a new stable on the map and we’re still getting experience but without such shows we’ll never be able to learn and grow.”
-- by Agata Grosicka, edited by Eurodressage - Photos © Lukasz Kowalski
Related Links
Scores: 2024 CDI Gosciszow