Quality Surfaces to the Top: Quinn G Recaptures Title at 2024 World Young Horse Championships

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

The Danish bred Quinn G recaptured her title as the World Young Horse Champion at the 2024 World Championships for young dressage horses in Ermelo on 8 September 2024. Under owner Fiona Bigwood the chestnut mare enthused the judges and crowds in the concluding class of a fabulous competition.

The 2024 World Young Horse Championships were blessed with gorgeous weather and although the Bundeschampionate were held the same weekend this year after an arm-wrestling match Ermelo and Warendorf which left no winners the seats were filled with an enthousiastic crowd who wanted to watch young horse power. 

Quality Surfaces to the Top

In 2023 Quinn G (by Quaterhit x Fassbinder - breeder: Helene Geervliet) was the undisputed winner of the 5-year old division under Danish Betina Jaeger. Owner Helgstrand of course bagged another six-figure deal shortly afterwards selling this top prospect to British Fiona Bigwood.

This spring the mare was in training with Carl Hester who debuted her at the start of May in Hickstead to whopping scores of 9.84 and 9.70. The plan was struck for Charlotte Dujardin to ride her at the WCYH and at the start of July she took her to the Team GB qualifier in Hartpury where they scored 9.68. However, due to Dujardin's suspension there was only one option left, for Fiona to ride the mare herself. Based on a video submission, the Danes automatically said yes to the titleist and it led to Rio Olympian Bigwood making her WCYH debut in Ermelo.

Bigwood looked a little like a fish out of water, never having competed a young horse at such a big stage although she has produced several youngsters to Grand Prix level at home in her career. She was coached on the scene by Andreas Helgstrand and in the preliminary round the pair placed fourth with 8.8. In the finals judges Knut Danzberg, Peter Storr, William Warren, and Maria Schwennesen put more emphasis on the quality of the horse than technicalities or seamless presentation. Quinn excelled in all three basic gaits and it such a powerhouse. Bigwood had very restless hands and in the canter the self-carriage should have been more developed for the horse's age, but there was no denying that Quinn G was the best of the pack qualitywise and to the rider’s credit all four flying changes worked out well.

British judge Peter Storr, in his public commentary, said that Quinn G has "such an amazing attitude: forward, happy, relaxed. She has a lovely balance in trot, she is elastic and energetic. In walk she has super ground cover and is super easy in the collection. The rhythm stayed clear. The canter could have a little more collection to keep the balance."

They rewarded the ride with 10 for walk and trot, 9 for canter and submission and 9.5 for general impression. She totalled 9.5 points for the victory. The crowd erupted in roars as the Helgstrand claqueurs led the way for the cheering.

Bigwood was rightfully thrilled with the ride and title.  “I'm so lucky I have such a talented horse. I just sit there and pilot here. Her focus on me is incredible. I have never done this before.  I called Carl (Hester) this morning and he said, 'just go and bring a medal home.' It's so different from the Grand Prix. You have to show the paces. I knew I had to present her well and get the marks," Fiona admitted. "It is a completely different way of riding compared to a ‘regular’ dressage test, but we gave it our all and it all worked out.”

Fiona continued to praise her mare. “Her nature, her character, she loves humans, she's gorgeous in the stable. She has the best personality you can want in a horse.  You can take her hacking. She is desperate to try and just wants to please you."

Bigwood has flushed two twin embryos by Vitalis out of her this year. "She will get a month off in the field now," Fiona added at the WCYH press conference.

Silver for Alkaline

Finnish Merita Hagren and Andreas Helgstrand's Danish warmblood Alkaline (by Secret x Zalmiak Firfod - breeder: Anette Blangsted) landed the silver medal with a score of 9.2 points. 

After placing seventh in the preliminary test, Hagren and her sympathetic chestnut made a big leap on the leader board thanks to the horse's high quality gaits. The trot was bouncy and energetic, but in the half pass right the hindquarters seemed to lead and at times the horse came even above the bit. The extended walk was very nice, but there was a loss of clarity in the collected walk before the right walk turn. The canter had great uphill striding and all flying changes worked out although the changes to the right were less straight.

The judges rewarded the horse with 9 for walk and trot, 9.5 for canter, 9 for submission and 9.5 for general impression.  The judges praised Alkaline's trot for being "springy, active, supple." The walk had "super ground cover" and "nice purpose," while the canter had "a lot of airtime." For the submission they remarked that the horse needed to have "a little more self carriage."

Ermelo 2024 was Hagren's second World Championships and her first major medal in her career. She started as professional rider in the USA in 2016 and worked there for Cesar Parra through 2019, before starting a new chapter in her career by returning to Europe to join the riders' team of horse dealer Helgstrand. She was over the moon with her medal.

"I was not nervous and did not feel any pressure. I'm quite the underdog," she said at the press conference. "I felt comfortable going in there. I knew he was going to be with me in there. He had a nice day off, cuddling. It's a long week for the horses."

Hagren also qualified Alkaline for the 2023 World Championships, but couldn't make the trip as she injured herself two weeks before the kick-off date. 

"Two weeks before the show I broke my arm. I was devastated," she confessed. "I watched the WCYH from home."

Merita praised Alkaline for his character. "He is always there with me. He learns everything so quickly," she said.

A Nice Touch of Bronze

The podium truly became an international one as a Swiss rider with a Dutch horse captured the bronze medal: Charlotta Rogerson and Nice Touch W (by Dettori x Florencio - breeder: Hennie van der Werff).

The 26-year old Rogerson was the Swiss sensation in the preliminary round in which they finished third and they maintained that position in the finals.  The pocket size black mare has three very good gaits, but it was the overall presentation that made this ride stand out. Although the rider rides with flat hands instead of keeping the thumbs up, she was one of the very few who rode proper collection in the corners and on the short side, had four flying changes that did not break with the flow of the canter and had a very clear collected walk even in between the walk turns. Overall the mare was still leaning a bit on the hand and the self carriage could be more developed, but it was a very pleasant ride to watch of a very talented horse.

The judges rewarded the pair with 8.5 for walk, 8.8 for trot, and 9 for canter, submission and general impression. They totalled 8.86 for third place.  The bronze was theirs.

Rogerson was on cloud nine and could hardly believe it all came together, particularly because her mare had thrown her off in the warm-up right before the finals test. 

"This is very emotional for me," said Charlotta. "Obviously she's the best horse. I put a lot of pressure on myself to present her in the way she can.  I fell off in the warm-up and had to tell myself, 'get yourself together.' She finds it funny and easy. She is always joking around with everything. I need to be there and show her the right way."

Rogerson bought Nice Touch W in Holland off a video as a four-year old from owner Peter Wetzelaer through Roy van den Heuvel. 

"I fell in love with her but was surprised about the size when she arrived," Charlotta smiled. "She needed time to develop with her body, but her brain was right there. She can unlock any door. We taught her the flying changes over the winter. Today was the fourth competition I ever rode with her. I don't do too many shows and hopefully will have a future Grand Prix horse."

Worth Mentioning

The fourth place went to Anne-Mette Strandby Hansen and Helgstrand's Danish warmblood Valerie B (by Revolution x Zack - breeder: Peer and Karin Guldbrandsen). For the second consecutive year this pair won the preliminary test at the WCYH but ended up fourth in the finals. The disappointment was visible on Strandby's face when she left the arena.   The bright bay has an outstanding trot with particularly exceptional trot extensions. The extended walk was also very nice, but there was a loss of clarity in the collected walk and a lack of activity in the turns. The flying changes were not as smooth with the first in two phases, the second crooked,  and the third laboured. The fourth one was the best one. In canter the mare could more a bit more uphill despite plenty of bounce and airtime in the extensions.  She scored 8.8 for walk, 10 for trot, 8.5 for canter, 7.8 for submission and 8.5 for general impression. The total was 8.72 points. 

German Olympian Dorothee Schneider and Maik Kanitzky's Hanoverian stallion Segantini (by Secret x Fidermark - breeder: Chfristine Feichtinger) completed the top five with 8.52 points in total. The dark bay stallion was screaming throughout the test, but Schneider kept him soft and supple, properly riding corners, properly bending and flexing her horse the way it should be. The walk was tense and he almost jogged and became slow in the walk turns. The flying changes were all good. The final canter extension and a super closed, square halt at the end wrapped up a lovely performance on a horse that was not fully focused today. He scored 7.8 for walk (?), 8.3 for trot, 9 for canter, 9.0 for submission (?), and 8.5 for perspective. 

Back to Verden

The World Championships for young dressage horses will move back to Verden in 2025 for a three-year cycle, much to the regret of the spectators who have come to love Ermelo as the home for young horses. 

"With sadness we say goodbye to the WCYH," said Hidde Frankena, chair of the organizers' committee. "We try to develop it into a dressage-only event with space. We hope to get it back in three years time. This year there were more than 200 horses from 29 countries and 20,000 visitors. This year we were extremely lucky with the weather."

When asked if Ermelo will try to get the WCYH back through the FEI, Hidde replied, "we will place a bid. Also for the Dutch riders this is a great opportunity. We have five different arenas to make it good for the horses, to make it quiet and private."

The Bundeschampionate coincided with Ermelo this year. Eurodressage asked if this was felt in the ticket sales. 

"No not really," Hidde replied. "We didn't feel it in the ticket sales. You don't know how many competitors the FEI is bringing to the table, so this year we made five days. It's an extra cost for the organization.  We used the comparison with 2022 WCYH (ticket sales) as the show was then held on the same dates in September and we were 2% in line with them."

Eurodressage further questioned why the judges panel did not spot a major technical error in the last rider's test - Stefan Wolff forgot to ride the extended canter on the right half circle - but no bell was rung and this was not addressed in the submission part of his assessment. 

Judge Knut Danzberg replied, "the rider has the benefit of the doubt. We didn't see it. For sure it's sad for the others." Going off course means a 0.2 points subtraction from the total score and it could have affected the ranking and placing of the other riders. Fortunately in this case it would have not changed with Wolff's 7th place. He got 8.26 points. If 0.2 would have been subtracted, he would still have placed seventh.

- Text and Photos © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  

Eurodressage is taking photos of (pretty much) all competitors in Ermelo. No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

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