Daniel Bachmann Loses Ride on Olympic Horse Vayron, Allocated to German Team Rider

Dressage

Germany

Vayron, the Westfalian stallion which Danish Daniel Bachmann Andersen rode to Olympic team silver in Paris, has left the rider's stable in Denmark. The ride got allocated to a German team member.

Vayron is a 13-year old stallion by Vitalis out of Gloria (by Gloster x Ramino x Perser xx). He is bred by Heinrich Sterthoff.

Rudolf Spiekermann

Owned by Rudolf Spiekermann since he was a foal, the 192 cm tall bay made his show debut as a 5-year old in 2016 under Stefany Serowy.

He was also briefly with Uwe Schwanz and also stayed at horse dealing yard Hof Kasselmann before finding a more permanent home with Helen Langehanenberg.

Langehaneberg premiered him in November 2018 in Ankum at M-level and rode him in the national Nurnberger Burgpokal tour in 2019. They finished sixth in the finals in Frankfurt. The pair premiered internationally in the small tour at the CDI Exloo in June 2019 and won both the Prix St Georges and Intermediaire I. They contested the small tour at the CDIO Aachen and won the one at the CDI-W Neumunster in February 2020 right before the corona outbreak.

In the summer of 2020 he moved up to Intermediaire II level and in 2021 he was shown thrice nationally: in Hagen, Balve, and Ankum.

To Denmark

In July 2022 Vayron moved to Denmark where he would continue his sport career under team rider Daniel Bachmann Andersen. The taller Bachmann would fit the gigantic stallion more than petite Helen.

The pair debuted at the 2022 CDI Randbøl to a 69.174% Grand Prix score. In 2023 he became Daniel's number one in the barn and they qualified on the Danish team for the European Championships in Riesenbeck, where they won team bronze and finished 17th in the Kur to Music.

In June 2023 the Westfalian breeding society approved Vayron based on his sport results.

With Daniel at the 2023 European Championship

In 2024 the pair proved consistency and after clinching big scores at the CDIO Compiegne (76.152% in the Grand Prix and 75.915% in the Special) and in Rotterdam, they secured a spot on the Danish team for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where they won team silver and placed 7th in the Kur to Music Finals.

Bachmann confirmed to Eurodressage that his agreement with Spiekermann was until the 2024 Olympics after which the horse would be sold. A month ago rumours were rife that Vayron sold to the U.S.A. but in the end, a sale did not take place.

Back to Germany

On Monday 21 October 2024 Bachmann announced on social media that Vayron was picked up by his owners. Two days earlier the pair had placed second in the World Cup qualifier in Herning.

"This morning Vayron has left our stable, unfortunately," Daniel said in a vlog. "He’s been picked up by his owners to go to their home. And I’m, of course, very sad, but I also want to remember all the fantastic results we’ve had."

Bachmann also added, "he’s developed to become one of the best horses in the world and right now it’s very hard. I hope he will have a great time and that they will take good care of him."

German magazine St. Georg spoke to Spiekermann who stated, "the Olympics was the goal, that’s hard to top. Denmark is already a long way away and we only saw our horse two or three times a year. We hardly had any connection with our horse any more. That’s why we brought him home.”

On Thursday 24 October 2024 Kim Kreling broke the news that it is Ingrid Klimke who has received the ride on Vayron.

Sandra Spiekermann told Kreling, "we very much like Ingrid's riding style and she only lives 45 minutes from us."