Lisonjero de Vida, Olvido CAD, Derroche de Indalo Claim ANCCE Cup at Buzzing 2024 SICAB

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2024 SICAB

The 4-year old Lisonjero de Vida, the 5-year old Olvido CAD, and the 6-year old Derroche de Indalo became the winners of the ANCCE Cup finals at 2024 SICAB in Seville, Spain, on 20 - 21 November 2024.

FIBES is Buzzing

SICAB is a staple in the world of lovers of PRE horses. The annual World PRE Championships are a celebration of breeding, sport, and equestrianism.

From Tuesday morning till Sunday night FIBES, the Conference and Exhibition Centre in Seville just 10 minutes from the airport is buzzing with participants, spectators, stand holders and crowds who soak up the beauty, athleticism and versatility of the PRE horse.

The young horse classes for the ANCCE Cup kick off the action in Pavillion 3 where dressage takes centre stage throughout the week. The Spanish riders are known for their friendliness, smiles and magnetism on the crowds, but straight away one can sense that a serious competition is at hand, which for PRE breeders and owners could mean getting written in the history books.

In the evenings, Pavillon 3 hosts the daily "Spectacular," an exhibition show with PRE horses featuring all branches of equestrianism.The indoor arena gets filled to the roof with locals and visitors who are presented with the beauty and adaptability of horses to man's whims and wishes in celebrating of the bond between human and horse.

ANCCE Cup

The ANCCE Cup for Dressage is a special show circuit exclusively for PRE horses across the levels: from young horses, through the youth classes, up to Grand Prix. It was created in 1998 to help promote the breed in the lead-up to the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez.

For dressage combinations can obtain ranking points by competing at designated national dressage competitions in Spain and CDI's across the world. The 15 highest ranked combinations (4, 5, 6-YO) at the end of the season get invited to the finals. Wild cards are extended to horses that competed for Spain at the World Young Horse Championships, European and World Championships, or Olympic Games.

The winner of the ANCCE Cup final for young horses is determined by adding up the scores achieved in the preliminary and finals test at SICAB.

The increasing popularity of the ANCCE Cup is proven by the fact that no less than 110 qualifiers were held this year. A total of 108 horses from 83 stud farms qualified for the Finals in Seville, which were judged by international judges Mariano Santos (ESP), Maribel Alonso (MEX), Carlos Lopes (POR), and national judgs Teresa Fontán, Pauline Dekker-Creemers, David Merida Martín,Juan Heredia Diaz Del Riguero, and Teresa Alonso-Miñon Agut.

A Pot Pourri of Horses, but the Quality Increases

Just like in 2023 Eurodressage travelled to SICAB to cover the young horse classes and evaluate the state of the sport. This year's conclusion was that a lot of quality was to be found in the 4-year old division even though PRE horses require more time to find their balance and self carriage compared to warmbloods.

Mixed Bowl of Types

As the PRE breeding society is a closed studbook, stallion do not need to be "licensed" in order to breed. Anyone with a pure-bred PRE stallion can use it him on his mares. This leads to a very inconsistent picture in the models and types of PRE horses seen in the dressage arena: very chunky stallions one knows from the bullfighting rings, to long backed horses, to super compact ones, from pony types to tall and impressive PRE's, from template looking PRE's to horses that could easily have been another breed. It's a pot pourri bowl of horses, which are all loved by their owners and riders.

Only 2 mares out of 45 participating horses, but
Turquesa FS had the best walk of all and won silver!

With so many stallions allowed to breed, there are few trends to be noted in the pedigrees or sires that stand out. In two groups there was three stallions with two offsprings in the Finals. For the 4-year olds that were Pampero FS and Poeta de Susaeta, and for the 5-year olds that was Jinete IX. For the 6-year olds the offspring of Timbal YET stood out as he had sired no less than three sons out of 15 competing horses.

Girl Power?

With mare power clearly having taken over the highest levels of competition sport as mares Dalera BB, Wendy de Fontaine, and Mount St. John Freestyle dominated the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, in Spain the value, potential and talent of mares in sport seems under appreciated. There were hardly any mares in the groups of finalists for the ANCCE cup. Out of 15 participating horses in each age class there was one 4-year old, zero in the 5-year old category, one 6-year old, (and two 7-year olds). This is a greatly missed opportunity of the Spaniards to not give as more attention to their mares.

2024 ANCCE Cup Young Horse Winners

4-YO: Lisonjero de Vida

The 4-year old division opened the competition on Tuesday morning 19 November with the preliminary test, when people were still arriving, setting up the arenas, etc, so there was a lot of ruckus around arena which distracted some youngster. Clear progress and relaxation was to be seen in the finals test the next day.

The winner of the ANCCE Cup for 4-year olds was Lisonjero de Vida (by Atlantico de Vida x Oficial LI) ridden by Diego Gonzalez Lopez. The beautiful bay is bred by Villanueva Dacasa and stood out with his model and gaits. The stallion was very noise sensitive but let his rider pilot him through the test. He showed a quick hindleg that moved under the body, but went wide behind in the lengthenings as so many of the short-backed PRE's do. Lisonjero kept a good rhythm on the circles. In walk he lost the clarity at times as he did not fully relax in the back, but he achieved easy overtrack. In canter the stallion showed uphill striding but needed to swing more in the back. He scored 7.7 for walk and trot, 7.9 for czanter and submission and 7.8 for general impression in the finals test. He took to the Cup with 80.00 points in the first round and 78.00 in the second round. The 4-year old Lisonjero had a very busy week ahead of him as he also competed in the morphology classes (breed show) and needed to do the functionality test for stallions.

The silver medal went to Alba Abollo Fontela aboard the mare (!!) Turquesa FS (by Pampero FS x Vetusto JV I). The bay mare with very short neck and ponyesque appearance was consistently presented by Abollo who kept a quiet and soft contact with the bit. The trot showed a good, understepping hind leg, but in the halts the mare would stretch the hindlegs out each time. The walk was the highlight. This mare for sure had the best walk of all PRE's seen in the young horse classes and could easily have outclassed many warmbloods at the WCYH. So it was a surprise that judges gave that walk the rather conservative mark of 8.3 in the finals (8.8 in the preliminary test). In canter Turquesa FS hurried a bit but the stride itself has enough quality for the future. In the finals test she scored 8.3 for walk, 7.6 for trot, 7.4 for canter and 7.7 for submission and general impression. With 77.200 and 77.4 she placed second overall.

The bronze went to Francisco Gil Ortiz aboard Utopia KP (by Israel X x Napoleon Candau). This sporty looking stallion is a big mover, but goes crooked on the diagonals and is stiffer on the right rein. His walk had a clear rhythm with a good V-moment and in canter he had a nice, active 3-beat stride. It was interesting to see the rider with such long stirrups and his lower legs moving too much forward and the heels going up. Gil also presented Uganda KP (by Poeta de Susaeta x Airoso XXVI) in this class and on this horse he sat more correctly with a lovely soft hand and the nose in front of the vertical. Utopia KP got 7.8 for walk, 7.5 for trot, 7.9 for canter, 7.4 for submission and 7.6 for general impression. With 76.600 in the preliminary test and 76.40 in the finals test he placed third overall.

The 4-year old class had plenty of interesting horse with Valor Nadales (by Zalamero MG II x Grandioso de Nadales) under Gema Nadales Ruiz catching my eye. The horse had a very good trot and canter and in walk he could march more over the back. Pity that the rider was leaning so far back in the saddle in the canter work and did not maintain a straight posture. Valor Nadales will be one to watch for the future. Also C Jerte (by Poeta de Susaeta x Carbonero V) showed much promise with three good basic gaits, but lacking elasticity and flexion in the corners.

5-YO: Olvido CAD

Last year's 4-year old ANCCE Cup winner, Olvido CAD (by Jinete IX out of Navaridas (by Oficial XXIX)) topped the ranking again this year in the 5-year old division. The 5-year old division featured three horses that competed at the 2024 World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo last summer and the fact that they were in the WCYH development programme showed as those combinations showed much more polish in their test, with precision riding and more consistency in the rhythm and tempo of their horses. They were not necessarily the better horses, but the training was far superior on them. Raul Arcos Soguero and Yeguada Mendoza Cadema's Olvido CAD showed elegant, light footed trot work and true medium trots (not hurried extended trots). The horse could have been a bit more in front of the leg. I the extended walk the bay achieved okay overtrack but was a bit restless with his head. The canter work was well ridden even though Olvido does not have the greatest scope in his stride. The counter canter was good and the horse nicely stretched into the contact when given the rein in trot. The judges rewarded his finals test with 7.4 for walk, 8.5 for trot, 8.2 for canter, 7.9 for submission and 8.2 for general impression. He scored 79.2 in the preliminary round and 79.90 in the finals to win the ANCCE Cup.

The runner-up was WCYH pair Alfonso Ramirez Benitez and Quincallero Ancla (by Trovador IX x Guaro V). The trot was nice but at times hurried. He properly lengthened his stride in the extensions. The rhythm got edge right after the transition to walk, but on the diagonal Quincallero he really marched and had plenty of overstep. In the simple changes he ambled though. The canter had a good 3-beat rhythm but in the extensions he lost the uphill tendency. Quincallero is a nice PR but the rider needs to diligently manage the clarity of the rhythm both in walk and canter. He scored 7.7 for walk and canter, 7.5 for trot and submission and 7.6 for general impression. With 77.20 and 76.00 he placed second overall.

The bronze went to Alfonso Gormaz Torcal aboard Urano CA (by Vagabundo XII out of Jota XII (by Campeon IX). This grey, cutesey stallion with short neck is bred by the Murcia based Yeguada Bejand owned by Ecuadorean stud Ecuayud. The noseband was too tight as the horse was flaring its nostrils to breed but aside from that the horse was very obedient. He got a bit quick in the trot and could achieve more ground cover in walk, but the canter was nice with good uphill striding, also in the counter canter. Urano CA scored 7.6 for walk and trot, 8.0 for canter and submission and 7.7 for general impression. He placed third overall with 74.40 and 77.80 points in the two rounds.

Strikingly absent from this year's 5-year old final was last year's winner, Alba Abollo Fontela on Rociero FS (by Kabileno MG III out of Triana FS (by Centello V)).

6-YO: Derroche de Indalo

Former Spanish team rider Alejandro Sanchez del Barco won the ANCCE Cup in the 6-year old division with Derroche de Indalo, the silver place-getter in 2023. Derroche is by Timbal YET out of Romera YET (by Kendo) and is bred by Yeguada Torrehermosa. He was originally named Derroche YET but after selling to Yeguada Indalo he received the Indalo suffix. Sanchez and Indalo went to the WCYH in Ermelo but recently dropped a bombshell when they announced their split in October. The rider seemingly retained the ride on this grey stallion, although it is said he is no longer owned by Indalo. The real owner did not step forward. Derroche looked a bit tired in the finals test and required some motivating from his rider. In the transitions downward he clearly lost the impulsion. The trot was elegant and expressive but in the lengthenings the horse fell on the forehand despite his hindlegs motoring. The walk pirouettes were well ridden. In canter the horse relied on his rider for balance, but the stallion showed four very solid flying changes. He received 8 for walk, 8.1 for trot, 7.9 for canter, 7.8 for submission and 8 for general impression. With 80.0 in the preliminary round and 79.60 in the finals round, the pair became the overall winners.

The silver medal went to Juan Manuel Galeano Cerezo aboard Domingo de Centurion (by Poeta de Susaeta x Oceano CEN). This WCYH pair won the preliminary round with 81.00 points and in the finals got 78.40 points to place second overall. His rider appeared a bit nervous in the Finals as he did not prepare and execute the halt at entry, nor the final halt, but rushed through it. Domingo is a heavier type stallion and lost the rhythm in the second medium trot. In the extended walk the horse had good overstep and rhythm. The canter work was rather short, but the flying changes all worked. Domingo got 8.0 for walk, 7.7 for trot, 7.8 for canter and submission and 7.9 for general impression.

Juan Manuel Galeano on Domingo de Centurion

The bronze was for Andalucia based British rider Joseph Robert Hunt aboard Druida de Centurion (by Fer Bago x Oceano CEN), who is bred and owned by Yeguada Centurion. This WCYH pair scored 74.400 in the preliminary test and won the finals round with 81.00 points, but overall placed third. Druida is a long-lined PRE stallion with a lot of cadence in the trot and much ground cover on straight lines. The extensions were impressive but this rider also puts the lower leg quite forward in them, losing elegance and correctness in his seat. In the canter the horse gets shorter and quicker in his stride but there is plenty of quality to work with. He scored 7.2 for walk, 9.2 for trot, 8.0 for canter, 7.7 for submission and 8.4 for general impression.

Other 6-year olds that stood out were Yulio AR (by Yulio JEM x Granizo II) with his good walk and well executed flying changes, and Holandes XVII (by Esculator C x Elegante de Nadales). This chunky chestnut showed some of the best trot extensions that weren't running and secure flying changes with a a great ability to collect, but it was a pity he underwhelmed in walk. The sporty Beni Hil (by Enceladp II x Benavente I) did not show the progress hoped for after he made an impression last year. The grey has plenty of quality in his gaits but his self carriage was not on point. He struggled in the flying changes and looked tired in the walk. Better next time.

Honorary Medal

Since 2018, the ANCCE Board of Directors awards an honorary medal to riders who have won at least five titles in the ANCCE Dressage Cup.

Right before 2024 SICAB there were eight dressage riders who became the recipient of this medal: Jose Antonio Garcia Mena (11 titles), Alberto García Briñón (8), Claudio Castilla (8), Victor Alvarez (7), Golden Angel (5), Francisco Curro Gil (5), Alejandro Sanchez del Barco (5), and Guillermo Garcia Ayala (5).

The action at SICAB continued on the weekend with the 7-year old, small tour and big tour championship.