Matchball OLD Appears with German Pony Rider

Dressage

Germany

Matchball OLD, Sönke Rothenberger's second Grand Prix horse, has appeared with a new rider on board, a German pony rider preparing for the transition to juniors.

Matchball OLD is a 13-year old by Millennium out of Wenira (by De Niro x Westminster x Zeus) . He is bred by Helga Lütje.

Stefanie Wolf

First owned by Thomas Voss, the black was first competed as a 4-year old by Christina Voss in 2016. In the late spring Andreas Voss took over the ride and by the autumn of that year it was Stefanie Wolf who piloted the horse in its first dressage horse A-level tests.

In 2017 Johann Hinnemann bought an ownership share in Matchball and his head rider Stefanie Wolf continued to train the tall black to Grand Prix level at Gestut Krüsterhof in Voerde. The pair represented Germany at the World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo, where they finished 11th in the 5-year old finals. A year later they returned to the 2018 World Championships and this time the pair was fourth.

In 2019 Wolf and Matchball did their first S-level and at the World Championships for 7-year olds, they were again fourth. In 2020 Wolf and Matchball competed on the Nurnberger Burgpokal circuit and in the finals in Kronberg they were fifth. In 2021 they competed at medium tour level, including an international start in Troisdorf where they won the Inter A and B with 73.235% and 72.243%

In 2022 and coached by Christian Wendel Steffi Wolf gradually introduced the talented gelding to Grand Prix level competition and became a boh rising hope for Germany after they won the Louisdor Cup qualifiers in Haftenkamp, Balve and Kronberg. At the finals this weekend in Frankfurt, they were fourth.

Sönke Rothenberger

In Wolf did not get her big break to make the German team with this horse because in December 2022 Matchball sold to the Rothenberger family and moved to Gestut Erlenhof in Bad Homburg. He became a second iron in the fire alongside Fendi for Rothenberger's 2024 Olympic campaign.

The new pair made its international show debut at the CDI Herning in March 2023, where they posted 71.891% in their first Grand Prix. From there they went to the CDI's in Hagen, Mannheim, Wiesbaden, Aachen, Crozet, Stuttgart and Stockholm.

In the 2024 Olympic year Matchball showed in Basel, the Aachen Festival 4 Dressage, hagen and Munich with Grand Prix scores between 71.196 and 75.195%. At the 2024 German Championships in Balve in June, Martchball was 15th in the Grand Prix and ruled out for German Olympic team consideration.

Gaining Experience

The CDI Munich in May 2024 was their last CDI together. After that rumours flurried that the black gelding would be sold.

Feldmann and Beauty W at the 2023 CDI Kronenberg Indoor

Last weekend in Darmstadt, however, Matchball appeared in public with a new rider on board: German pony rider Nora Feldmann. The pair showed up at the Hessian training camp as part of the official Preis Der Besten selection process. She was not officially on the invitation/starters list but arrived at the end, riding the junior test. Sven Rothenberger accompanied her.

Nora Feldmann is trained by Semmieke Rothenberger and based at Gestut Erlenhof. She has been competing ponies Beauty W and FS Capelli de Niro internationally.