1974 World Championships in Copenhagen: The Most Picturesque World Championships

History

World Championships Dressage - A Look Back in History

When Dr. Reiner Klimke travelled to the 1974 World Championships in Denmark he was the current European champion and it seemed a logical progression on paper to take the world title a year later. Despite the undeniable qualities which his systematic training approach had brought out of his Hanoverian Mehmed and which resulted in considerable success, Klimke still had to face criticism beforehand. The brown gelding wasn’t what people expected regarding quality and expression of a dressage star.

Copenhagen was the perfect stage to prove them thoroughly wrong.

When Art Meets Art

The third official dressage World Championships took place from 14 - 18 August 1974 in the Danish capital Copenhagen and like at the Olympics two years previously in Munich the world dressage elite competed in front of a breathtaking background. While it was the Rococo castle of Nymphenburg in 1972, two years later the unique Christiansborg castle served as backdrop. This impressive castle with its huge courtyard is located in the middle of Copenhagen and still houses all three powers of its country.

The stunning setting certainly arranged that Copenhagen 1974 became the most picturesque dressage World championships to this very day and created a very special atmosphere which happens when art meets art.

The number of participants in the Grand Prix, which decided the team medals and the allowance to ride for the individual medals, was 32. Eight nations sent teams of three riders, 7 of them from Europe which was still the very heart of the sport. Although both North American countries had sent teams to Munich two years earlier, only the USA did so to Copenhagen. Canada only had Christilot Hanson-Boylen as an individual in the field. And the 1972 bronze team medal winner - Sweden - just sent Ulla Hakanson as individual to Copenhagen.

Germany, the Soviet Union, Switzerland and Austria did not only send their three-team riders, but also an additional individual rider. The sport was growing, but still a far cry from today’s global size.

Grand Prix / Team Competition

After the Soviet Union had surprisingly dispossessed Olympic team gold from the Germans on their home soil in Munich and caused a major disappointment for the hosts, the coveted medal was already won back at the Europeans a year later.

Young Swiss Christine Stückelberger was the
surprise of Copenhagen with the gigantic
Holsteiner Granat. They came 2nd in the Grand Prix
and placed 5th individually, taking team bronze
for Switzerland.

In Copenhagen the Soviet Union was the title defender from Aachen 1970 and they sent exactly the same team like back then, while Germany only had Liselott Linsenhoff’s experienced Swedish stallion Piaff (by Gaspari-Russi) from 1970 on their team.

It was pretty much expected that these two nations would ride for the team title, while the Swiss seemed able to capture bronze after they did that a year earlier at the Europeans.

While Mehmed’s critics fell silent when he won the Grand Prix convincingly, the young Swiss Christine Stückelberger’s massive Holsteiner gelding Granat (by Consul) was the surprise of the day when he came 2nd ahead of the multi medalists Piaff and Pepel.
With this ride on the just 9-year-old Stückelberger secured her team’s bronze medal. Germany’s gold was never in danger though with Liselott Linsenhoff’s Piaff great on form and 3rd behind Granat and Karin Schlüter’s Hanoverian Liostro (by Der Löwe xx) 6th.

The Soviet Union’s silver was likewise not threatened by the Swiss behind them, but their glorious three of the past years could not shine as much anymore. 18-year-old Russian Trakehner stallion Pepel (by Piligrim) with Dr. Elena Petushkova, double world champion of 1970, placed 5th, the thoroughbred Tarif xx (by Faktotum xx) with Iwan Kalita 9th and 1968 Olympic champion Ikhor with Iwan Kizimov 11th. The brown gelding (by Khobot) had been a mainstay on medal winning Soviet teams for over a decade in Copenhagen, having first competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as a just six-year-old.

Bronze medalist Switzerland had the oldest horse in the field, 19-year-old Polish bred Sod (by Machandel) with the amateur rider Hermann Dür, owner of a mill near Berne.

Ride-Off / Individual Competition

Whoever thought the attractively contrasting pair of petite Christine Stückelberger and giant Granat would stand a chance and catch a coup of surprise were proven wrong on the last day of the championships.

Mehmed was always in exemplary in his frame.

Dr. Reiner Klimke masterfully piloted Mehmed (by Ferdinand x Altried) through all the difficulties of the program, demonstrating the horse’s high degree of submission and stressing the 13-year-old’s highlights. Klimke’s first world champion title (of two) was overwhelming and proved the mastership of the then 38-year-old attorney, who trained a horse that wasn’t considered a natural to become the best dressage horse in the world. Liselott Linsenhoff’s then 16-year-old Swedish chestnut stallion Piaff, Olympic team champion 1968 and individual Olympic gold medalist 1972, executed his ride with a lot of impulsion and expression. A second individual silver medal after 1970 was the reward for the most famous and successful offspring of the legendary Gaspari. Piaff retired on a high note afterwards.

The horse’s long-time rival Pepel managed to win individual bronze for Elena Petushkova, no doubt a feat at 18 years of age and after a long international career. However, placings differed from 2nd to 7th and the Soviet Union’s sympathetic pair were just one single point ahead of the 4th place.

Harry Boldt was Germany’s individual rider and
placed 4th on the Westfalian gelding Golo who was
a late starter in dressage and not blessed with the
best conformation. They only lost bronze to Petushkova
by one single point.

That crucial single point separated German individual rider Harry Boldt from a medal, just like 10 years earlier when he lost the Olympic individual gold by this margin to Swiss Henri Chammartin. Boldt could still be content as his Westfalian gelding Golo (by Grünschnabel), not blessed with the best conformation and a late starter in dressage, outclassed German team horse Liostro.

Christine Stückelberger, who would become legendary for being cool as a cucumber at big occasions, succumbed to her nerves and warmed Granat up too long which in the end cost her a medal. Shortly after Copenhagen the pair started a reign with wins at Aachen which lasted until the Europeans in 1979!

The Breeding Part At Copenhagen

While the breeding of dressage horses was far from today’s movements and refinement, the 1970s were still the beginning of a specialized breeding with the aim to produce dressage horses of nobility and with outstanding gaits. Breeding stallions that combined a breeding career with competing at international level were still an exception (Piaff’s father Gaspari was a trailblazer in that regards) and thoroughbreds were used to refine the warmbloods.

Purebred thoroughbreds were still a common picture at the international level. In Copenhagen four took part: The Soviet bred geldings Tarif xx (*1962, by Faktotum xx) and Torpedist xx (by Agonavt), the French bred former steeplechaser Cramique xx (*1959, by Lavandin xx) and the English thoroughbred Chigwell xx (by Dumbarnie xx). The first three managed to place in the top ten in the Grand Prix.

The Hanoverian gelding Dahlwitz (by Impuls x
Duellant) with US American Edith Master
competed on championships teams from 1972
to 1978. The pair was trained by German
H. Lammers.

The Hanoverian breeding association celebrated the World champions Mehmed (by jumping sire Ferdinand) and Liostro (by one of the top dressage horse sires at that time, the thoroughbred Der Löwe xx). Eight of 32 horses belonged to their breeding. Among them the 10-year-old Dahlwitz, named after Willi Schultheis’ Berlin home. The gelding, who was trained by Schultheis and later Heinz Lammers, was competed by US American Edith Master. The prickly haired chestnut was by the Trakehner Impuls out of the legendary Hanoverian mare Doublette (by Duellant), Rosemarie Springer’s 1960 Olympic horse and multiple international winner with Schultheis. Another Hanoverian who came from Schultheis was the 12th placed chestnut Armagnac (by Aumund) with Canadian individual Christliot Hanson-Boylen.

The Holstein breeding association had three representatives: Granat, the 15-year-old mare Ludmilla of young US American Elizabeth Lewis, and the grey Marquis (by Manometer xx) of Austrian Ines von Badewitz.

Traditionally at that time Sweden was one of the leading dressage breeding associations, but in Copenhagen only Piaff (by Gaspari) and Ulla Hakanson’s former jumping champion Ajax (by Jovial) started.

Switzerland’s contingent consisted of two Polish bred horses: The already mentioned Sod and the chestnut gelding Roch (by Aczinariusz) of Doris Ramseier. Their youngster back then, Regula Pfrunder (now Straumann), competed on Christine Stückelberger’s first international horse, the Irish bred Merry Boy.

The three French riders all sat on French bred horses: Apart from the former steeplechaser Cramique xx (by Lavandin xx) the rather heavy boned Selle Francais Reims (by Brule Tout) of Dominique d’Esmé and Urf of Jean Paul Guerlain.

One Lipizzan crossbred, Astor of the late Hans Max, started under the Austrian flag.

Text © by Silke Rottermann for Eurodressage

Continue reading: World Championships Copenhagen 1974 Through The Eyes of Ruth Klimke

Frederica Benedictus-Lieftnick from The Netherlands competed Fulmer’s Rascal in Copenhagen and placed 27th.

While the Canadians had sent a ladies’ team two years earlier to the Olympic Games in Munich, their top rider Christilot Hanson-Boylen was their only representative in Copenhagen. She rode again the former Schultheis ride Armagnac. The massive Hanoverian qualified again for the individual ride-off.

Cadre Noir member Patrick LeRolland was the first rider in the history of the FEI to get a 10 for his seat and position, sitting in a super flat all purpose saddle.

Dominique d’Esmé was one of three riders for France in the Grand Prix class. With her rather heavy Selle Francais mare Reims (who lived until the rip old age of 32) the Normandy based mainstay of the French team up the the late 1990s placed 17th.

Swiss Hermann Dür, who was a pure amateur, rode the Polish bred former EMPFA horse Sod to team bronze. At 19 years of age the gelding was the oldest horse in the field.

Swedish dressage legend Ulla Hakanson placed 7th individually with Ajax, her faithful SWB gelding by Jovial with whom she became Nordic champion in jumping at the end of the 1960s and won Olympic team bronze 1972. Today the annually awarded „Ajax Fund“ reminds of this fabulous chestnut.

Ivan Kalita and the thoroughbred Tarif xx were an essential part of victorious Soviet teams at the 1970s World championships and the 1972 Olympic Games. They also contributed to the Soviet Union’s silver medal 1974 and placed 6th individually.

The elegant chestnut Torpedist xx was one of three thoroughbreds who placed in the top ten. With Mikhael Kopeykin from the Soviet Union he placed 10th in the Grand Prix.

The former French bred steeplechaser Cramique xx, ridden by Patrick LeRolland from France, was the picture of elegance. The 15-year-old gelding restored the picture he gave two years earlier at the Olympics in Munich and placed a very good 7th.

The young and inexperienced Elizabeth Lewis from the USA was the best placed of the US team. She came 15th with the 15-year-old Holsteiner mare Ludmilla.

The reigning individual Olympic champions Liselott Linsenhoff and her Swedish stallion Piaff were back on form at their 2nd World championships after 1970.

The 16-year-old Swedish stallion Piaff (by Gaspari x Ruthven) retired on a high note after a long international career, taking gold and silver at his last championships

Legendary Jennie Loriston-Clarke from Great Britain showed her 1972 and 1976 Olympic horse Kadett. The petite brown gelding was a Trakehner crossbred by Goodie xx and the horse which brought her the first international win.

Competing in front of their home-crowd, Aksel Mikkelsen and the flea bitten grey gelding Talisman, were the best of just two Danish pairs and came 14th in the Grand Prix. Nonetheless the Gunnar Andersen trained pair impressed with their elegant appearance.

Second Danish individual Ulla Petersen placed 22nd on the English bred thoroughbred Chigwell xx.

Pepel had attended at every Worldchampionships since 1966 with his long-time rider Elena Petushkova. Even though 18 years of age, the light-footed and petite Russian bred Trakehner stallion managed to win two more medals at Copenhagen.

The title defenders from the 1970 World championships at Aachen, Elena Petushkova and Pepel, settled for silver (team) and bronze (individual) four years later.

Young Swiss Regula Pfrunder (now Straumann) was allocated to Christine Stückelberger’s first international horse, the 16-year-old Irish gelding Merry Boy. Both only came 28th, but got team bronze.

Karin Schlüter from Germany and the imposing Hanoverian gelding Liostro on the final centre-line. Both won the team gold

Liostro who had been trained by the late Herbert Rehbein was famous for his extraordinary ability to develop impulsion.

Ivan Kalita and the elegant Tarif xx.

US American John Winnett was renowned for upholding classical principles while competing internationally. Here he rode the 8-year-old Hanoverian Leopardi.

Ivan Kalita and Tarif xx were an essential part of victorious Soviet teams at the 1970 World championships as well at the 1972 Olympic Games. Both contributed also to the Soviet Union’s team silver medal at Copenhagen 1974 and came 6th individually.

The spitting image of his famous father Gaspari, Piaff shone one last time and won gold and silver at Copenhagen.

The 1970s were the time when Dutch riders slowly embarked at the international level. Marjolin Greeve and the Hanoverian Lucky Boy (by Der Löwe xx) were best members of the Dutch team and placed 23rd.

Regula Pfrunder (now Straumann) on Merry Boy xx

Karin Schlüter on Liostro