American young riders Josephine Hinnemann and Ellanor Boehning are California's Next Gen Stars, swapping places and collecting trophies at the Spring Benefit CDI and Dressage Show in Temecula, CA, on 5 - 7 May 2023.
Rivals and Friends
Josephine Hinnemann and Ellanor Boehning might be rivals if they weren't such good friends. Ellanor and Sir Junior, 12-year-old Hanoverian by Sir Stauffenbuerg, won the Young Rider Team Test on Friday, and "JoJo" and Copa Cabana MRF, a 14-year-old Hanoverian by Contucci, won Saturday's Individual Test and today's Freestyle. In every case, they were close in their scores and united in projecting a strong core of talented young riders developing on the West Coast.
JoJo had prioritized precision in her first two tests, and today's determination to push for bigger movements resulted in their winning 71.933% from Jane Weatherwax and Brenda Minor. Ellanor was close behind on a 71.467%, even with some glitches that she described as learning experiences.
Both up and comers have the advantage of top coaching from California's rich reserve of professionals. JoJo works with her mom, Natalie Hinnemann-Hamilton and David Wightman and Kathleen Raine. Her CDI competition career began on Raine's former international Grand Prix horse Breanna (by Brentano II x) as a junior in 2020. JoJo's dad is Stephan Hinnemann, son of German trainer Johann Hinnemann. He emigrated to the U.S.A.in the mid 2000s.
Ellanor has been working with Steffen Peters for the last few months, an experience the multi-Olympian seems to appreciate as much as Ellanor does. "I think for any rider at the Olympic level, it needs to be an obligation to help bring along the next generation,” Steffen commented. “When I see a beautiful test ridden by a young rider, it means as much to me as if Mopsie (Suppenkasper) and I won a class.
"If I can bring along this riding style in which dressage is not forceful -- in which it's more like dancing and less like weightlifting -- I want to do it. And, Ellanor is certainly fun to work with."
In the Junior Freestyle, Kathleen Nayak and MW Fabulous concluded a strong weekend with a 69.842% from the same two-judge panel. Fabulos is an 11-year-old Oldenburg by Furstenball x Espri.
- by Kim Miller - Photos © Terri Miller
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