From 12 to 15 July 2023 the Schafhof Dressage Festival is calling and riders from 16 nations are arriving. An international event that also attracts the interest of the national trainer.
What German team trainer Monica Theodorescu is particularly looking forward to, how she classifies the Schafhof as a show venue, and which youth experiences she herself has gathered there, are questions she answered in this interview.
The Schafhof Dressage Festival - what do you think of it as a national coach?
Monica Theodorescu: "The timing in the middle of the summer is very nice, but it is also not very easy, because it is quite close to the CHIO Aachen. But: It is a great competition, we know the conditions, they are very good and it will certainly be a great dressage festival - in the truest sense of the word - because so many nations have entered. It will be very interesting and from the German point of view there will also be the qualification for the Louisdor Prize, which is always very exciting.
How do you classify the German participants of the Schafhof Dressage Festival?
Monica Theodorescu: There are many good riders competing who are not or not yet in the squad. They are riders who have already had great success and good results. Take Senta Kirchhoff, for example, who has already done very well twice, Sandra Nuxoll, who was successful in Mannheim and Wiesbaden and Fabienne Müller-Lütkemeier, who had Valesco with her in Aachen and is now competing with Valencia As at the Schafhof. In addition, three of our successful Nations' Cup riders are at the Dressage Festival: Michael Klimke was part of the winning team in Wellington, Lisa Müller, who contributed to the Nations' Cup victory in Hungary, and Franziska Stieglmaier, who has already been successful twice this year in Nations' Cups. With Dorothee Schneider there is also a squad rider in the starting field of the Grand Tour and the Louisdor Prize. The Louisdor Prize is always a very interesting competition with promising horses - highly exciting. And in the Louisdor Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Isabell Werth will also present young horses.
The Schafhof as a venue, you have known it for a very long time. How has it established itself with its fourth Schafhof Dressage Festival?
Monica Theodorescu: The Schafhof has arrived wonderfully in the show scene again with the Dressage Festival and this year also with the European Young Horse Championships. What has always been close to the Schafhof's heart for three generations is the young riders. This is constantly reflected. I also rode my Junior European Championship at the Schafhof in 1980 - I didn't have a licence then (laughs). We won team gold and I won the silver medal in the individual classification on Colorado. And I can remember the great European Championship party (laughs again). It was already a concern of the Linsenhoff family back then and it is just as much a concern of the Linsenhoff-Rath family today to bring young people together. We see this in the Piaff Promotion Prize, in the youth championships and numerous training courses that took place there, right up to the selection for the Prize of the Best. That is simply part of the Schafhof.
This commitment came not least from Olympic Champion Liselott Linsenhoff, whom you also knew...
Monica Theodorescu: Yes, Liselott Schindling-Rheinberger, formerly known as Liselott Linsenhoff and the mother of Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff, gave the impulse for this promotion of young dressage riders. She was also our team leader for many years during my time at the European Junior Championships. She was always a person of respect, who exemplified and taught us to treat each other with respect. We learned a lot from her about respect, behaviour and mutual fairness. Values that should not go out of fashion even today.
Decades of connection to the Schafhof - will you also be on site at the Schafhof Dressage Festival this year?
Monica Theodorescu: Yes, definitely, I will not miss it.
- a Schafhof Connects press release
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