Languedoc, International Grand Prix Ride for Von Krusenstierna and Dolk, Passed Away

Dressage

Sweden

Languedoc, Kristian von Krusenstierna's last internationally competed Grand Prix horse and Lina Dolk's young riders' and U25 schoolmaster, has passed away on 15 July 2023. He was 20 years old

Languedoc was a Westfalian gelding by Laomedon out of Finett (by Francisco x Disco Star). He was bred by Magdalene Höfer.

German Start

Languedoc's sport career started rather late in life, competing for the first time under Wieger Derk de Boer in Germany in 2011 at age 8.

De Boer showed the horse in a few classes through 2012 after which he sold to Sweden

Kristian von Krusenstierna

In 2013 Bo Eriksson, Jan Pallinder and Anna Endling acquired Languedoc and put him in training with Kristian von Krusenstierna as his Rio Olympic hopeful. He was meant to follow in Biggles' footsteps.

The pair made its international show debut at small tour level at the 2014 CDI Neumunster, where they were second and third. In 2015 they moved to medium tour level and campaigned in Hamburg, five months later they moved up to international Grand Prix level at the CDI Oslo, followed by Lier, and Salzburg.

2016 was the pair's highlight year with starts in Caselle di Sommacampagna, Wiesbaden, the Nordic Baltic in Ypaja, and Aachen. They were 10th at the 2016 Swedish Grand Prix Championship, but dropped out of the Swedish Olympic team race due to an injury.

Kristian rode Languedoc through 2017.

Lina Dolk

In 2018 the ride on the dark bay gelding was allocated to Von Krusenstierna's student Lina Dolk, who had previously taken over the ride on Biggles.

Languedoc became her young riders horse and took her to the 2018 European Young Riders Championships in Fontainebleau (FRA), where they won team bronze and were 47th in the individual test (64.824%). They were fourth at the 2018 Swedish Young Riders Championship.

Their last CDI at young riders level was in Flyinge in September 2018 after which the horse did not compete internationally for three years. In 2020 they pair collected silver at 2020 Swedish Under 25 Championships.

He returned with Dolk to CDI competition in 2021 at Under 25 level at the CDI Exloo, where they were second and third with seventy percent scored. Following a victory at the 2021 Nordic Baltic Championships in Ypaja as well as winning gold at the 2021 Swedish Under 25 Championships, they were nominated on the Swedish team for the 2021 European Under 25 Championships in Hagen. They won team bronze and finished 8th in the Kur to Music finals with 75.290%.

The Euros in Hagen was the horse's last international show, but nationally he carried on in 2022 and finished with silver at the 2022 Swedish Under 25 Championships

Retirement

Dolk pats Languedoc at the 2021 European
Under 25 Championships

Languedoc was retired from competition sport at age 19 at the end of 2022.

He spent his retirement at his owners place but on 15 July had to be put to sleep suddenly after a freak accident.

"A few seconds on a movie on Dokki 10 years ago started my curiosity," Von Krustenstierna stated. "This developed into a wonderful trip from St George to international Grand Prix for the two of us with his owner. The journey continued in the same wonderful direction when Dokki got to give Lina Dolk some unforgettable years. What a team we have been with the important one in the team, Dokki, always in the center."

Lina added, "thank you for all the memories my dear friend. Oh, how painful it hurts not to be able to kiss your nose and see those kind eyes one last time."

Languedoc, International Grand Prix Ride for Von Krusenstierna and Dolk, Passed Away

German Start

Kristian von Krusenstierna

Lina Dolk

Retirement

Photos © Astrid Appels - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED