Red Viper Turns the Tables and Steals Second World Title at 2025 World Young Horse Championships

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

In an interesting turn of events, the reigning World Young Horse champion Red Viper added a second, consecutive title to his tally in an exciting 6-year old finals at the 2025 World Championships for young dressage horses in Verden on Saturday afternoon 9 August 2025.

In a sun filled afternoon with a stadium fully packed to the brim, the 6-year old finals were the first of three contested and celebrated on the Verden show grounds. With the Hanoverian young horse championships happening in the background and a trade fair with food trucks guaranteeing conviviality, the event drew out big crowds and made horse sport and dressage feel very much alive. 

Red Viper Slides into Winner Circle

Dutch Olympian Dinja van Liere had a bone to pick after placing ‘only’ third in the preliminary round and did her homework for Saturday. Aboard Eugene Reesink’s KWPN bred Red Viper (by Romanov x Sir Sinclair) she still presented the massive liver chestnut in a Grand Prix frame with a neck up and rather tight, but the tempo was much better under control, not as much chased forward. 

She began with a nice square halt. The trot was big and beautiful, very well balanced and never failing in the rhythm although there could have been a bit more collection in the corners. The extended walk had huge overtrack, good relaxation, but the big horse lost the rhythm in the medium walk on the line for the walk pirouettes, responded heavily to the spurring in the left walk pirouette, the right one was laboured too. The canter extensions were uphill and powerful and the first three flying changes were huge, although the ones to the left could have been straighter. The fourth one totally went wrong. After the end halt, Van Liere was unsure about her win, lifting her hand in regret over the mistakes.

The judges panel, consisting of Kurt Christensen, Knut Danzberg, Carlos Lopes, Clive Halsall, had their pink glasses on and were very forgiving. Their rewarded the trot with 9.8, the walk with 8.5 (!), the canter with 9.0, the submission with 8.4 (!!!) And the perspective with 9.5. This totalled 90.400% which ended up being the winning score of the day. 

“What a horse,” judge Knut Danzberg said in the public commentary. “The trot is amazing, fluent. He takes the weight when you go back to collection.” About the walk he said it was “a tiny bit quick in the collected walk.” For the submission he praised that “the frame was nice” but there were “little things. He lost the rhythm (in the walk) and the change.”

Third WCYH Medal, First Gold

Van Liere was thrilled with her first gold medal at the World Young Horse Championships after making her international break through as a rider on the scene in 2012. She won bronze on Capri Sonne Jr in Verden and got her second WCYH medal on Hermes in 2018. “He’s amazing in everything, his gaits, his presence in thee arena. He’s the easiest horse, luckily, because he’s so big,” she said. “I definitely feel I can do Grand Prix with him. He showed it today. Oops.”

When Dinja was asked what had improved today, she replied, “the trot pieces were better. I looked at my test and decided I have to do one tempi, so the rhythm is always the same.”

Van Liere shared her perspective on the development of the sport in recent year. “We also liked the fancy trot before, but not anymore. We liked a lot of frontleg, but not anymore. I prefer a compact horse on which the front and hindleg are the same. I try more to have a relaxed horse than a tense one. I rode on a longer rein with smaller aids. You need to have a horse that does it for you.”

Red Viper is bred by Coen Kerbert out of his mare Zolena (by Sir Sinclair x Cabochon) who competed at the 2009 and 2010 World Young Horse Championships in Verden with their daughter Annerein Kerbert. Kerbert sold the colt, who was originally named Oberyn Red Viper ZL after the Game of Thrones character, for 56,000 euro to investor Jan Pieter Dalsem through horse dealer Eugene Reesink at the 2019 Borculo Foal Auction.

"I was quite nervous today," breeder Kerbert said at the press conference. When asked if he knew Red Viper would become a world champion when he was born, Coen replied, "I didn't," but his wife said "after three hours he looked like he was two weeks old. He was straight onto his legs and curious." Owner Reesink is a horse dealer and when asked if the horse will be sold, Eugene said, "I have two angels on my shoulder; one says to keep him, the other says I have a company and a staff of 25 which needs to eat. It helps he is a breeding stallion."

Divine Divya

The silver medal was for the last starter of the day, the Danish warmblood mare Brandtbjergs Divya (by Hesselhoj Donkey Boy x Don Olymbrio), who was also the runner-up in the preliminary round.

Bred by the Buhl family and owned by Stutteri Søbakkehus, the bright bay mare showed a ground covering trot with a first medium trot in which she really grew. The left volte was 15 m instead of 10 and the contact in trot at times was a bit see-saw. The lateral movements on the right lead were a bit over tempo but the half pass right was huge in ground cover. The mare has a phenomenal extended walk: huge, relaxed, clear. The walk in between the pirouettes was a true medium walk as required by the test. No collected walk is demanded in the 6-year old finals test. The rhythm was clear. The mare performance the canter requirements really well with proper lengthening and then a very good collection after the left extension. The four flying changes worked out. 

She scored 9.6 for trot, 9.2 for walk, 9 for canter, 8.2 for submission and 9 for perspective. The total was 90.000% which placed them second. 

The judges praised the mare  for her "good balance, good frame" in trot. "The walk was very relaxed, ground covering and she kept the rhythm in the collection. In canter she has the ability to collect and extend." They remarked that "in trot there was a slight resistance in the poll. All changes were clear and correct but against the hand."

The silver medal was a silver lining for 22-year old Anders Sjobeck Hoeck, who went through a rough period in Denmark after being suspended in August 2023 for one year.  The young, professional rider works in the family business with his father Hans Jorgen Hoeck of Hesselhoj stallion station, and returned to showing in August 2024. His mom Dorthe Sjobeck Hoec, who runs her own separate yard,  was also a silver medalist at the WCYH in Verden in 2008 on Polka Hit Nexen (by Sandro Hit x Temple Wind xx). Aside from a string of national titles, the silver in Verden is his biggest international success in his career to date. 

"I'm quite happy," he said modestly. "It was nice when I turned left on the (final) centerline without mistakes. About his horse he said, "she's a quick learner, easy to work with and without weaknesses. It's just about showing what is in her." Anders has been riding Divya since she was three. She finished second in the Danish warmblood mare performance test, then went to have a foal and came back in sport in May 2024.

Home Hero

The rider with the biggest fan club in Verden was home-side hero Greta Heemsoth, who hails from Verden and had two horses in the final. Aboard Ingo Pape's Hanoverian licensed stallion Endorphin (by Escolar x Don Nobless) she picked up the bronze medal with a score of 88.600%. The stallion did not stand immobile, but then produced a trot that was supple, engaged and bouncy. In the medium trot he was bent to the right and once in a while crossed the jaws. Overall the trot flowed and was energetic. The extended walk had two hooves overtrack but did not have the most freedom in the shoulder.  The medium walk was a bit dodgy in the rhythm and the horse became lateral before the right walk pirouette, while in the left pirouette he stalled. The canter strike off was a bit laboured, but the stallion worked well in canter. The second and fourth change were against the hand, the second was late to the aids. The other two went well. The extended canter was ground covering. 

The stallion scored 9.4 for trot, 7.9 for walk (?), 9.3 for canter, 8.5 for submission and 9.2 for perspective. 

The judges praised the horse for his medium trot with "a lot of balance." The extended walk had "lot of freedom in the shoulder" but "there was a loss of balance before the two pirouettes." The canter was well in balance and "adjustable". The horse was in a "lovely frame, but the last change was not on the aids."

Heemsoth commented that she was "super motivated to ride here. So lovely that many came to cheer for us." About her ride she said, "Endorphin was more relaxed, more focused on my aids. There still was a bit tension here and there. He enjoyed to show off a bit."

Endorphin is owned by her employer, Ingo Pape, who stands the stallion at stud. "Endorphin earns his money. I think I will ride him as long as he's in our barn," said Greta. 

Aboard Ingo Pape and American Ken Steele's Hanoverian mare Felice (by Furst Samarant x Riverside) she finished 7th with 84.400%. The bay mare, who is a very talented horse and who was presented in a lovely frame and connection, got 9.3 for trot, 7.7 for walk, 8.5 for canter, 7.9 for submission and 8.8 for general impression.

Excitement

Probably two of the most exciting horses in the class landed fourth and fifth place. 

Danish Anne Troensegaard and the Danish warmblood mare Slangerupgaards Saffron (by Secret x Scolari) were the winners of the preliminary test and the hot favourites for the gold medal, but the cards were dealt and the hand was played differently in the finals. They finished "off the podium" (there is no podium, but you get the expression. There are also no medals as the horse gets decorated, not the rider) in fourth place with 87.600%. Training wise, the horse was presented in such a correct way: supple on both reins, light in the contact but seeking the bit. The trot was elegant, light footed but she got a bit quick in the left volte, the trot extension was super smooth. The extended walk was active with two hooves overstep, and she showed a clear collection in what should have been a medium walk. The right walk pirouette needed to be more fluent. In canter, the mare has a well engaged hindleg but she got a bit tight in the back in the left extended canter. The first flying chane was high and not through the body, the second in two phases, the third was okay, and the fourth was good. Also in the counter canter right Saffron got a bit tense. The end halt was nice. 

The judges rewarded Saffron with 9.7 for trot, 7.9 for walk, 8.8 for canter, 8.2 for submission and 9.2 for perspective. The judges praised the mare for "naturally using the body" but she was "struggling with a clear rhythm in collected walk in which she was asymmetrical."

German Ann Christin Wienkamp and the Luxembourg owned Oldenburg stallion Schatzmeister MZ OLD (by Secret x De Niro) competed the top five with 86.400%. Mandy Zimmer's bay stallion began with a slightly crooked halt, but then showed fabulous trot work that was so nicely regulated. Maybe in the left half pass there could have been more crossing behind. . The extended walk did not have the most generous overtrack, but the walk pirouettes were small but the left one had some loss of activity. The canter work was so functional with an engaged hindleg although the counter canter right was a bit tense and the extended canter left could have swung more over the back. All four flying changes worked out well, but were a bit tense. The contact with the bridle was more even and elastic on both reins this time. 

The judges scored the horse 9.4 for trot, 7.8 for walk, 8.5 for canter and submission and 9.0 for perspective.  They praised the rider for "always finding the correct tempo." The canter needed to have " a back more supple at times" but he was "always in the correct frame."

- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS

Eurodressage is taking photos of all competitors in Verden. If you are interested to buy photo prints or digital files for social media, email us.

Related Links
Scores: 2025 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2025 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses