Victoria Max-Theurer & Augustin

Photo: Schreiner http://victoria.achleiten.at

This past December the Nürnberger Burg-Pokal took place as it does every year in Frankfurt, Germany. It is a championship for the the best up and coming talent in dressage where horses between the ages of 7 to 9 years old compete for the prestigious title of champion by riding the Prix St. George Special. This championship has been a launching point for the careers of top horses such as Elvis ridden by Nadine Cappelman, and Bonnaparte ridden by Heike Kemmer. This year the competition was very stiff with Isabel Werth riding the stallion, Fuchsberger, Matthias Alexander Rath riding Weltmeyer Junior, and Oliver Oelrich riding Show Star.

In the meantime Victoria is preparing to ride in Bejing on the Austrian Olympic Team with her Oldenburg gelding, Falcao, who her family purchased at the 1995 Oldenburg Elite Auction in Vechta. She and Falcao were 20th individually at the Olympic Games in Athens. We wish them the best!

The long time partner of Isabel Werth, Apache (Alabaster x Grundstein), was in winning form this past weekend at the newly formed CDN show in Affalterbach, Germany. They won the Grand Prix qualifier and then the Grand Prix Kuer with a great score of 77.65%.

The nine year old gelding is maturing and beginning to really shine at the Grand Prix level in dressage. Salieri (Sandro Hit x Dolores (Dakota)) was purchased by the Max Theurers at the 2002 Oldenburg Fall Elite Auction, and was trained to Grand Prix in their barn. On Friday he and Victoria won the opening Grand Prix at the CDI Three Star in Salzburg with a 69.08% and then on Sunday they won the Grand Prix Freestyle with a 73.10!

Campino

Starting out early in the morning, the finals for the 6 Year Old Jumper Ponies got underway, and the Weser Ems ponies could not be beat. Five out of the top ten ponies were Weser Ems, and both the Silver and Gold medals went to two geldings. The Silver went to Neckarmann (Neckar x Heros) ridden by Philip Bölle, and then the Championship Title went to  a pony that was sold over the Oldenburg Elite Auction, Handsome Boy (Hasko x Nevado), ridden by Laura Klaphake. 

Fourth place went to the stallion, Matchello K (Mentos x Downland Folklore) ridden by Carolin Brandt, eighth place was Halle Berry 2 (Henry x Contus), and ninth place went to Mr.X 4 (Mentos x Apollo van Heel ox)

The afternoon brought even more excitement. Victoria Klatte, the daughter of Guido Klatte who many know from the horse shipping world, came out and put in a beautiful ride on the stallion, Campino (Constantine x Grannox) whom they also purchased at an Oldenburg Elite Auction in Vechta. He stems from an excellent line. His sire, Constantine, is also the sire of the dressage pony stallion, Chardonnay.

These championships are not just based on speed and jumping faults. They are judged by a panel of judges who are looking at the rhythm, the form over the jump, and how well controlled and balanced the pony is. The ponies are then given a score between 0 and 10, with 10 being the best. If they also have jumping or time faults those are then subtracted from the point score the judges gave. When Victoria finished her clean ride the crowd went crazy, and the judges gave the pair a 9.0!

Click Here for the Video of Campino and Victoria's  Jumping Round

Click Here for the Video of Campino and Victoria's Victory Gallop

 

In the finals for the 6 Year Old dressage horses, The stallions, Welt Hit, San Remo, and Rigamento all qualified to be in this prestigious group of horses. Welt Hit, ridden by Katrin Burger had been going steadily very well all three days, and ended up tying for 13th. San Remo ridden by Susan Pape was brilliant in many ways, but still had some mistakes. He received an astounding 9.5 for his canter and accolades from judge Christopher Hess who felt he would have a great future as a dressage horse.  Rigamento ridden by Dr. Katja Weisbrod was incredibly consistent and very good throughout the week. She was rewarded with a very high score of 8.7 just missing the bronze medal score.

 

Of course most have probably heard by now that history was made with the winner of the class, Samira, yet another superstar daughter of the Oldenburg stallion Sandro Hit. Samira is not an Oldenburg, but as a friendly congratulations to our neighbors, the Rheinlander Verband, Click Here for the Video Clip of Samira, the mare that earned an overall score of 9.7 and who Christopher Hess said of, "We've never seen anything like this in this arena!"

Pictured left - San Remo. Pictures and Videos by Stephanie Law

 

Silberaster

De Libris

It was an exciting finals to say the least for the 4 Year Old Mares and Geldings. Silberaster came in as the favorite, but two Hanoverians in particular were not going to leave without a challenge. When they finished the riding test, it was clear to everyone that Silberaster, ridden by Helen Langehanenberg and owned by Ludger Bührmann, outshone all that were there. Her movement, type, and submissiveness were par to none. However, there was a small problem. When they dismounted and presented the horses in hand Silberaster became afraid of the audience's applause. The judge began to comment and offer outstanding scores, 8.5 for the trot, 9.5 for the canter, 9.5 for the walk, 8.5 for her conformation, and as he was just about to announce a high score for the general impression Silberaster fought Helen and bolted out of the arena.  The rest of the judges came together, and decided sadly to lower her overall impression score to 7.5 because of the bolting in hand.

She still lead at the end of all of this, but only by a very small margin. It would come down to what the foreign riders thought of her that afternoon.  The top three horses were asked to come in and the riders, Arnd Ersen and Katja Camp, took turns riding each horse. Silberaster was as cool as could be. She really was fantastic under Katja Camp, and Arnd Ersen looked as if he'd been riding her is whole life. They obviously had a very good feeling because one of them gave her a perfect 10 and the other a 9.5 which put her ahead of the others and earned her the title of Champion once again!

Click Here for the Video Highlights of her Ride.

Click Here for the Video of her Victory Gallop. 

She was not the only champion this day. The Oldenburg stallion, De Libris (De Niro x Ex Libris) driven by Koller Christian, won the National Championship title for the 4 and 5 Year Old Driving Horses. He scored a 18.40 in Part A, 9.5 in Part B and had ended up with a 27.9%!

Back to the main dressage arena which unfortunately was running at the exact same time as the 4 Year Old Mares and Geldings Championships in another arena quite far away (sorry no video!), the Oldenburg mare, Diamantenbörse (Diamond Hit x Rubinstein I), ridden by Jessica Süss put in a fantastic test. They would have been tied for 2nd place in the 5 Year Old Dressage Horse Championships had it not been for Jessica doing a 4 loop serpentine instead of a 3 loop serpentine. Oh, are these not the things we all do at some point and make ourselves crazy over! She had a score of 8.9, but with the mistake it was lowered to 8.7 still good enough for the Bronze medal, and a more than very respectable finish out of a tough group of horses.  Diamantenbörse was sold over the Elite Auction in Vechta as a 3 year old.

So congratulations to all of our fantastic Oldenburg horses that did so well at a very tough championships!! Check back tomorrow for more.

Silberaster

 

Dance With Me

The first two days of the German Bundeschampionate were quite successful for the Oldenburg horses. Silberaster (Sandro Hit x El.St. Sonnenlicht (Canaster I)), kept up her winning streak despite the best efforts of mother nature and her windy ways. Ridden by Helen Langehanenberg, she won the qualifier scoring as follows: Trot - 8.5, Canter - 9.0, Walk - 9.0, Conformation - 8.5, Overall Impression - 8.5.  Also qualifying in this class was the very expressive mare, Della Cavalleria (Diamond Hit x Rubinstein I), ridden by Kira Wulferding. 

Later in the day, the first qualifiers for the 6 year old dressage horses got under way.  Rigamento (Riccione x Weltmeyer), ridden by Dr. Katja Weisbrod did very well earning an 8.5 overall putting him in third place out of the 41 horses that took part. The Rheinlander mare that won the class, Samira, was a very special horse, but being sired by Sandro Hit that wasn't too surprising. She earned an overall of 9.0.

Of course for North America we couldn't be happier and more proud of Marta Kauffman's mare, Dance With Me (Dream of Love x Rohdiamant), ridden by Ines Westendarp. She earned an overall score of 8.4 placing her just behind the leaders. Also qualifying in this group were Dreamer (Darkdream x Akzentus) ridden by Hannes Baumgart, and the stallion, World Hit (Welt Hit II x Rubinstein I) ridden by our very own, Katrin Burger. Interestingly both Dance With Me, and Dreamer were horses purchased at Oldenburg Elite Auctions. The new catalog and DVD for the Fall Elite Auction coming up in October is out now...wink wink, nod nod!!

Santorin, yet another daughter of Sandro Hit out of a Rohdiamant mare did extremely well today under rider Helen Langehanenberg earning her a place in the finals of the 3 year old mares and geldings. Of course we all had great expectations of the champion mare of Rastede, Rebelle, but unfortunately, today was just not her day. She showed tremendous ability and scope in her gaits, but she'll need a little more time under the saddle to develop the contact needed to really show her full potential. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that she'll be one to beat in the future!

There will certainly be more to report in the next couple of days, so keep checking back!

De Lovely (Dormello x Durella (Rubinstein I)) ridden by Eva Steinbach was fantastic yesterday winning her 'Dressurpferde A' Young Horse test in Perl-Finz, Germany at the Reitanlage Birkenhof.

SPS De Lovely was purchased by Mark and Nancy Holowesko of Croisadore Farms, MD with the help of Judy Yancey at the 2004 Oldenburg Fall Elite Auction in Vechta, Germany.  She was then prepared for her mare licensing where she was invited to Rastede and subsequently into the Brilliant Ring in the summer of 2005. Since then she has been in training with Peter Mertins at the Gestuet Heidehof in Weiskirchen, Germany.

Herr Mertins who is a Grand Prix rider, and has trained a number of horses to Grand Prix himself has been training De Lovely in his regular program, but has also been taking her down for sessions with Ulrike Stadelmeyer, the trainer of Jonegger's Weyden (Bronze Medalist in the 1996 Olympic Games), Palladio, Corinth, and two other horses that have made international teams with different riders.  Frau Stadelmeyer and her father, Fritz Stahlecker developed the method known in Germany as "Hand Saddle Hand".

Yesterday, the young Bereiter, Eva Steinbach, who has been training under Herr Mertins for the past 8 years took De Lovely into a large class of 15 horses from Germany and Luxembourg. The competition was stiff, but Eva and De Lovely performed beautifully and won the class.

So a big congratulations to the Mark, Nancy, Eva and Peter!

Deveroux

Deveroux (De Niro x Rhodiamant) ridden by Dutch rider Miranda Rongen was a dream to watch on Sunday during the finals of the World Championships for the 6 Year Old Dressage Horses.  International Judge, Michael Poulin, USA, who was very very brief with his commentary throughout the day  said, "Absolutely beautiful...this is what we want to see." The German judge, Katrina Wüst, said to the applauding crowd, "We share your enthusiasm. We have seen a horse today that was presented to us as one would wish.  A huge dynamic trot swinging brilliantly throughout his body. He took the contact in a very balanced way and held the tempo like a metronome which is why we gave him a 9.0.  The walk had a big overstep, was sure in its rhythm, and both walk pirouettes were good, 8.7.  The canter was bravely prepared, clearly ridden forward with a readiness for collection...8.8.  Our main impression was of the exceptional inner character shown outwardly by the success of the wonderful riding, 9.5 for the submission, and for this wonderful horse a 9.5 for the overall impression. "

The overall score was a 9.10 which put him well into the lead, and meant the Championship title where the Oldenburg flag was raised alongside the Dutch flag as the national anthem of The Netherlands was played.

A special bronze statue of Donnerhall was also awarded to Deveroux's breeder,  Auguste Berding of Dinklage, Germany.  He could not have been more proud!

Click Here for the Video of the Award Ceremony

Click Here for the Video of Deveroux's Test (This is a very large file. If it stops to buffer, let it play out. It should play smoothly through the second time)

Photos and Videos by Stephanie Law

Revanche de Rubin

 

Noble Dream

It was an exciting day for the Oldenburgs at the International Dressage and Jumping Festival in Verden, Germany. Earlier in the day, the Oldenburg licensed stallion, Davenport (Dream of Glory x Giet) ridden by Oliver Oelrich won his division of the qualifiers for the Nuernberger Burgpokal which is a championships held for 7 - 8 year old horses at the Prix St. George level later in the year. He did it by scoring a remarkable 69.550% in the Prix St. George Special.

Then the excitement began for the World Championship Finals for the 5 Year Old Dressage Horses. Noble Dream (Caprimond x Donnerhall), ridden by French rider, Jessica Michel, put in a wonderful test.  The international judge, Steven Clark, commented after the ride, "Here we saw a very nice horse indeed, very elegant, correct paces, trained in the right way, we liked this horse very much. The trot showed a really lovely natural balance, staying in a good tempo..."  He felt she should develop a little more engagement in the future, but liked the natural gait giving it a 8.2. He then went on to comment on the walk, "super regularity, using the whole body, and covering plenty of ground forwards, 8.8." She received a 8.2 for her canter resulting in the top score at the time of 8.32.

After Noble Dream, 5 horsed performed, but could not top her score until the stallion, Revanche de Rubin (Rubin Royal x Landadel).  He is an Oldenburg stallion bred by Harli Seifert (the owner of Rubin Royal) and is owned by Peter and Cornelia BG Klein.  They named him Revanche which means "Revenge" because he was not approved as a breeding stallion as a 2 1/2 year old, and on one hand he lived up to his name putting in a wonderfully fluid test under rider Juliane Brunkhorst, but on the other, the Oldenburg breeding committee did always maintain he would be a very good sport horse.  Steven Clark comments, "Wonderful horse. Showed real activity in the trot work with huge potential for the future...8.4. The walk absolutely clear, active, ground covering, 9.0...the canter could have come a little more off the ground at times, but still good canter and showed really clear good differences within the pace itself, 8.2.  The submissiveness, beautiful transitions with a really confident horse trained in exactly the right way, 8.5.  General impression for us was also 8.5 today. Congratulations." His overall score was 8.52 which ended up being just behind the mare, Cayenne, who put in a fantastic ride earning a score of 8.82 under British rider Susan Pape.

At the press conference after the rides both Julianne and Jessica expressed a lot of excitement over their victories.  Julianne just said, "Unglaublich" (unbelievable), and talked about how much fun the horse was to ride. Jessica noted that this is the first time a French rider has placed at the World Championships and she was very proud saying, "this is a big step forward for France."

Photos and Videos by Stephanie Law

The 44 year old Canadian rider from Oxford Mills, Ontario was the first woman in 24 years to claim individual gold at the Pan Am Games in Show Jumping. She was thrilled with the performance of her gelding, Special Ed (Argentinus) owned by Juniper Farms.

Photo by Cealy Tetley and Report Courtesy of Horses Daily. Please Click Here to Read the Full Report from Horses Daily...

Froschkoenig

 

Status Quo

 

Silberaster

 

Rebelle

July 20th - 21st, Froschkoenig, Rebelle, Silberaster, and more lead the way to the German National Championships by Winning at the Oldenburg State Championships

It was no surprise when the Championess of the Brilliant Ring went on over the weekend to win the Oldenburg State Championship for the 3 year old riding horses on the grounds of the Rastede Castle. She did it with a score of 9.1 and secured her qualification for the German National Championships, or "Bundeschampionate" which will be held August 29th through September 2nd in Warendorf. 

Silberaster (Sandro Hit x El.St. Sonnenlicht (Canaster I)) is also keeping up her amazing performance record. On Saturday she astounded the judges and audience alike with her incredible flowing, elastic, and cadenced gaits. She is maturing now and there was no sign of tension or resistance at all which led to the judges giving her a well deserved perfect score of 10 for the overall impression score! Her new rider, Helen Langehanenberg did an excellent job of presenting her. She has trained extensively with Ingrid Klimke and deserves a hearty congratulations!

Froschkoenig (Fuerst Heinrich x De Niro) was the star of the three year old stallions winning that division over very tough competition from the second placed stallion, Feraud (Florencio x Pinkus) and third placed Status Quo (Stedinger x Quattro B). Both Froschkoenig and Feraud qualified for the German National Championships and should represent the Oldenburg breed very well in Warendorf.

The following is the list of Oldenburg Horses headed to the Bundeschampionate:

3 Year Old Stallions:

Feraud WS (Florencio x Pinkus)

Froschkoenig (Fuerst Heinrich x De Niro)

Reserve: Status Quo (Stedinger x Quattro B)

Swarovski (Sandro Hit x Don Gregory)

 

3 Year Old Mares and Geldings:

Rebelle (Don Schufro x Regazzoni)

Royal Princess (Royal Olymp x Donnerhall)

Santorin (Sandro Hit x Rohdiamant)

Tia Donna (Don Schufro x Rubinstein I)

Reserve: Der Kavalier (Damon Hill x Rosenkavalier)

Rammstein (Royal Diamond x De Niro)

Scarlett (Sandro Hit x Donnerschwee)

 

4 Year Old Stallions:

Kaiser Karl (Kaiser Franz x Lefevre) - Automatically qualified via 06 results Reserve: Diamond Star (Diamond Hit x Feiner Stern)

Diamonit (Diamond Hit x Santander)

 

4 Year Old Mares and Geldings:

Della Cavalleria (Diamond Hit x Rubinstein I)

Recall (Royal Olymp x De Niro)

Silberaster (Sandro Hit x Canaster I) - Automatically qualified via 06 results Reserve: Elfengirl (Don Gregory x Rohdiamant)

Follii (Florestan I x Rubinstein I)

Photo - Michael Rzepa, Dressage Direct

The impressive approved Oldenburg stallion, August der Starke  which means, "August the Strong" (Argentinus x Elinda (Landadel)) was purchased by the Max Theurer family at the 1999 Oldenburg Spring Elite Auction and made his debut in Grand Prix in 2005. Now maturing, he performed beautifully this past weekend winning both the Grand Prix qualifier for the Special and the Grand Prix Special with scores of 70.38% and 70.72%

Her second horse (pictured left), the Oldenburg gelding, Falcao (Feiner Stern x SPS Odienne (Figaro)) was purchased at the Oldenburg Elite Auction in 1995 when Victoria was only 11 years old. He was trained and became her Junior/Young Rider horse who she won silver and bronze medals with in European Championships. This past weekend they won both the Grand Prix Qualifier for the Freestyle and the Grand Prix Freestyle with scores of 70.8% and 71.60%

Photo and results courtesy of Dressage Direct. Please visit their website to learn more about Dressage Direct: www.dressagedirect.com .

German Team rider, Hubertus Schmidt had excellent results this past weekend in Balve, Germany with the Oldenburg gelding, Dow Jones (Don Primero x Raimondo) earning a score of 71.040% in the Grand Prix Special. Previously owned and ridden by Christina Boos of Germany, the gelding was sold to a Japanese owner and has only recently been placed with Hubertus Schmidt who will surely go on to show us more.

Photo and results courtesy of Dressage Direct. Please visit their website to learn more about Dressage Direct: www.dressagedirect.com . They currently have a special offer to breeders!

Photo by Stefan Nolte www.stefan-nolte.de

Leena ridden by Marcus Beerbaum. Photo by Diana DeRosa for Horses Daily

In a very exciting competition of the best horses in the world, the Oldenburg stallion, Air Jordan Z (Argentinus x Matador), ridden by Daniel Deusser of Germany was second place overall after winning the third round of the FEI World Cup held at the Thomas Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Air Jordan Z was bred by Erwin Risch of Menslage, Germany, and was purchased by John Pearce of Forest View Farms, Canada at the Oldenburg Elite Auction along with the gelding Archie Bunker. John rode Archie Bunker for Canada in this FEI World Cup to a 5th place in the third round and 14th place overall.

In addition, Leena, an Oldenburg mare (Lord Liberty x Wendekreis) was second place with her rider Markus Beerbaum of Germany in the first round, and did well enough overall to be tied for third place.  Leena was bred by Imke Westermann-Oehmen of Emtinghausen, Germany.

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