By Liis Ira / ESHBS
Photography: ESHBS, Karli Saul/EOK
What could be a better birthday present for a studbook than a having three horses competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games? Overall, the best result at the OG was achieved by Brazilian international Yuri Mansur, riding the Estonian Sport Horse Alfons RA (Aromats), placing 20th individually, sixth with the Brazilian showjumping team.
Mansur and Alfons were the best horse/rider combination in the Brazilian team, recording only four faults. The second Estonian Sport Horse, Caesar, in the hands of China’s You Zhang, also jumped the qualifying round but didn’t redeem themselves sufficiently for the final.
Dina Ellermann and her ESH horse Donna Anna (Don Schufro) made history for the Estonian Equestrian Federation by being the first Estonian to participate in the Olympic dressage competition. On day one of the Grand Prix qualifier, they scored 65.435%.
Ellermann had previously represented Estonia with Donna Anna at the 2019 European Championships in Rotterdam, as well as the 2013 World Breeding Championship for Young Horse in Verden. She has had Donna Anna since she was six months old, and it’s an interesting fact that Dina is herself a breeder.
At her studfarm, two or three foals are born each year, and lately she has been using the stallions Franklin (Ampere - Warkle M x Ferro) and My Vitality (Vivaldi - Tolivia x D-Day) from the Helgstrand Stud with her mares, one of whom descends from the famous Moukje stam, while the other originates from Denmark, like Donna Anna.
All three of the Olympic horses were trained to Grand Prix level by our own Estonian riders. The fact that the creations of breeders Hinno Nokkur, and the Liivaku and Rebala stables met the talented riders Paul Argus, Dina Ellermann, and Rein Pill was the great coincidence that later led to the Olympic debut for the horses... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO BREEDING NEWS
SUBSCRIBERS CAN READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY LOGGING IN AND RETURNING TO THIS PAGE
