By Jo de Roo
“As we prepare for days of excitement and top-level performance, we also want to honour the unique bond that connects us all: the bond between man and horse. It is this relationship that comes to life here at showjumping Mechelen in its most remarkable forms.’, says Gunter Van Lent, chairman of showjumping Mechelen.
As far as relationships are concerned, we can go even deeper, especially the bond between sport and breeding. During showjumping Mechelen, an entire day is dedicated to this relationship, including the final of free jumping for two-year-old horses, showjumping classes for six- and seven-year-old stallions, and the famous Open Sires of the World Prix Léon Melchior showjumping class.
Free jumping win for BWP Vitchi de Regor
A total of 41 two-year-olds were selected for the free jumping final in Mechelen, where the showjumping qualities were assessed by Niels Bruynseels and Carlos Pinto. Vitchi de Regor, registered with BWP as a son of Chacco-Blue out of Centa de Muze, achieved a monster score of 87.50/100, although it was a close race, with one horse and just one point separating first and third-placed: Pipette du Vert Pignon.
The latter was bred by Mathilde van Quickelberghe by crossing Kavango Sitte with Iokohama Sitte (Marius Claudius - Fukushima Sitte x Mylord Carthago). Both Pipette’s parents trace their dam line back to Gute Sitte (BWP dam line 36), the mare with whom Eric Wauters won team bronze at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games and who founded a dynasty of excellent showjumpers. Pipette received 86.50/100 from the jury, resulting in third place, which she also achieved earlier this year during the free jumping for two-year-olds in Ghlin.
Etoile du PG Z, inscribed in Studbook Zangersheide as a son of El Barone 111 Z and Concordia La Silla (with whom Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Alberto Michan jumped at international five-star level) created additional excitement. Bred by Osprey Universal Capital, Etoile scored 87/100 to finish second in the final ranking. A few months ago, Etoile claimed fourth place in the Flanders Free Jump contest in Waregem.
After the award ceremony we had a conversation with the brothers Johan and Luc Veldeman, who, together with their brother-in-law Bert Verbist and Dagmar Veldeman (Johan’s daughter), are the driving forces behind Stable De Regor and as the Veldeman family are known are known as the breeders of champion Vitchi de Regor. “Vitchi is a large-framed horse. We assumed that this would not be an advantage for a young horse, so we started slowly with Vitchi. We lunged him a few times and let him free jump. At first he was somewhat thin, so we adjusted his diet without being extreme and saw it moving in the right direction. I knew he has a lot of potential as he is very well behaved in everyday interactions. This morning my wife braided his mane while he was laying down in his stable. He’s so good. Some people ask the question ‘why still breed with Chacco-Blue?’. I assume that these people fear that Chacco-Blue does not pass on enough blood. Vitchi has the right blood, and has a special urge for each obstacle.”.. To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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