By Jean Llewellyn (press release)
Photography: © Gabriele Knisel-Eberhard
Two weeks before the best DSP horses and ponies gathered for their championships at Hofgut Kranichstein, Darmstadt, their versatile ‘colleagues’ contested the cross-country titles at the Lusshof in Laupheim, in Baden-Württemberg.
The facility in Upper Swabia is traditionally the venue for these championships, which are embedded in a major eventing tournament. This year, too, the setting was “simply perfect,” according to Holger Sontheim, who successfully presented numerous young horses up to the Federal Championships in Warendorf during his active time and sat at the judges' table in Laupheim.
There had been enough rain beforehand, but not too much, so the ground conditions were excellent; the Lusshof was spared the thunderstorms that struck nearby and the temperatures were also pleasant. The best conditions for horses and riders. And they knew how to use it.
Even the four-year-olds impressed in the DSP Eventers Cup championship, a class A aptitude test with cross-country section, over solid obstacles. Dorothee Schmid pulled off a special coup: she is the breeder, owner and, not least of all, the rider of Uptownboy, who was awarded an 8.5 for his triple-weighted cross-country round. A 7.5 for rideability and a 7.6 in jumping (final score 40.6) meant a narrow but deserved victory for the son of Uno I from an Orlando mother.
Close behind was the mare Susi Sonnenschein S (Stakkato x Concorde), bred and owned by Sabine Reisenauer and ridden by Bianca Becker. The bay horse’s final score of 40.5 was made up of a rideability score of 7.7, a 7.0 for jumping and an 8.6 for the cross-country round.
In the field of five-year-olds, who held their championship at A level, there was a reunion with last year’s four-year-old champion, who now has another DSP sash in her collection. The chestnut mare Amazing Graze (Mochito x Locksley III), bred by Gerhard Möhrlein, impressed with a 9.0 in the cross-country, a 7.0 in the dressage and an 8.3 in the show jumping. She was presented by Anna Sophie Engelberth, and is owned by ZG Engelberth.
Bred by Karolin Weik and presented by Louis Oelkrug, Andux, a son of the Thoroughbred Asagao xx out of a mare by Stolzenberg, galloped to second place in the championship ranking... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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