Analysis by Christopher Hector: I started going to Warendorf and writing about the Bundeschampionate back in 1999. At the time there was a tendency to suggest that the winners never went on to successfully compete in the ‘big sport’. This just wasn’t true, as any examination of the results – particularly in the five- and six-year-old dressage classes – would show. The three- and four-year-old riding classes, less so, but still with a significant number of winners that went on to Grand Prix.
The dressage classes produced horses that not only went on to Grand Prix, but to be Grand Prix stars, like Isabell Werth’s Antony (Argument - Wanda x Wenzel I), Lisa Wilcox’s Rohdiamant (Rubinstein I - Elektia V x Inschallah X), Nadine Capellmann’s Farbenfroh (Freudentänzer - Anuschka x Aarstein) and Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff’s Wahajama (Warkant - Anaconda x Acaulco). Now, I suspect, it is time to change my tune, as I think we are seeing an increased emergence of a young horse class specialist, horses that win young dressage horse classes, who are themselves by stallions that won young dressage horses classes, and never went any further....
Taking a trip back in time, at the first Bundeschampionate to be held in Warendorf, in 1994, the finalists in the five-year-old class contained a wealth of Grand Prix talent – while the class was won by Alabaster (Akzent II - Waleska x Wen- depunkt) who did not go on, the third placegetter, Livijno (Lysander - Golf- dame x Graphit) was a superstar with Rudolf Zeilinger – third at the World Cup final of 2001 before he was sold for mega- money to Dr Bechtolsheimer and disappeared! At the time, good judges regarded Livijno as the best GP horse to have left Germany! Ninth place to Chacomo (Calypso I - Paranka x Marmor) who went on to represent Germany in the gold medal winning team at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and 13th to FBW Kennedy (Tiro - Katy x Karat), a star with Lone Jörgensen (DEN) and Robert Dover (USA). Wow!
In 1999, the sires were a wonderfully diverse group, but the new wave of dressage specialist stallions was emerging, there’s one by Weltmeyer and one by his uncle, World Cup II...
