Viva Vitalis OLD Wins the Class S Dressage Competition in Höven

With a score of 75.489 percent, last year’s national champion Viva Vitalis OLD—now seven years old—won the Class S dressage competition at the Oldenburg State Championships in Höven, which also served as a qualifier for the OLD Masters for seven- to eight-year-old horses to be held in Vechta in October. It was his debut in the advanced class.

The judge at B, who evaluates the quality of the basic gaits, responsiveness, and overall impression, awarded the impressive dark chestnut 80.40 percent. The judge in Class C, who evaluates the technical execution of the movements, awarded 70.576 percent. This would easily qualify Viva Vitalis for the National Championships again this year; however, the competition in Höven is not designated as a qualifying event.

This impressive dark chestnut can’t deny his sire, Vitalis. This member of the Gesine line (Fasine, For Romance I and II, Heinrich …) was born at Lewitz Stud, where he is still kept. And just like last year, Lukas Fischer was in the saddle today.

Second and third place

The eight-year-old Hanoverian mare in second place also has the stamp stallion Vitalis in her pedigree, though as her grandfather: Valetta by Valverde-Benetton Dream, bred and owned by Patricia Reuner-Krebs and skillfully presented by Leonie Richter. The elegant bay mare received even more points from the “quality judge” in the B class than the winner did—81.60 percent. It was also her debut in the advanced class, for which the judge awarded her 69.230 percent in C. As a result, she was narrowly defeated, scoring 75.416 percent.

It was also Valetta’s first appearance in Class S. Until last year, she had been trained and competed by Vanessa Crndak. Today, Leonie Richter rode her in a competition for the first time. So today was a double debut for the mare.

Third place went to the Oldenburg stallion Infantino OLD by Asgard’s Ibiza-Sandro Hit—also eight years old—and Kira Wulferding, with a score of 73.404 percent (77.0/69.807).

A “brother of”

Today in Höven, we were reunited with the reserve champion of the 2021 Westphalian Licensing, Juwel by Janeiro Platinum. The handsome dark chestnut, bred by Mirjam-Mathilde Drent, shares the same dam as the million-dollar stallion Dynamic Dream, who—after being sold to Helgstrand for a sensational price—tested positive for medication and was subsequently unable to complete his performance test due to an injury. Nevertheless, he remains highly sought-after as a sire.

Both stallions are by Safira (out of Sir Donnerhall and Arpeggio). Juwel, the younger of the two—born in 2019, the year his older brother became a champion stallion—is now owned by the Lodbergen Dressage Training Center and is ridden by Linda Schmidt. The pair placed ninth at last year’s Bundeschampionat, have already won an S-level competition this year, and finished fifth today with a score of 72.327 percent.

A World Cup participant

Another horse with great potential is the now eight-year-old Füchtels High Light OLD, bred and owned by the von Merveldt family from their successful mare High Heel by Damon Hill-Roadster, crossed with their star Floriscount. Until last year, the Merveldt daughter Patricia Seddig was still competing the mare herself at shows and qualified with her for the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses for the second time. As a six-year-old, the mare placed eighth there. In 2025, she failed to live up to her potential. That was also the case today.

Meanwhile, Laura Strobel is in the saddle of the beautiful dark chestnut mare. The pair had some great moments, but also a few problems, which started right from the moment they entered the arena, when High Light would have preferred to turn on her heel; then, instead of trotting, she broke into a canter and couldn’t be reined back at all. But the pair found their rhythm and still finished the test with dignity, scoring 71.362 percent (75.8/66.923). There’s definitely room for much more in the future.

You can find all the results here.