Einfach Imposant B, World Champion in the Young Dressage Horses category for five-year-olds

Dr. Peter Brenske had actually intended to purchase a different horse from the Verden auction lot, but he missed out on the winning bid. And because Kira Laura Soddemann, whom he had tasked with testing the horses, sensed right from her first ride that Einfach Imposant wasn’t just named that way—but truly lived up to it—Brenske bought this Escolar son bred by Daniela Burkhardt-Robert (dam of Westernhagen), who bears a strong resemblance to his sire in many ways. By now, at the very latest, he must be very glad that he didn’t win the bid for his original top choice back then.

Einfach Imposant B and Kira Laura Soddemann began with a beautifully flowing trot sequence. The bay moves with great elasticity and power, already very well balanced through the many turns of the FEI test for five-year-olds, and with a clear response to the rein—sometimes perhaps even a little too much, especially on the right.

He set off at a long stride, each movement flowing through his entire body, and effortlessly returned to a walk. The gelding promptly broke into a gallop.

The canter itself is just like his father’s—maximum engagement of the hind legs, a wide stride, and a long suspension phase, but also the ability to be guided back. Einfach Imposant demonstrated this impressively today in the simple changes, which had, however, been perfectly prepared by Kira Laura Soddemann. The only moment that wasn’t quite ideal was the transition from canter to trot. That was ridden over a walk. But after that, he once again let the reins hang loosely from her hands. All in all, a wonderful round!

The judges certainly agreed—Peter Storr provided commentary for them and began from the bottom of his heart with the words: “Thank you for this beautiful performance!” That says a lot. But the reasoning behind the 9.5 for “potential” says even more: “This horse has it all! A great horse, and on top of that, a beautiful connection with the rider.”

In the trot, Storr and his colleagues awarded a 9.5; in walk and canter, a 9.0; and in responsiveness, a 9.3. Final score: 92.6 percent—world champion.

Silver for Global Amour

Just as harmonious as the presentation of the winning pair was that of the duo in second place: the Oldenburg stallion Global Amour OLD by Global Player-Fürstenball, bred by Britta Budeus-Wiegert from the San Amour I line, owned by Helgstrand Dressage, and presented by Alexander Yde Helgstrand.

Peter Storr vividly described the impression Global Amour conveys. Regarding the trot, he said it wasn’t an “over-the-top” movement, but it presented a beautiful picture. He and his colleagues would have liked to see a little more drive in the extensions; 8.8. The other scores were in the same range—walk 8.8, canter 8.7, and suppleness and perspective 9.0. To quote Storr once more: “The horse did nothing wrong. He was obedient, relaxed, and consistent in his contact.”

That brought their score to 89.4 percent and earned the Oldenburg-Danish duo the silver medal, after they had finished fourth in the qualifying round.

Weihe’s Best

Weihe’s Happiness by Dynamic Dream-Sir Donnerhall, also registered with the Oldenburg Association, defended her spot from the qualifiers. She is the 2025 German Champion of four-year-old mares and geldings, bred and owned by Christine Arns-Krogmann, and presented by Alina Schneider.

Just from the name, you can already guess which bloodline this light-footed ballerina comes from: that of Weihegold OLD. When Weihe’s Happiness placed third in the qualifiers, Christine Arns-Krogmann—who discovered Weihegold as a two-year-old, purchased her, and thus laid the foundation for her life’s work—raved that Happiness was like an “upgrade of Weihegold.” What the three-time World Cup champion lacked in foreleg mechanics, this mare makes up for. So there’s certainly a lot to look forward to—Weihe’s Happiness definitely has what it takes. However, today’s test didn’t go entirely smoothly.

Throughout the entire test, the mare was restless in the bit, which later became apparent as a disturbance during the left canter. Alina Schneider maintained her composure in an admirable manner. The judges noted the issue with her mouth and explained that the mare had even tried to pull her tongue up. For this reason, they lowered her score for responsiveness to a 7.2. But her light-footed, accentuated trot, her wonderfully active hind leg, her ground-covering, rhythmically precise walk—which could already be collected very well—and her natural uphill canter earned her high marks: 94 in trot, 9.0 in walk, 8.8 in canter, 8.5 in prospects. Total: 85.8 percent.

The Sensitive One

In the qualifying round, DSP Lord Löwenherz von Bellin had placed second with an impressive 9.8 in the trot. Expectations were correspondingly high when the Lord Europe-United son—bred and owned by MJS Gestüt von Bellin GmbH—entered the arena with his trainer, Ellen Richter.

The black-brown horse moves with cat-like strength and suppleness in its lively basic gaits. At a trot, one could almost say it appears weightless. But it also gives the impression of being highly sensitive and easily thrown off balance. Its trust in its rider, however, seems even greater.

Ellen Richter took advantage of the greeting line to briefly stroke him just behind the saddle as she greeted him, signaling that everything was okay. Then the exercise began. During the first medium trot, Lord Löwenherz hesitated briefly as he picked up the pace because he had spotted something outside the arena that caused him to take a quick step to the side. It speaks to the bond he shares with his rider that he refocused immediately. But he didn’t seem entirely at ease with the atmosphere in the Verden World Championship Stadium today. Even at a walk, he didn’t quite achieve a relaxed gait, which Richter attributed to slight tension in his forehand. In the trot, they noticed a slightly irregular swing in his left front leg today.

Even at a gallop—Lord Löwenherz made no mistakes, galloped impressively and powerfully, and demonstrated attractive simple changes with very good weight-carrying ability. However, his tension was evident, for example, in the outside canter, where he tilted behind the vertical, and Ellen Richter had to use considerable skill to bring him back in front of the driving aids. He also failed to come to a calm halt during the final bow. But Ellen Richter’s soothing, stroking hand was immediately there to allay his fear of the bursting applause.

It was a performance by a horse with enormous potential, paired with a rider who knows how to guide him. Scores of 9.0 in trot, 7.6 in walk, 9.0 in canter, 8.4 in responsiveness, and 8.8 in prospects resulted in a final score of 85.6 percent, placing her fourth.

And what else?

The 9.8 that Lord Löwenherz didn’t receive today went to the very likable Westphalian mare McMary NRW by McLaren-Ampere, bred by ZG Slot/Schurink and owned by Reesink Stallions B.V., with British rider Phoebe Peters in the saddle. The pair had just barely made it into the final, finishing twelfth in the qualifier, and were able to really step it up today. Their harmonious performance was rewarded with a score of 84.8 percent, earning them fifth place.

Thomas Schulze and the Hanoverian mare received a special honorary award for the most beautiful transition from a gallop to a trot Senza Parole F v. Secret-For Romance I (Trainer and Owner: Dr. Christine Feichtinger) deserved it. In fact, the pair put in a very harmonious performance; the mare was wonderfully relaxed in contact and exemplary in her lateral movement, always in balance and fully focused on the task at hand. Unfortunately, during the walk sequence, Schulze aimed for the wrong target when changing over the diagonal, which cost him a half-percent deduction. As a result, he finished in seventh place with 83.5 percent, behind the winner of the small final, the Swedish stallion Sanjay Buskhagan by Suarez, under Linnéa Holmgren (83.8).

The judge’s conclusion

Dr. Sven-Günter Rothenberger, father of the highly successful Rothenberger siblings—Sanneke, Sönke, and Semmieke—explained after the five-year-old final what the biggest challenge actually is when judging a World Championship:

“Judging today wasn’t easy. The horses were great, but completely different—you only have to look at the three medalists. From the very elegant Weihe’s Happiness to the more solid winner Einfach Imposant, and in between, the modern stallion Global Amour. And many of the young horses had their little issues, and then the winner came along and already showed us such a mature, fluid performance. We had to strike a balance between truly high quality, rideability, and precision. And then there’s the big question of how exactly to evaluate the horse’s potential. The rules don’t state that perspective must include whether we can identify a future Grand Prix horse. The rules say: Is it a good horse? Is it well-trained? You have to keep all of that in mind—so, it was difficult today, but fantastic.”

You can find all the results here.