Chacfire and Nadeshda are the Holsteiner champions among five- and six-year-old show jumpers

At the conclusion of the Holsteiner Horse Days, the handsome chestnut stallion Chacfire by Chacfly-Levisto proved himself to be a force to be reckoned with. While the competition’s performance suffered in the windy conditions, Chacfire calmly completed his rounds with Tjade Carstensen in the saddle, jumping with light feet, fluidly, and with a clear drive to jump, earning a 9.0 and an 8.8 to claim the title of Holstein State Champion among five-year-old show jumpers.

“Chacfire performed perfectly today. With excellent reflexes, he always jumps away from the top bar while remaining relaxed,” according to the judges’ description.

The silver medal went to Donatella by Don VHP Z-Canvaro, bred by Matthias Ketelsen and ridden by Karina Leichle. Hubert Uphus’s judge’s comment: “A horse that was presented with absolute consistency, has a good point of contact, and bascules perfectly.” In terms of scores, this translated to 8.8 and 8.6 in the two rounds.

A horse with a name that has already won Olympic gold took bronze in Holstein: Explosion RL by Eldorado out of Zeshoek-Contender. The “RL” stands for Rasmus Lüneburg, who was also in the saddle himself. However, the licensed stallion was bred by Rasmus’ parents, Karin and Jan Lüneburg, who presented the licensed stallion from the breeding program of his parents, Karin and Jan. He was second best in the first round with a score of 8.8 and received an 8.4 in the second round.

The adverse weather conditions may also have been the reason why the Holstein Association stallion Kantato by Keaton, after having already completed two-thirds of the course with ease, suddenly shied away from the steep jump at Station Maas J. Hell and could not be persuaded, even by Arne van Heel in the saddle, that Calido’s likeness on the fence posts was harmless. He was eliminated.

Nadeshda, the Swift One

In the first round of the competition for six-year-olds, a score was awarded. The twelve pairs with the highest scores (8.2 or higher) competed a second time in a jump-off against the clock in the M**-level special show jumping class.

Nadeshda von der Söhr, bred by Christian Schröder out of Cornet’s Quaprice-Diamant de Semilly and ridden by Jonte Hansen, had secured her place in the final with a score of 8.5 in the first round. Here it became clear that Nadeshda is not only beautiful but also fast: a clear round in 40.10 seconds—no one did better—and that secured her the title of State Champion.

Defending champion Brilliant Nessaja v. Brantzau-Quiran, bred by Johanna Wagner, was ridden by Jesse Luther to a score of 8.3 in the first round. There, she clocked a clear-round time of 40.63 seconds, making her the second-fastest rider—and earning her the silver medal.

Keaton-Casalito is the sire of bronze medalist Kimo. Konrad Sinn is the breeder, Stable Bengtsson is the owner, and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson himself was in the saddle of the bay horse, who had advanced to the jump-off with a score of 8.5 from the first round. He, too, cleared all the fences, with a time of 40.99 seconds.

“Million Dollar” lives up to all expectations

Elmshorn marked the first regular competition for Nations Cup winner Million Dollar since his emergency surgery for a hernia in 2022. It was gratifying not only to see the stallion back in competition at all, but also to see how he performed. Already on Friday, he rode clear and placed in a 1.40-meter class. On Saturday, he went one better in the Grand Prix and finished fifth.

“He has always been in training and is eager to compete. At the prime age of 14, officials from the Holsteiner Verband decided to demonstrate that he is still in top form,” the spokesperson announced, and Million Dollar proved quite impressively that the spokesperson was not exaggerating. The Plot Blue son jumped with plenty of energy and power, just as he always has. The goal is for Million Dollar to become Arne van Heel’s second horse for top-level competition alongside Keaton HV, the commentator explained on Saturday.