Bon, a Hanoverian stallion

You might feel a little envious of Thomas Schulze. Who wouldn’t love to go to the stable in the morning and be greeted by a horse as beautiful as the ten-year-old Hanoverian stallion Bon Courage by Bon Coeur out of Anada by Vivaldi-Rohdiamant-Ex Libris? And on top of that, he’s successful, too.

The dark chestnut, bred by Dr. Christine Feichtinger, was named a premium stallion at the 2018 Hanoverian licensing. As a three-year-old, he won silver at the Bundeschampionat, at that time still under Jessica Lynn Thomas. A year later, he made it back to the Bundeschampionat but did not advance to the final, still with the Swedish-born rider in the saddle. As a five-year-old, he competed in only one class with her. After that, things went quiet around him for a long time, until he reappeared in 2024—at the age of eight—under Thomas Schulze in Class S, where he immediately racked up a string of victories and top placings.

Last year, he qualified for the final of the Nuremberg Burg Cup. And now he has reached the S*** level, as he demonstrated last weekend in the Intermédiaire A class in Wietmarschen. It was a first for both horse and rider, and they handled it with flying colors: a victory with 73.380 percent, earning first place from all the judges. Friederike Tebbel came in second with her equally talented San Amour son Serious, also ten years old (70.090).

Offspring on Track for the National Championship and World Championships

Just recently, Bon Esprit from Gut Schönweide—the 2023 Oldenburg Champion Stallion and a son of Bon Courage— qualified for the Bundeschampionat. Last year, the Danish Warmblood stallion Atterupgaards Bernachi—who is also licensed—was a finalist at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses and was among the most striking performers. He has also been nominated for Verden this year. In total, Bon Courage has 13 licensed offspring, the oldest of which are now six years old. Among them is the licensed DSP Best Rubin from Dr. Frank Klakow’s successful breeding program, who competed at the National Championships in 2025 with Carina Scholz.

For this year, among the five-year-old dressage horses, Bon Jovi—bred by Dr. Max Stechele (rider: Martin Stechele)—has qualified for the DSP in Warendorf. As things stand, five of his offspring are on the list of qualifiers for the six-year-olds:

Best Rubin is back in action with Carina Scholz. With a score of 8.04, they qualified in Bielefeld-Holtkamp. Balanea, Hann., bred by Fritz-Harald Strodthoff-Schneider, secured her spot with her owner Maja Puschmann in Moritzburg (8.08). Lena Hassmann rode Bon Benito, Hann., bred by Wilfried Putz, to a score of 8.1 in Oer-Erkenschwick, qualifying for Warendorf. The Hanoverian Bon Cru, bred by Regina Tiedemann, easily achieved the required minimum score of 8.0 with a score of 8.2 under Regina Mühlmann in Saarlouis. The Oldenburg horse Born to Dance (breeder: Carsten Nordbruch), ridden by Jula Zeller in Schwanewede, received a solid “Good” for his performance.

Speaking of the National Championships and Bolero-B …

… Wietmarschen also hosted a qualifying event for the National Championships for five-year-old dressage horses and ponies. Three horses qualified to compete in Warendorf, two of which, like Bon Courage, trace their lineage back to the great Bolero.

The winner is a familiar face. Boccaccio by Bonds-Dancier (breeder: Hans-Jürgen Hollmann) won silver as a three-year-old in the riding horse class in Warendorf for the Hanoverian Association under his owner Danica Duen, and this year made a strong impression with a score of 8.34 in his first appearance in the dressage arena at the DOKR’s “Wäldchen.” His trot, canter, and overall impression each received an 8.4, his walk an 8.2, and his responsiveness an 8.3.

Second place went to the Westphalian mare Blitzlichtgewitter by Bon Vivaldi-Apache (breeder: ZG Wehr/Schulze), who was also presented by Thomas Schulze. Her score of 8.24 was based on 8.4 for the trot, 7.6 for the walk, 8.5 for the canter, 8.2 for responsiveness, and 8.5 for overall impression.

Last but not least, Lisa Marie Koch and the Hanoverian mare Fontainebleau (by Friedrich der Große-Fürsten-Look) should also keep the weekend of August 25–30 free. The black mare, bred by ZG Reemt/Bogena, is owned by the U.S.-based Diamante Farms, which is run by German-born Kevin Kohmann—who represented the U.S. at the last three World Cup Finals with Dünensee, a horse trained by Christoph Koschel. Fontainebleau received scores of 8.2 from the judges for trot, canter, and overall impression, as well as 8.5 for walk and 8.0 for responsiveness. Final score: 8.22.