Oldenburg Champion Stallion Bon Esprit Qualifies for the National Championship

At the 2023 Oldenburg Licensing, the Schönweide estate was awarded the winning stallion—bred by Jürgen Fetzer and presented by Sönke Rothenberger—for 1.25 million euros. The strikingly beautiful dark chestnut with lighter, long hair, by Bon Courage–Sezuan–Dimaggio, was named Bon Esprit, meaning “Good Spirit.”

Bon Esprit’s Athletic Career

As a three-year-old, Bon Esprit completed his short VA test in September with a score of 8.36, with his walk and canter rated at 8.8 and his trot at 7.8. He also received an 8.8 for willingness and an 8.0 for rideability.

During his performance test in Verden as a four-year-old in March, he was withdrawn before the test with an outside rider. Even under his own rider, he did not appear very relaxed. But he passed his second attempt in May with flying colors—winning with a score of 8.3, after having previously won a regional riding horse competition with a score of 8.5.

At the age of five, Bon Esprit earned his entry into Stallion Book I by qualifying for the National Championships. At the Anakenenhof in Pinneberg, he won the Class L dressage test under Ann-Kathrin Lachemann, then a rider at von Schönweide. With scores of 8.5 for trot, 8.7 for walk, 8.6 for canter, and 8.0 and 8.5 for responsiveness and overall impression, he achieved an average of 8.46, making him the only horse in the group to secure a spot in Warendorf (though he did not compete there). The same was true today at Hof Norwegen in Mohrkirch.

Victory in Mohrkirch

Following Ann-Kathrin Lachemann’s departure, Ellen Stengele is now riding Bon Esprit. She had already competed with him in two smaller dressage tournaments at the M level and had won once, though with a score well below the 8.0 required to qualify for the Bundeschampionat.

Here are today’s results. Bon Esprit won the qualifier for the National Championship for six-year-old dressage horses with a score of 8.22. This score was calculated from the individual marks: trot 8.3, walk 8.0, canter 8.5, responsiveness 7.8, and overall impression 8.5.

With that, Bon Esprit has secured his spot at the Bundeschampionat. Hopefully, we’ll see him again in Warendorf this time. For Gut Schönweide, this is already the second major sporting success this year. As is well known, the farm’s top chestnut stallion in Schleswig-Holstein, Sky by Sezuan, had qualified for the Nuremberg Burg-Pokal Final in Balve under Bianca Nowag-Aulenbrock.

Totilas’s grandniece and others

A total of ten pairs competed today in the National Championship qualifier for six-year-olds. However, apart from Bon Esprit, no other horse received the required 8.0. That said, at least two of the placers had already become familiar with the conditions in Warendorf.

One of them was the Oldenburg mare Edwina Gold OLD by Best of Gold-Sandro Hit, bred by Heinz Ahlers. The mare is owned by Carolin Thurner and is trained by Moritz Gehrmann, who had already qualified her for last year’s Bundeschampionat, where she placed tenth in the qualifier (8.22) and 16th in the small final (7.88). Today, the pair took second place with a score of 7.84. The individual scores were: trot 8.5, walk 8.7, canter 7.8, responsiveness 6.7, overall impression 7.5. It seems someone still needs to gain more confidence in the flying changes, which, along with the lateral movements at a trot, are the biggest challenge for six-year-olds.

In third place, with a score of 7.8, was another horse from the Schönweide estate, ridden by Ellen Stengele: the Hanoverian gelding Sonic by Secret. He was born in England at Mount St. John Stud and has a very famous grandmother: the mare Lominka by Glendale, known as the dam of Totilas. The mating with For Romance produced Sonic’s dam, Fürstin Totilas. This Sonic had already competed as a riding horse in Warendorf, but at that time finished among the “also-rans.” At age five, he was once again entered in the Bundeschampionat and placed 21st in the first qualifier. Today, he impressed in the basic gaits with scores of 8.1, 8.3, and 8.0. The fact that he did not achieve the required qualifying score was due to a 7.0 in responsiveness and a 7.6 in overall impression.