Faustino G. Wins the Six-Year-Old Qualifying Round at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden

Last weekend, Betina Jæger Jensen was still coaching her daughter on her way to the European Championship title in the pony division in Le Mans; this weekend, Filippa is competing with her mom at the World Championships for young dressage horses in Verden. They brought along Faustino G., who had already competed at last year’s World Championships in Verden. Back then, he placed fourth in the qualifiers and later in the finals as well. Today, he won the qualifiers against 44 competitors …

The “G.” in the stallion’s name gives it away—Faustino, too, was bred by Helene Geervliet, who is also the breeder of Quinn G., the three-time world champion now ridden by Fiona Bigwood. However, the two horses come from different maternal lines.

Faustino G. is an elegant horse with a strong bloodline that moves light-footed and supple at a trot and is able to carry that suppleness and momentum over into the lateral movements. In addition, he has a supple walk with excellent rhythm and a good stride, as well as a practical canter with engaged hind legs and a good tendency to move uphill.

The first transition was indeed executed, but still held back and off-balance; the second was somewhat better. As for the rest of the training, the rider consistently presented the stallion in front of the driving aids and with a steady tendency to rise. However, one would have liked to see more length in the neck—the stallion was at times very high and tightly collected—and hind legs that were more clearly drawn in during the extensions.

The scores: 9.7 for the trot, 8.5 for the walk, 9.3 for the canter, 9.5 for responsiveness, and 9.3 for potential. Final score: 9.26, or 92.6 percent.

Danish Duo Number Two

Second place also went to the Danish Warmblood, thanks to Dizzy, a daughter of Donkey Boy-Zack, who was ridden by Merita Hagren for Helgstrand Dressage and was born at the Hesselhøj Stud. Unlike so many of the other competitors, this is her first time competing in a World Championship.

This chestnut mare is also a light-footed, spirited horse that worked attentively, willingly, and with great enthusiasm. At times today, she was even a bit overambitious. Dizzy showed so much drive in the trot sequence that her rider seemed unable to keep up with her, causing the mare to briefly shorten her neck and start to run a bit in the extensions (9.0).

Another highlight here is the walk—excellent in suppleness and rhythm, with maximum reach and good extension toward the rider’s hands (9.0). In the canter, she took off from the ground rhythmically and energetically. A bit more upward impulsion would have been desirable here (8.8). She “stole” the first flying change from her rider; she executed the second one beautifully, leaping upward and forward. The score for responsiveness here was 8.8. Combined with the 9.0 in the “perspective” category, this resulted in 89.20 percent, or an 8.92.

Secret, the first

Secret, the former World Championship silver medalist bred in Württemberg, was well represented in the 45-horse field with four of his offspring. The best of them today was the Hanoverian Sir Gribaldi, ridden by Italian rider Beatrice Arturi for Gestüt Sprehe and thus representing the German delegation. The stallion, bred by ZG Aronis and Janßen, owes his name to his maternal grandsire, All Inclusive by Gribaldi.

The trot of this elegant bay was characterized by great regularity and very good balance. The stallion showed consistency with good frame in his head-and-neck carriage. However, he did not seem entirely comfortable in the bit, and his contact appeared to be quite firm. During the walk, he was briefly distracted, whinnied, and as a result did not quite achieve suppleness and extension, especially in the deep walk. Nevertheless, he naturally possesses a very good walk. The canter was characterized by a very engaged, springy hind leg and already well-developed balance. The first change went very well; the second was still slightly held back.

With a score of 88.20 percent, the pair placed third. They received an 8.6 for trot, an 8.7 for walk, an 8.9 for canter, a 9.0 for responsiveness, and an 8.9 for potential.

Greetings from Viva Gold

For a long time, Isabell Werth and V-Power, the former champion stallion of the NRW Main Licensing, had led the field. The handsome Westphalian is a son of Werth’s great hope for the future, Viva Gold, out of a Fidertanz dam; he was bred by Bernd Goeke and has been owned by Helgstrand Dressage since that approval. When Isabell Werth’s stable in Rheinberg became Helgstrand Dressage’s new German branch earlier this year, V-Power moved in with her as well. She regularly posts video clips of the stallion, showing that he’s already playing with half-halts in training. He likely inherited this talent from his sire.

At a trot (9.5), the stallion moved with elasticity and suppleness through his joints, showing engaged hind legs and a natural cadence on the uphill section. He was not yet able to maintain this entirely during the half-passes, but demonstrated great freedom of shoulder in the lateral movements. He leans noticeably to the right in particular.

In the walk today, he didn’t seem to quite find that sense of freedom and evenness, and his stride length was also rather limited (7.2). The highest-scoring basic gait today was the canter (9.7), with a clear tendency to rise, good extension, and very good reach in the extensions. He executed both flying changes successfully; the over-the-knee movement was perhaps the clearest of the entire field, with V-Power maintaining good self-carriage throughout. During the transition from canter to trot before turning off the center line, there were some inconsistencies, and the halt was executed too late and over a stride. The score for suppleness was 8.8, for perspective 8.9, for an overall score of 8.82 or 88.2 percent.

Incidentally, this weekend presents a bit of a logistical challenge for Isabell Werth, as the final training camp ahead of the World Championships in Aachen is taking place in Warendorf at the same time as the World Championships—and the Grand Prix for the team competition begins there in six days. That’s why Werth is currently shuttling back and forth between Verden and Warendorf to give her two World Championship horses, V-Power and Wendy de Fontaine, the attention they need.

Silver 2025, ? 2026

Vivaldi was once again the dominant sire in this field, which included eleven “V-horses,” the majority of them sired by the former Burg-Pokal winner Vitalis. He is also the sire of the fifth-place finisher in this qualifier, last year’s silver medalist among the five-year-olds, Viva Diamond OLD, ridden by Linda Weiß, bred by Zuchthof Alberding and owned by 360° Sportpferde. Already last year, this pair impressed with a performance that, by classical standards, was age-appropriate. They succeeded in doing so again today—beautifully supple, perfectly balanced, and always maintaining the right degree of effort and tempo as they flowed through the test. For responsiveness, the pair quite rightly received a 9.0. And the overall score (87.2, or 8.72) would have been even higher had Viva Diamond not called out to her friends in the warm-up arena shortly after their performance. But even then, she remained safe and refined in her contact. Great round!

Three Times Lord Europe

Leonie Richter’s Lord Europe by Lord Leatherdale is not only highly successful in competition himself, but is also increasingly drawing attention through his offspring. He was represented by three of his offspring alone in today’s field, and all of them advanced to the final. The best of the bunch was last year’s bronze medalist, the Danish warmblood stallion Straight Horse Leonardo, bred by Straight Horses ApS, ridden by Mette Sjebjerg Jensen for Helgstrand Dressage. The handsome black horse scored 86.6 percent, including a 9.2 in the trot.

The other two Lord Europe ambassadors are, first, last year’s Bundeschampion, Lodovico OLD, an Oldenburg bred by Wieghaus-Vorwerk GbR, with his new rider Beatrice Hoffrogge. The pair delivered a confident, harmonious performance, though one might have wished for a slightly lighter contact. With a score of 82.4 percent, they secured eleventh place and a spot in the final.

Lord Europe’s third son is the KWPN gelding Perfect Ritme, out of a Negro dam, whom Kom Noordijk presented for the Dutch delegation. He scored 82.20 percent, making him one of two horses that, in twelfth place, just barely secured direct qualification for the final. The other is the stallion Pythagoras WK by All At Once-Vitalis, ridden by his owner, Franka Loos. The black horse is a close relative of the European Young Riders Champion Jatilinda, ridden by Lara van Nek, and, like her, was bred by Lara’s mother, Willeke Bos, at Stal 104 BV.

Other horses that stood out

The Westphalian mare True Love WS placed seventh; through her sire, Toto Jr., she is one of three horses with Totilas blood in her veins. She was bred by Elena Starr, is owned by Westphalian Stables, and was presented by Sabrina Geßmann. She displayed great regularity, elasticity, and impulsion in trot and canter, along with very good rhythm and suppleness, and good reach in walk. Her contact could be a bit more consistent. She received exactly 86 percent for the test.

Libertad , the former German Riding Horse Champion, opened the competition this morning at 9 a.m. The Hanoverian stallion by Libertad-Destano, bred by ZG Maak and owned by Annelie Brunckhorst and Dr. Frederic Bünger, once again impressed with his three above-average basic gaits and performed a clean test, though he appeared quite stiff in his contact at times, which was particularly noticeable during the full halts. With a score of 84.6 percent, the pair advanced to the final in eighth place.

Last year, the Danish dark chestnut stallion Atterupgaards Bernachi by Bon Courage-Caprimond, out of the Cassidy mare line from the Atterupgaard Stud—which also owns him—was already an absolute showstopper. Just like last year, it was Selina Solberg Vittinghus who presented the stallion, and just like last year, it was a delight to watch the rider guide him through the test with a light hand and great sensitivity, always striving to drive him forward to the hand.

The long-legged Bernachi, with his big movements, still seems to struggle with his balance at times, and the rider is visibly making an effort to give him the time to find his balance the classical way—by developing the carrying power of his hindquarters. It’s a real shame: the second change went completely awry, but the pair managed to perform it after all. That cost them dearly in terms of suppleness, but 82.6 percent was still enough to secure a direct spot in the final.

Last but not least, another German rider, Evelyn Eger, made it to the final. However, the Kasselmann stable rider competed on the chestnut mare Secret’s Weapon by Secret (breeder: Heidi Lambrechts, owner: Bruns & Stamm Pferdezucht GbR), a horse registered with the Belgian Warmblood Breeding Association. The pair tied for ninth place with Atterupgaards Bernachi and Selina Solberg Vittinghus.