Soiree d'Amour Has Passed Away

“The loss was ‘sudden and unexpected,'” writes Carina Scholz on the Instagram page of the training stable she runs with her husband Fabian in Füchtorf near Warendorf. Soiree d’Amour had been at home here since 2022. The San Amour-Latimer daughter, bred by Maren Bergen, was trained by Kira Wulferding.

Love at First Sight—For Everyone

Kira Wulferding trained the stunning black mare from her first riding lessons all the way to the Grand Prix. In the years in between, Soiree d’Amour proved time and again that she is one of the best horses in the country, starting in 2012 with her first appearance at the Bundeschampionat, where Soiree d’Amour made all the other horses around her pale in comparison and won by a landslide. This mare was the horse everyone was talking about—from the riding arena to the show jumping course, from the cross-country course to the dressage arena. She captivated people with her beauty, her grace, and her elegance of movement.

In Kira Wulferding, she found a trainer who trained her carefully and fairly. At age four, the mare competed in two regional Class A dressage competitions, both of which she won by a comfortable margin. The following year, she won silver at the National Championships in Warendorf in the five-year-old division, finishing behind Belantis, ridden by Isabell Werth, who was still a stallion at the time. Prior to that, Soiree d’Amour had already placed fifth at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses.

Over the next few years, Kira Wulferding scaled back her competition schedule. The mare moved up a class every year and was almost always victorious, but competed in very few tournaments. Although she won at the S level at age seven, Wulferding didn’t introduce Soiree d’Amour to the Burg-Pokal until she was eight; she qualified for the final and placed seventh there. In 2018, the mare did not compete in any tournaments at all. However, she returned to the S*** level in 2019 and made it back to Frankfurt, this time for the Louisdor Prize. Her first international appearances followed starting in 2021.

Transfer to Carina Scholz

When Soiree d’Amour became the Bundeschampionesse as a three-year-old, Kira Wulferding said the mare was not for sale. She wasn’t sold, but in 2022 the owners decided to place her in training with Carina Scholz. Over the next few years, the two grew into a team, and Soiree d’Amour achieved some great results with her as well—the highlight undoubtedly being their qualification for the 2025 World Cup Final, where they placed eleventh. That same year, they also competed in the I-Tour at the CHIO Aachen.

The last tournament was the CDI3* in Hagen in September, where they placed second in both the Grand Prix and the Freestyle. It was Soiree d’Amour’s final public appearance. The mare never became a world-class Grand Prix horse. She lacked the ability to perform the highest levels of collection. But she was always one of the horses people loved to watch, partly because her two riders presented her so beautifully.

Farewell to

Today we received the news that this wonderful mare has passed away. Carina Scholz:

Even a few days later, I’m still having a hard time finding the right words to describe this sudden and completely unexpected loss.

Since 2022, you’ve been an integral part of our daily lives, and we’ve grown incredibly fond of you.

You were an extraordinary beauty with a personality that was just as extraordinary, and you captivated everyone from the very first moment!

You knew exactly what you wanted, and you had everyone around you—both two-legged and four-legged—completely under your control. You were independent and decided for yourself who you would show your affection to. And I think I was lucky enough to be one of those people. 🖤

I was always particularly impressed by how gently you treated our children. As assertive as you were in other areas, you were just as careful with them. I never had to worry about their little fingers or feet. ♥️

Our time together in the saddle was also something special. You taught me so much, and at the same time, you loved those hours-long rides as a change of pace. I could always count on you 1000%.

You were so much more than what people saw of you on the tournament court.

You still had so many more years ahead of you. So many moments together and so much time that still lay ahead of you.

Thank you for everything, Soirée. You will always have a very special place in our hearts.

Your Carina

Soiree d’Amour turned 17.