Ireland Dominates the World Championships for Young Show Jumping Horses; Medals for Stall Ahlmann

Sunday is traditionally the day of the finals at the World Championships for Young Show Jumping Horses in Zangersheide. And once again, it was the Irish who took home the most medals—though mostly on Belgian horses.

Five-Year-Olds – BWP Dominates

The world champion among the five-year-old show jumpers—a competition in which, for the first time, the winner was not the fastest horse but the one that came closest to the ideal time—was the BWP mare Vintage van de Heyveldhoeve (breeder: Bert Stoop), who was ridden by 16-year-old Irish rider Sam Widger—the reigning European Pony Vice Champion—for her Irish owner. The mare is a representative of the widely branched and originally Hanoverian BWP Prestatiestam 17 line, which has also produced, among others, the European Championship show jumping stallion Glasgow vh Merelsnest.

The silver medal went to the Irish gelding GLC Mr. President by Conthargos-Untouchable, who is still owned by his breeder, Gareth Cassidy, and is ridden by Coen Williams, an Irish rider, by a margin of just four hundredths of a second. The Corvette line from the Trakehnen State Stud serves as the breeding foundation here.

The bronze medal went to the BWP once again, thanks toVasan van Strijtem by Cazan van het Schaeck-Saros van’t Gestelhof, presented by Rik Nauta and bred by ZG De Pauw.

The German results

:

The only German pair among the placers were Thomas Mang and Ciroc EC (breeder: EC Horses BV), a son of Comme il Faut by Casall; however, the stallion is registered in the Zangersheide stud book, so he is not a German horse either.

Kai Thomann and the OS mare Jebelle by Bentley (breeder: Peter Wendeln) also failed to qualify for the second round after a knockdown, as did Henning Athens and his Zangersheider Epleaser son, Exzellent Pleasure Z.

Matthias Gering and the Hanoverian mare Atlanta T by Alaba Junior (breeder: Heinz Teeuwen) received five penalty points.

Six-Year-Olds – Silver for Westphalia

: A horse registered in Belgium, a rider—in this case, a female rider—competing under the Irish flag—that was also the winning combination in the six-year-old division —except that in this case, it wasn’t a BWP mare but a Zangersheider gelding that outpaced the competition in the jump-off: Easy Peasy Indebus Z by Emerald-Baloubet du Rouet (breeders: D. van Tiburg Bvba & J. Thiry) ridden by Niamh McEvoy. From the Dutch maternal line of the Landras, two generations before Easy Peasy, came, among others, the magnificent sire Baltic VDL, successful at the 1.60-meter level.

The only medal for a German breeding region was won by the Westphalian stallion Django Z by Dourkhan Hero Z-Captain Fire, bred by Georg Sievert, a representative of the Holsteiner line 8777. The reason Django has a “Z” after his name is that Zangersheide Stud has already secured the talent. However, he is being trained at the stable of Christian Ahlmann, who is the partner of Zangersheide director Judy-Ann Melchior. Ahlmann’s top rider, Angelique Böckmann (née Rüsen), rode the stallion to the second-fastest time in the jump-off and won silver for Germany.

Third place—and thus the bronze medal—went to a French duo: Kelstar Derick, a son of Mylord Carthago and Jarnac, ridden by his owner, Emeric George. The chestnut gelding was bred by Elevage de Rick (which suggests he might also be named Quel Star de Rick).

German Results

Only one other German horse made it into the placings: the OS mare Nucri by Nucaro-Cornet’s Stern, who, however, is bred and owned by Ion Dumitru, a Romanian breeder and owner, and competed under the Romanian flag thanks to Luca Ruxandariu.

Kathrin Stolmeijer and the OS stallion Competent TS by Cascadello-Cador (breeder: Theodor Sporkmann), owned by Christian Kukuk, had one knockdown in the jump-off.

Katrin Eckermann and the OS mare Electra by Eldorado vd Zeshoek, bred by Gestüt Westfalenhof, failed to qualify for the jump-off after a knockdown in the regular course, as did the Holsteiner Association stallion Union City by United Way (breeder: Alf Bartholomäus) ridden by Lucas Wenz.

Seven-Year-Olds – Bronze for Ahlmann

Christian Ahlmann and the BWP stallion Toemme de Regor Z by Chacco Blue-Cento (breeder: Stal de Regor) were the last pair in the seven-year-old jump-off and had the chance to secure the title for Zangersheide Stud. The gray had already shown in the qualifiers why Zangersheide Stud had invested in him, and he jumped confidently in the final as well—though not quite fast enough. With a clear round in 36.69 seconds, he took bronze.

The title went to the Zangersheider mare Elotte Z by Eldorado van de Zeshoek out of a Larino dam, presented by Roosje Brouwer for the Netherlands (breeder and owner: Everse Horses). The mare is not only a talented athlete but also highly promising as a broodmare. Her Dutch granddam, Ilotte by Pilot, is the dam of Marcus Ehning’s Plot Blue. The mare clocked a time of 35.47 seconds.

The silver medal went not only to a Dutch dam line, but also to a horse registered with the KWPN: the Balou du Rouet-Quinar daughter Ortane, ridden by Max van de Poll. He is also the owner of the mare, bred by ZG Van de Linden/Van der Heijden, and rode her to second place with a time of 36.28 seconds.

More German results

:

Not a single one of the placed horses represented a German breeding association. However, another German rider was among the leaders: Kendra Claricia Brinkop rode the BWP mare To Me-K van Kattenheye by Van Gogh-Kannan (breeders: Tony and Annemarie Ramann-Strobba), she rode the horse with the fastest four-fault round in the jump-off, finishing in eighth place.

In addition, Angelique Böckmann had also advanced two horses to the final in the seven-year-old division, though both had eight faults in the standard course. One was the Zangersheider mare Themis Z by Taloubet Z-Action-Breaker (breeder: Ca Horse Sport Bvba), and the other was the Westphalian mare GSI Cornet’s Quick Lady by Cornet Obolensky-Quick Star (breeders: Wilhelm and Angelika Ording).

Conan Wright of Ireland presented I’m Special Bella GB by I’m Special de Muze-Balou du Reventon, an OS mare (breeder: Prior). The pair had twelve faults in the first round. Elmar Vinkelau fared the same way riding the Westphalian gelding Pegase’s Cambridge by Pegase van’t Ruytershof out of Cambridge, bred by Sportpferde Merschformann GmbH & Co. KG.

Patrick Stühlmeyer rode a French stallion owned by his boss, Paul Schockemöhle: Jagger Minotais by Cornet Obolensky out of Zandor. The stallion comes from a very interesting bloodline. The 1.60-meter mare Jumpy de Kreisker is his grandmother, as is Dexter de Kerglenn, among others. However, the pair suffered a serious fall today in Zangersheide. The stallion was taken to the clinic.

You can find all the World Cup results here.