The Bundeschampionate 2013

The Bundeschampionate – the German National Championships – is simply one of the world’s great equestrian experiences; it is a time to greet old friends, to chat and share a glass of wine… But most of all it is a chance to watch the most wonderful selection of horses that comes together anywhere in the world in a perfect parkland setting, especially when Germany turns on brilliant sunny autumn weather… For the first three days at least!

 

From Left: Lord Carnaby and Beatrice Buchwald; Silver Black and Kira Wulferding; Sean Connery and Therese Nilshagen

From Left: Lord Carnaby and Beatrice Buchwald; Silver Black and Kira Wulferding; Sean Connery and Therese Nilshagen 

 

DRESSAGE HORSES – SIX YEAR OLDS

It’s hard when the first test is just so wonderful that everything after it looks ordinary, but that is just what happened in the first go-round of the 6-year-old Dressage Horses at this year’s Bundeschampionate. The Rheinlander stallion, Lord Carnaby (Lord Loxley / Rocket Star) looked so soft and in such wonderful self-carriage. He was ridden with delicate tact by Beatrice Buchwald, who spends part of her time each week working with Isabell Werth, and it shows. The trot work was great and the canter, even better, and three of his four flying changes, were fine.

The stallion is interestingly bred, he is by Lord Loxley, who was himself a young horse star, second at the World Young Dressage Horse Champs and a Bundeschampion in the 5-year-olds back in 2004. Lord Loxley was not a great success when tried in Grand Prix, and is now stationed at the Belgian stud, Gestüt Sonnenhof, just across the border from southern Germany. Lord Loxley is by one of  the early Bundeschampionate stars, Lord Sinclair, who won the 3-year-old stallion championship in 1997 and came back the following year to win the 4-year-old championship, after that his career was basically all downhill. Lord Sinclair was a lumpy looking thing, like a fat show hack. He competed with very limited success as an FEI level dressage horse, and when his mare book shrank from 100 plus in his glory years, to a handful, his owner retired him from breeding. Still, like all the super fashionable sires, he attracted more than his share of very good mares, and has produced some nice horses, although Lord Loxley is easily the nicest – perhaps this is because he is out of a Weltmeyer mare, from a very famous Hanoverian family.

I once asked that fount of knowledge of Hanoverian mare lines, Jens Meyer, about Lord Loxley. His reply is instructive:

“When you see Lord Loxley’s pedigree – I rode his dam, Weltlady by Weltmeyer. I rode Weinlady, the mother of Weltlady, and I knew her mother, the Domspatz mare. In the end, Lord Sinclair was a champion, he was a trot horse. This Weltmeyer mare, Weltlady scored over 8 in her performance test, and she was also a trot horse. She won material classes, and she was sold for big money to Belgium. Weinlady by Weingau, she was also a trot horse, she really could move, then comes Domspatz and then Marcio blood. In the end you have a really big chance, that you produce trot. And we need trot for the future.”

Lord Sinclair is also the sire of Birkhof’s Lord Leopold FBW (out of a Sandro Hit mare), who finished 11th in the class, while Lord Loxley is the sire of Lord Wallonia (Rembrandt) who finished 28th.

Lord Carnaby is out of a mare whose pedigree is solidly jumping focused: she is by Rocket Star, who combines Ramiro and Landgraf, out of a mare by the great Westfalien jumping sire, Pilot.

Lord Carnaby scored 9 for his trot, 9.5 for his walk, 9 for his canter, 8.5 for rideability and 9 for general impression and potential – for an overall score of 9. I think if he had appeared later in the day, the scores would have been higher.

The largest representation in the top 28 went to the ‘S’ line: Sandro Hit, himself, provided one, Silver Black who is out of a Donnerhall mare, Maradita from the famous chestnut mare line of Oldenburg master breeder, Georg Sieverding. The line descends from a Selle Français mare, Mexicane by Mexico (the full brother to Furioso II) purchased by Mr Sieverding in France while traveling with his mentor, Georg Vorwerk. Mexicane was bred to the Thoroughbred, Shikampur, and the daughter, Mon Amour, to Weltmeister, an influential Hanoverian stallion, to produce Maureen, who was then bred to the Holstein stallion, Classiker, a son of Calypso II, to produce Marella. Marella bred to Donnerhall produced Maradita, who is the dam of Sieger Hit who – ridden by Andreas Helgstrand – won the 5 and 6-year-old stallion championship at the 2011 Danish licensing. Silver Black is the full brother, originally called, as custom dictates, Sieger Hit II. At Warendorf, he was superbly shown by Kira Wulferding to finish equal 3rd on 8.4.

The other third placegetter was the Sandro Hit grand-son, Sir Cedric (Samarant / Argentinus). Another son, Stedinger (out of a Landadel mare), provided two of the top group, with Stand By Me (De Niro) in 6th, and Santiago (Dacaprio) in =11th.

Sir Donnerhall, who won the 5-year-old title in 2006 but has not competed since then, was easily the best represented with five in the top 28, the best of which was Sir Diamond (Rohdiamant) in =9th.

The judging was fairly easy to follow, with the judges, on the whole, rewarding relaxed and natural performances and putting down the fire-breathing spectacular style of earlier years.

In the final, Lord Carnaby produced an even more complete performance, his final flying change was so huge it produced a collective giggle of delight from the crowd, and Beatrice Buchwald once again showed him with grace and style. They were clearly the winners on a score of 9.2 (trot – 9, walk – 9.5, canter – 9, submissiveness – 9, general impression – 9.5) but I thought the judges could have been a might more appreciative of the test. It’s wonderful that we have moved into the new era of softer more natural tests, now the judges have to find the courage to award those big big marks they used to give in the bad old spectacular days, to those fire-breathing trots, and almost out-of-control canters, to the new under-stated style.

The Sir Donnerhall / Rotspon stallion, Sean Connery, ridden by the Swede, Therese Nilshagen, came up to place second: 8.6 (8, 8.50, 9.5, 8.5), with another Sir Donnerhall, Sir Diamond (out of a Rohdiamant mare) ridden by Lydia Camp, third on 8.5 (8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.5) and to complete the S line domination,  fourth went to Silver Black (Sandro Hit / Donnerhall) and Kira Wulferding on 8.4 (8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8, 8.5) equal with Laura Stigler and Doubleyou W (Don Romantic / Rohdiamant) with scores of 9, 8, 8.5, 8, 8.5.

From Left: QC Flamboyant and Marita Pundsack; Quaterhall and Wolfhard Witte; Soiree de Saumur and Ann-Kristin Dornbracht

From Left: QC Flamboyant and Marita Pundsack; Quaterhall and Wolfhard Witte; Soiree de Saumur and Ann-Kristin Dornbracht

 

DRESSAGE HORSES – FIVE YEAR OLDS

The 5-year-old first go round was again dominated by the S line. The winner, on a score of 8.7 was Soiree de Saumur is by the Sandro Hit son, San Amour, out of a mare by Latimer, the Trakehner stallion who won the 4-year-old stallion class in 2000. Second to Sir Heinrich (Sir Donnerhall / Fürst Heinrich), 8.6, third, Steppo (by Spielberg, by Sunny Boy by Sandro Hit, out of a mare by another Trakehner, Hohenstein), 8.5. Then in equal fourth, Simply Red (Sir Donnerhall / Wolkenstein II) ridden by the last of the old fire-breathing stars of the Bundeschamps, Holga Finken. All told there are seven ‘S’ representatives in the 26 that are placed in the class.

Once upon a time when we came to the Bundeschampionate, all the progeny of a particular stallion looked a lot the same, and we thought ‘wow, we are seeing a pre-potent sire here’. But in those older simpler times, the mares tended to come from the district where the stallion was stationed, and they had very similar pedigrees, since for generations that members of that mare family were taken to the local station to be bred and you ended up with a pretty homogenous mare band. Now with semen distributed all over the world, suddenly we are seeing much greater diversity in the stallion’s output.

Consider the Quaterback get at this year’s champs – and yes, Quaterback was the 3-year-old champion stallion back in 2006. There were four Quaterbacks, one after another in this class, and they all looked quite different. Quasar de Charry (out of a Wolkentanz II mare) is a cute little thing, like his dad, and like dad, chestnut with lots of chrome, but the stallion looks even smaller with the very very tall Ingo Pape on top. The horse has a flicky artificial trot and he is hot and distracted. They miss the cut on a 7.4.

The next horse in, is another stallion by Quaterback, this time, Quaterhall, out of a Donnerhall mare, ridden for the State Stud Celle by Wolfhard Witte. The dark chestnut is a better size with longer lines and a much nicer natural trot, and the judges award him a 9 for trot, an 8 for walk, and a 9 for canter, and they end up in =4th on a score of 8.5.

The next is Quatertime, out of a Donatelli mare. This is a big, soft moving horse, almost too laid back. They score 8.2. Then there’s Quirino-Rocco, out of a Piaster mare. A big bay gelding, the most normal looking of the four. A big trot, not at all flicky like his dad, and a again very ridable. Only 8 because of a 7.5 for walk.

In the end, there are four by Quaterback in the top 26. Two by Damon Hill, including Damon’s Satelite (out of the famous family of Rapunzel by Rubin-Royal, the gelding’s two sisters are Devine and Delorange). Satelite was ridden at the Worlds by Helen Langehanenberg, with the ride now taken over by the stallion’s owner’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Jil-Marielle Becks, and he gives her a lovely ride: that’s training AND breeding. Lord Loxley pops up again, with his daughter Loveliness (Latimer) in = 9th.

Marita Pundsack had to work hard to get QC Flamboyant to the final. The handsome stallion put together a lovely test in the first round, just a little hiccup in the counter canter, and a bit of clumsy judging – 6.5 for submission – saw them on 8 and missing the cut, even though he had marked 9 for trot, 8 for walk and 8.5 for canter. Marita held her nerve, won the Kleine Final, and with that the right to start in the Final.

In the Final, Marita simply outrode the rest on QC Flamboyant, who unlike some of this year’s field, really does look like a stallion. The trot was exquisite, and 9.5 was conservative, 8 for walk, a 9 for canter (mean!) and 8 for Duchlässigkeit, and 9 for potential produced a winning score of 8.7. The stallion is by Fidertanz who was a Vice-Champion at the Bundeschampionate as a 3-year-old. Fidertanz went on to compete in the Small Tour, with Marcus Gribb, but unlike his sire, Fidermark, never made it to Grand Prix. He is out of a mare by that marvelous source of dressage ability – De Niro.

Still it was a battle right down to the line, another of the endless line of elegant German young ladies, Anja Wilimzig produced another stunning test on Sir Heinrich (Sir Donnerhall / Fürst Heinrich) for four scores of 8.5, and a 9 for potential, just 0.1 behind the winner: 8.6.

Equal third to first round winner, Soiree de Saumur (by San Amour out of a Latimer mare) again sweetly shown by Ann-Kristin Dornbracht. The black mare has lots of ‘knee’ and could easily get passagey – but she didn’t, just a few contact issues, and the canter was tighter than the trot. 9, 8.5, 8, 8, 9 = 8.5.

She was equal with yet another elegant refined mare, For Countess Royal NG (by Florenciano, who is by Florencio out of a Dutch mare by Havidoff, out of a mare by another Bundeschamp star, Show Star) shown by Stefanie Wolf. 9, 8, 8.5, 8, 9 = 8.5.

Finally in fifth place we find a male rider, Wolfhard Witte, who put together a very cool test on Quaterhall, they had a little hiccup in the counter canter but the horse looked so rideable. 9, 8, 8, 8, 8.5 = 8.3.

Bundeschampionate

 Sandokan & Eva Bitter

 

FIVE YEAR OLD JUMPING

Stakkato, who came out and amazed the world when he won the 5 year-old Championship at the 1998 Bundeschampionate, is the dominating sire in this year’s 5-year-old class after the first go round. He is the sire of three of the top 25, and in number one spot is his son, Sandokan, out of a Landor S mare, and ridden by Eva Bitter who rode Stakkato throughout his career. After the first round, Sandokan, received that traditional Bundeschampionate award, a purchase offer from Paul Schockemöhle, which was, seemingly, accepted.

Still the most influential line is the Holsteiner C line, with over half, 18 out of the top 30. Three stallions put two each into the top 30: Casall (Caretino / Lavall) who once again starred for Sweden at the Euros, just a fortnight before the Bundeschampionate, Colman (Carthago / Lord) and the mysterious Cassini Boy Junior (Cassini I / Caretino) whose only competition result that I can find for 2013 is 13th in a two star Grand Prix in Beijing, ridden by Li Zhengiang.

It really is amazing that Cor de la Bryère stood his first season in Holstein in 1971 and ever since then, the canny breeders in the marshes, have crossed his line over that of Capitol and back again, over and over, and just tweaked the mixture along the way, a different Thoroughbred stallion here, a little outcross here, and nearly 50 years later, the recipe keeps producing the goods.

The Germans were for a long time suspicious of the other French stallions but they too are moving into the German breeding scene; in our top 25 we have three times the influence of Quidam de Revel, once through his son, Nabab de Reve, and through his grand-sons, Quality and Quinta Real while Balou du Rouet brings the blood of Galoubet to a representative from Hannover, despite his grandma being a Trotter and the Hanoverian ‘ban’ on trotting blood!

After the final, Sandokan and Eva Bitter are way out in front with scores of 9.5 and 9.7. His nearest rivals, Congo-Bongo (Cassini Boy Junior / Kigali) and Otmar Eckermann are on 8.8 and 9.2 then follow:  Cabana (Carrico / Lord Kemm), Calino (Calico / Corofino), Cornwall (Cornet Obolensky / Contender), Cornet (Celestial / Figaro), Casaltina (Casall / Corrado), Cosby (Contendro I / Landadel) and rounding out the 10, Callum (Casall / Alcatraz).

Qinghai & Guido Klatte Jnr

 Qinghai & Guido Klatte Jnr

 

JUMPING HORSES – SIX YEAR OLDS

The top 30 after the first round of the 6-year-olds, is a more mixed lot without quite the C domination at the 5-year-olds. Only 14 of the top 30 come from the Holsteiner C lines.

The leading horse, the Westfalen mare, Lady Alida is a cutting edge blend. She is by the Westfalen stallion, Lenardo, who has an infusion of Dutch blood since he is by Lupicor by Lux – although Lux takes us back to Holstein with a dash of Lord, two shots of Corde, and a splash of Almé. Lenardo is out of a mare by the Holsteiner, Lancer II, and then it’s the Westfalen great, Pilot. Lady Alida’s dam is Westfalen aristocracy: she is by Polony, as son of Polydor, then we find Paradox, Frühling, Romulus I and the ever-so-important Thoroughbred, Angelo xx. It is an interesting way of breeding that absorbs the new, while keeping a firm regional foundation.

Then the net is thrown wide, with only two stallions with more than one representative in the top 30. The Holsteiner, Cristallo, by Caretino out of a Cicero mare, has two representatives. The horse was a star on the international circuit with Richard Spooner and is one of the very few C-liners with no Capitol blood; three crosses of Corde – leaving him with 45% ‘blood’. The other stallion with two, is Lazio, Westfalen bred, by Lancer II out of a Cor de la Bryère mare. Lazio was ridden by Gilbert Böckmann from Bundeschampionate to Grand Prix level before the ride went to Cassio Rivetti, who rides for the Ukraine.

Lancer II (Landgraf / Fantus) died at a couple of weeks before the Bundeschampionate at the age of 27. Although he was the champion of his licensing in 1988, he finished 25th out of 66 at his performance test and was never competed. He stood at a succession of breeding stations, starting in Holstein, then a stint in Spain for a couple of years, some time in Luxemburg before finishing his life at Gunter Hoffmann’s station in Grosskochberg, Germany. He was the sire of 30 licensed sons, including the licensing champion, Lamont and the HLP winner, Lancaster, and over 50 states premium mares.

In the final it was a victory for Qinghai ridden by Guido Klatte Jnr (and victory for the Oldenburg OS jumping book). The gelding is by Quidam de Revel and out of a mare by the stallion, Cordalme Z, who Guido’s uncle, Gilbert rode with such success. Cordalme Z is by Cor de la Bryère and out of an Almé mare, more French influence.

With the second horse, Caillou, we are back to the old Holsteiner recipe, Corde and Capitol. The gelding is by Casall out of a Corrado mare.

The third horse is much the same with one of those little twists to keep the mix fresh. Zaminta is by Cormint (Calido / Carthago) out of a mare by the Almé grandson, Acord II, and on the next line, the Thoroughbred Mytens, who stood in Holland.

For a while it looked as if the Hanoverian breeders had lost the plot when it came to breeding jumpers, but a foresighted program put into place by Dr Ludwig Christmann, persuaded the breeders not to try and breed dressage horses out of their good jumping mares, but to breed for jumping. Certainly we are now starting to see the results.

Exactly half the top ten bore the Hanoverian brand: In fourth, Cinsey (Contendro I / For Pleasure), sixth, Edelmann (Escudo / Stakkato), seventh, Inliner (Iberio / Sao Paulo), eighth, Clementine RS (Catoki / Laptop) and tenth, Flommy Fly (Forsyth / Acord II).

The rest were Holsteiners: the fifth placegetter, Conquest (Caretino / Quidam de Revel) and ninth, Dylon (Diamant de Sémilly / Carry)

Left to Right: Cindy and Hermann Gerdes; DSP Belantis and Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn; Escolar and Hermann Burger

Left to Right: Cindy and Hermann Gerdes; DSP Belantis and Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn; Escolar and Hermann Burger 

RIDING HORSES

Over in the Riding Horse ring, the 4-year-old Mare and Gelding class, is a runaway win for the most delightful brown Oldenburg mare, Cindy (Sir Donnerhall / Fürst Heinrich) ridden brilliantly by Hermann Gerdes. She is the perfect modern type, refined, in beautiful balance and a wonderful mover.

Second – Brancusi (Kaiserdom / Curpic xx), third – Saphira Royal NG (San Amour / Montedverdi).

If I was in total accord with the judges in this class, the same cannot be said for the 4-year-old Stallions. Once the stallion classes were a real highlight of the Bundeschampionate, with the state studs and the big private stallion stations sending their young champions to do battle, with the stands packed with supporters, sitting in their groups, waving their colours and cheering like a footy crowd. Now, the risk is seen as being way too high, in these precarious times where less and less mares are being bred, a poor performance at Warendorf can have disastrous economic consequences, and the exhibitors tend to be the very rich who don’t have to worry about where their next service fee is coming from.

Still it is a very fine line up of young stallions, except, I find it hard to understand the judges’ enthusiasm for the winner, Escolar (Estobar / Fürst Piccolo) who won the 3-year-old class last year. Estobar is one of those stallions famous for having starred at the Licensing and Performance test, and fetched a huge price at the stallion auction, but then not much after that. He injured himself while in training with Hubertus Schmidt, who had competed him at small tour level, and was to concentrate on his stud duties before returning to the competition ring in mid 2013…

I just don’t like the bay Escolar – for me his neck is too low set, and his movement lacks real suppleness and flow, but then again, I am wildly in love with the stallion that finished 5th, DSP Belantis – and it is not just because the grey is ridden by the glamorous Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn. Belantis is from the Brandenburg Stud, by the champion 3-year-old stallion at the 2007 Bundeschampionate, Benetton Dream, but I have been in love with his mother, Philharmonie, ever since she nudged me with her exquisite head in the middle of the brood mare band at Neustadt-Dosse, a couple of years back. She is from the other ‘P’ line, not the Poesie one, but a line that has still produced some wonderful horses. Her sire, Expo’se is a nice mixture of Holsteiner and Thoroughbred (58% blood) while her dam, Pirouette is one of the very first foals by Sandro Hit.

Belantis is soft and flowing in his movement, and represents a very interesting outcross, even if the judges don’t like him, I’d send him a mare…

There were two stallions tied in second place: Danzarino (Diamond Hit / Laurentio) a chunky chestnut, shown with her usual professional flair by Oldenburg breeding manager, Katrin Burger.

Left to Right: Bodyguard and Jana Freund; Damon's Dream and Sandra Frieling; Furst Fohlenhof and Lisa Neukater

Left to Right: Bodyguard and Jana Freund; Damon’s Dream and Sandra Frieling; Furst Fohlenhof and Lisa Neukater

Bodyguard (Burlington / Pil L), the other horse in equal second, is really interesting. Everyone knows that Breitling has a wonderful ability to sire Grand Prix dressage horses but they do tend to be ugly brutes (if you want an example take a look at Bobcat, ridden in the 6-year-old dressage class by Isabel Bache) so the real breeders art is to get the dressage ability in an attractive package. Bodyguard is by Burlington, one of the rising stars of German dressage, who is by Breitling but out of a mare by that very attractive stallion, Rohdiamant. Burlington was seemingly used as a breeding stallion before he was acquired by mega-talented young rider, Charlotte-Maria Schümann, and when he covered a mare by Pik L (by Pik Bube II) we end up with Bodyguard, who looks exactly like his dad, Burlington, and not at all like his grand-dad, Breitling. Now we only have to wait for five years or so, to see if Bodyguard has the Breitling flair for the tricky bits…

In the 3-year-old Mares and Geldings, the three that came to the final were pleasant types but showed their youth and lack of experience – what more can you expect from babies. By the time the guest riders made their appearance, the three candidates were a bit distracted by the continuous folding and unfolding of umbrellas in the grandstands. The champion is Damon’s Dream, out of a Fürst Heinrich mare, proving Damon Hill doesn’t just work with the Rubin-Royal mother of the three young stars – although Dream is a similar type. Damon’s Dream had three lovely basic gaits but was a little unbalanced and rolled over at times.

Second went to Biscaya, Oldenburg branded but by the Dutch stallion, Bordeaux, out of a mare by the French stallion, Quattro B – she looked as though she needed good feed, fine and calm, but lacking sparkle.

Third to the gelding Fresh Chilli, by Fürst Romancier out of a Rotspon mare (who is now in WA) from the famous Hof Brüning Red Hot Chilli family.

There was only one stallion worth looking at in the 3-year-old class. Fürst Fohlenhof, by Fidertanz of a mare by the Trakehner stallion, Mephistopheles. A beautifully balanced horse, nice mover, very calm especially for his age – he flowed through his body, and really looked like young stallion material.

The chief executive of the German Equestrian Federation, Sönke Lauterback  looks a bit more like a rock star than your average CEO, especially an Equestrian CEO, plus he is amazingly frank and open – ask him tough questions, and you get intelligent, well thought out answers. So when I chided him on the decision to hold to the traditional Bundeschampionate dates next year, so that it clashed with the second week of the WEG in Caen, he took the question seriously and outlined the reasons, stressing that they had thought long and hard and looked at lots of alternatives in an effort to avoid the clash. The major problem was the flow on effect on an already packed German equestrian calendar, but he also mentioned that one week later, the weather would be even more unpredictable…

Sönke’s concerns were, alas, only too real for by Saturday evening, the weather turned. As the clouds gathered in the sky, our waiter that evening informed us that the forecast was that the rain would start at eleven that night, and continue for the next four days!

Sure enough, it is pouring rain as we drive out next morning for the final day but as it turns out, it is not so terrible, the rain held off for most of the day, and the competition was, as always, wonderful.

Left to Right: Chipmunk and Julia Krajewski; Fracka Findus and Sarah Algotsson-Ostholt; Valentino Now and Sandra Auffarth

Left to Right: Chipmunk and Julia Krajewski; Fracka Findus and Sarah Algotsson-Ostholt; Valentino Now and Sandra Auffarth

EVENTING YOUNG HORSES

There is a new buzz around eventing breeding in Germany, which is not surprising given the rise-and-rise of the German team, and the success of German bred horses at the European Championships, suddenly there are buyers from all over the world looking for their next 4-star star, but it might be noted, that while the Bundeschampionate is being run, the scores are coming in from Burghley, and the top ten is dominated by Thoroughbred, and more Thoroughbred blood.

The winner at Burghley, Clifton Promise, NZ Thoroughbred; second, Avebury, three quarters Thoroughbred; third – Nereo, half Thoroughbred; fourth – Parklane Hawk, another Kiwi Thoroughbred; fifth – Butts Abraxxas, 63/64ths Thoroughbred; sixth – The Deputy, half Thoroughbred; seventh – Oloa, is by Anytime, a grandson of the Dutch jumping star, Animo out of a Thoroughbred, his dam is an Irish Sport horse; eighth – Calico Joe, Thoroughbred; ninth – King Bob, at least half Thoroughbred and tenth, De Novo News, by the Thoroughbred showjumper, Last News out of a Selle Français mare.

There is not quite so much ‘blood’ in the fields at Warendorf, but it is still there. The winner of the 5-year-old Championship is Chipmunk, by the Hanoverian, Contendro I, who according to the splendid Horse Telex site which calculates the proportion of Thoroughbred and Arabian blood, is 45.7% ‘blood’ and out of an Heraldik xx mare.  Second to Kerry M, by the Holsteiner Canto, but out of a Trakehner mare by Consul (by Swazi xx) out of a mare by Sacramento Song xx – that’s 59.57% blood. Third, Percy, a Westfalien, by Primeur’s As out of a Rivelino xx mare. Fourth, Cabana S (by Cornello – 56.45% – out of a mare by Calato, 49.8%) and fifth, Saint-Germain, by the Sandro Hit son, Santino out of a mare by Londonderry (by Lauries Crusador xx).

The winner of the 6-year-old young eventers championship, is the Holsteiner, Calle, ridden by the Swedish rider, Louise Svennson-Jähde. Calle is by Cristo (Contender / Carthago) out of a mare by Quebec by the French jumping sire, Quick Star. With just 40.23% blood, the gelding is the exception to the rule. Second, Lemondo by Ligretto, a grand-son of Lemon xx out of a mare by the three-quarters Thoroughbred, and international eventing star, Volturno. Lemondo is out of a mare by the Anglo Arab, Mont du Cantal, out of a Volturno mare. That’s 61.33% blood, and what blood!

And that was it for 2013. Alas we will miss the 2014 Bundeschampionate because of the clash with the WEG, but we’ll be back for sure come 2015. It’s that kind of show.