The six-year-olds were the last to compete for the medals at the World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses. And what a suprising ending! Not the Gelder Henkie, but underdog Hermès won the last medal. The Easy Game-offspring was the first to start and lead the rankings for a long time, to eventually secure the bronze. The new world champion is d’Avie, a son of the KWPN-bred Don Juan de Hus (s.Krack C). Coming in second was Villeneuve, a descendant of the KWPN-recognized Vitalis. 

“A wonderful horse with lots of energy. Hermès keeps going and he wants to carry his own weight, very important in this sport”, commences commentating judge Isobel Wessels. The expressive trot yielded a 9. The walk displays long strides and good use of the body, an 8.6. The flying changes are outstanding in the canter and the KWPN-stallion shows his ability to extend and collect, an 8.5. A slightly less appealing halt brings down the grade for submission, an 8.5. The judges are enthusiastic about the possibilities of the Easy Game-son and gives a nine for perspective. “We see a horse with a big future ahead of him.” Total: 8.78 points. 

Surprise for Dinja van Liere

For Dinja van Liere it was a big surprise to end on the podium. “I opted for safe in the qualifcations, in the final I thought; let’s go and show them what he’s got. This turned out for the best. Hermès is a great horse, he shows a lot of Grand Prix-potential and I hope to show him a lot more. In my opinion, a horse for the future.”

Disruption interferes with medal for Henkie

Where Henkie seemed to hold all the right cards to take home a medal this year, the final test included to many glitches. The Alexandro P-son is a good horse in the eyes of the jury, but the disruption in the first series of flying chances and the loss of rhythm in the walk influenced the marks. “We see a lot of potential in the gaits of Henkie and even though this was not his best day today, we think it is a super horse and we have high expectations.” Total: 8.16 points an 8thplace. 

Tension suppresses score of Habana Libre A

The expressively trotting Habana Libre A was slightly tense in the final, but on behalf of the judges, Isobel Wessels expressed her appreciation about the way Diederik van Silfhout coped with it. “The trot has some incredible moments, but now and then the tension was noticeable. The walk was a bit tight and Habana Libre A did not show enough overtrack. The canter is clearly in a good rhythm and usually uphill. We would like to see more suppleness in the back and more ground cover in the extended parts.” Based on the tension, the mark for perspective got stuck at 7.8, but with the comment that the jury likes to watch the Zizi Top-son (out of Daiquiri A elite sport-dres IBOP-dres PROK D-OC by United, bred by Y. Ackermans of Heerewaarden). Total: 7.46 points and fourteenth. 

Participating KWPN-horses

Results