The first participation in the World Young Horse Driving Championships by a Dutch delegation in seven years, held in Lamotte Beuvron, France, can be seen as a decisive success, thanks to a few Dutch driving experts. Wilbrord van den Broek finished in second place in the final with his Love to Dance LL, while Sabrina Melotti achieved an honourable third place with her eye-catching horse, Melotti Texel.

Both drivers established a strong basis with a good dressage test in the first part of the final yesterday. Today, they demonstrated consistency in the challenging and concluding part: the skill course with several marathon obstacles integrated. The course featured various zigzag lines. Wilbrord van den Broek guided his Love to Dance LL (Dancer x Jazz, breeder G. Jansen) through it effortlessly and quickly. The same was true for Sabrina Melotti with Melotti Texel (Edmundo x Lorton). Breeder and registered owner Natasja Garritsen-Berkelaar rode on the carriage during the victory lap after the official awards ceremony.

Perfectly organized
Rudolf Pestman, a well-known international driver and instructor, made his debut as Chef d'Équipe of the Dutch team: "It was a very well-organized competition on a beautiful venue, and everything was perfectly arranged. My knowledge of competitions came in handy, but the World Championships had some special rules. There were still quite a few things to be sorted out, and everyone was expected to be on time everywhere. Personally, I found the riding surface for young horses quite heavy. Due to a power outage last night, the pumps around the arena accidentally started, so the competition started a few hours later than initially planned this morning. The organization made every effort to get the surface back in good condition, and they succeeded wonderfully. All sections were judged by the same panel of judges."

Super good experience
"The judging was generally easy to understand, but I found the judging for the Five-Year-Olds to be stricter than for the Six- and Seven-Year-Olds. The last part of the competition was quite challenging for young horses. The course was filled with cones and gates. All in all, it was a superb experience for drivers and horses; the long journey, unfamiliar stables, and an internationally glamorous competition setup; a comprehensive package like you'll encounter later in two- and three-star competitions. I think most drivers don't come here to win but to give their horses valuable experience. It was great to see all the different horses from various countries, and even better that we're taking home a silver and a bronze medal."

Successful horses
Love to Dance LL and Melotti Texel were not the only successful KWPN horses at this World Championship. Just like last year, the bronze medal in the Seven-Year-Old category was won by L-Grappa WK (Grappa x Wolfgang), bred by W.J. Wensink and presented by Hungarian rider Agnes Paulovics.

Two times Jakarta
In the Five-Year-Old category, Nardus (Icellie x Unieko), bred by W.L. Ruinemans from Rhenen, finished in a respectable fourth place with the French rider Anne Violaine Brisou. Fellow countryman Tony Ecalle guided his No Diggity (Incognito x Sandro Hit), born at J.J. Kabel-van Riel's in Heiloo, to sixth place in the standings. Saskia Siebers finished seventh today with Nulleke TK (Jakarta x Londonderry), bred by P. Kuijpers from Nuenen and A. van de Tillaart from Zijtaart, and eighth with Noxander (Jakarta x Dramatic), bred by A.G.J. Strik from Bakel.

Potential talent
In the overall standings of the Six-Year-Olds, Norwegian Maria Henriksson finished fifth with Marko (Hertog Jan x Waldemar), bred by T.A. van Schip. Frenchman Michael Sellier followed in sixth place with Marijn (Eebert x Nando), born at A. van Bennekom's in Maasbommel. The eighth place in this category went to Swedish rider Annette Jönsson with her Mooi Zo W (Ditisem x Aron HBC). This beautiful brown horse was bred by G.A. Lueks in Diever. In the Seven-Year-Old category, Norwegian Britt Scharffenberg finished fifth with Leopold D van Altrido (Dark Pleasure x Patijn). This eye-catching horse was born in the Doornbos family in Beilen. All participants in this event showed great potential talent, and it is expected that we will hear more from them in the world of sports.

Text: GJ for KWPN
Photo: Wilbrord van den Broek with Love to Dance LL by Natasja Garritsen