Cream pieces in the Schlosspark

The Schafhof stallion, Maddox Mart, ridden by Jessica Lynn Thomas, secured victory in the second test with a score of 8.94. "We saw a very nice, even trot, with a wonderful natural cadence and very good hindquarter activity when reinforced," commented international five-star judge Katrina Wüst. "The absolute highlight was the canter, which came very close to what you ideally want." The trot was given an 8.8, the walk 7.8 and the canter 9.5. There was a 9.3 for both permeability and perspective. The KWPN stallion Maddox Mart is a Hennessy son out of a Bordeaux dam. The Schafhof stallion has been with Jessica Lynn Thomas for further training since the end of last year, the aim being the World Championships for young horses this year. 16 five-year-olds took up the challenge of the Wiesbaden Castle Square, seven of which the judges judged in perspective with a smooth 8 and higher.

Borghese MT and Diaton dominated the six-year-old classes. The Dimaggio son Diaton under the saddle of Nicole Wego-Engelmeyer won on day one with a score of 9.02 and a very consistent performance: Four of the five scores were above 9, the canter was rated 8.5. The Benetton Dream grandson is owned by Perfect International Equine Inc.

On day two the imposing chestnut Borghese MT by Baccardi-Laureus demonstrate his qualities even better under Dorothee Schneider. While he was still quite impressed by the backdrop of Wiesbaden in the first test, he showed himself to be more concentrated and relaxed in the arena the second time. "A real athlete who knew how to present himself well here today," commented international five-star judge Christof Umbach. "Very nicely cadence in the trot, always engaged from the hind leg and already very nice to carry." The step goes safely through the body and is diligently stepping down. “The real highlight was the canter today. Always with an uphill tendency, always jumping off the ground, balanced and with a lot of power and ground gain in the canter." The individual marks for the chestnut owned by Elisabeth Max-Theurer were 8.9 for the trot, 8.8 for the walk, 9.3 for canter and also for patency and 9.5 for perspective. Resulted in a total score of 9.16, which meant victory.

The starting field for the six-year-olds was small but very fine: seven horses were at the start, four of which were rated above 8 overall. The winners of the seven-year-olds: Zahin by Dancer and Prince Kennedy OLD by princely look. The Stieglmaier family discovered Zahin as a yearling and trained him himself. Under Franziska Stieglmaier, the beautiful Hanoverian won on day one with 78.539 percent.

On day two, Oldenburg's Fürst Kennedy took the lead under Joao Pedro Moreira and owned by Roberto Pedrosa, Haras do Drosa. His result: 80.329 percent. The seven-year-olds were also commented on by an international five-star judge, this time by Dr. Evi Eisenhardt: "We saw an expressive, regular trot, with an active hind leg and good collection ability - both in the trot and in the canter." The walk was clear, regular and relaxed with good crossing. "We would have liked the canter to be a little more elastic at first, but then he really impressed us with his pirouettes." The Fürstenlook son received 8.8 for the trot, 8.5 for the walk and 8.3 for the canter, 8 .5 for permeability and 8.8 for perspective. This resulted in an 85.80 percent for the quality. In addition, the seven-year-olds received a grade for technique, for which the winner received 74.857 percent, resulting in a final grade of 80.329 percent - victory just ahead of Zahin with 80.286 percent.

Ten seven-year-old youngsters traveled to the castle park, some were very impressed by the scenery and were not yet able to present themselves optimally, all of them took a lot of experience with them. The international tour for five, six and seven-year-old dressage horses in Wiesbaden is fully supported by the Liselott and Klaus Rheinberger Foundation. (KiK/pe&pa)