VR CLASSICS meets FEI Dressage World Cup: Europe's dressage stars come to Neumünster
Neumünster – In just a few days it will start, the penultimate World Cup station before the grand finale in Leipzig is coming up: on February 19th and 20th the VR CLASSICS meets FEI Dressage World Cup will take place in the Holstenhallen Neumünster. The sporting importance is high, since World Cup stations have recently been canceled again, there are before the final from 6.-10. April only very few opportunities to collect valuable points to qualify.
The opportunity that the VR CLASSICS meets FEI Dressage World Cup offers international dressage sport is therefore gladly used. The participants come from a total of eleven nations, with riders from seven nations taking part in the World Cup tour alone. The field of participants is exquisite, three of the four victorious German riders at the European Championships 2021 in Hagen a.T.W. start the journey to Schleswig-Holstein. Isabell Werth (Rheinberg) is already set for Leipzig as the defending champion, the question still remains as to who will be her final partner. The record holder of the World Cup Freestyle in Neumünster is currently still on the list of participants with three horses. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (Aubenhausen) relies on her successful partner TSF Dalera BB, Helen Langehanenberg (Billerbeck) brings the Holstein mare Annabelle with her. All three are already in top World Cup form, which they were able to prove with victories in the stages in Lyon, Zakrzow and Madrid. Also for Benjamin Werndl (Aubenhausen) and Famoso OLD, success on the World Cup tour is not unknown
Denmark also has a very experienced championship team: Catherine Dufour, who competed at the 2021 European Championships in Hagen aT.W. Bronze in the team and individual rankings, but has her up-and-coming star Vamos Amigos with her. Charlotte Heering and Nanna Skodborg Merrald ride Bufranco and Blue Hors Zack. Dressage fans can also look forward to Sweden's No. 1 Patrik Kittel and his new four-legged partner, Blue Hors Zepter. The couple will take their first test in Neumünster, but Kittel is already enthusiastic about training with Zepter on his Instagram page.
The Olympic rider Kristy Oatley, who lives in Hamburg but competes for Australia, uses the “home advantage” in Neumünster with her Du Soleil.
All tests of the dressage version of the long-standing international horse show will be streamed live on ClipMyHorse.tv or FEI-TV. The program, made possible by the organizers together with partners and sponsors, includes a total of six tests over two days.
Loyal partners make sport possible
The project would be unthinkable without the support of long-standing partners and sponsors, above all the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken and the VR Bank between the seas. The title sponsor of the VR Classics is one of the supporting pillars of the international horse show in Neumünster. "We are very pleased that the Dressage World Cup is stopping off in Neumünster at the weekend," emphasizes Ulf Paetau for the title sponsor, "the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken have been supporting the VR CLASSICS for decades and that's why it's great to be able to see top-class sport again. Some spectators will enjoy watching the World Cup dressage. We are already looking forward to when it will hopefully be said again in 2023: The VR Classics with a full, great program will start in Neumünster.”
The joint effort - above all with the support of the riders and their patrons - and the commitment of the horse town of Neumünster to the event make the dressage version of the VR CLASSICS possible.
