In the Small Final of seven-year-olds at the FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Verden, La Jolie SW OLD took the victory, with second place going to Sullivan ABN ahead of Felice FRH.
“It seems we need a bit of pressure,” smiles Carina Scholz as she dismounts the elegant Escamillo daughter, La Jolie. Just like last year, day one did not go optimally for the pair, but the Small Final went all the better, yielding a score of 76.411 percent. The Oldenburg mare received 83.00 percent in the quality score, with her walk being the absolute highlight (8.5), while receiving 68.036 and 71.607 percent for the technical execution. Thus, just as she did last year, La Jolie secured her ticket to Sunday’s World Championship Final by winning the Small Final, contested today as the Prize of Madeleine Winter-Schulze.
“She was completely different today right from the start compared to yesterday,” Carina Scholz explains. “Relaxed, easygoing, simply wonderful. I arrived a day earlier this year because she was also a bit tense in the first round last year. But still… she tends to tense up inwardly, even though she is actually a horse that loves to showcase herself.” Overall, the mare is a very special horse, Scholz adds. “She is on the smaller side, but she has such a presence in the arena. In the trot tour, I really only have to steer and enjoy, which is a fantastic feeling. The canter is still a bit more difficult for her because she has a big, quite power-consuming stride, but it keeps getting better. She just needs another six months.”
La Jolie was bred by hobby breeder Sabine Wehle, who still owns the mare. Out of the Hanoverian dam Laissez-Fair by Londonderry, Wehle has bred several foals, all of them successful, but La Jolie is the first to compete at a World Championship – and now for the second time.
Second place, with 74.729 percent, went to the Holsteiner Sullivan ABN, a son of Secret out of a Carpaccio dam bred by Anja Nygaard. The runner-up is owned by Michael Kramarsch and was presented by Nina Verina Braun. Felice FRH followed in third place with 74.242 percent (B.: Rene Janzen, Owner: Ingo Pape and Ken Steele). With a score of 9.0, the Fürst Samarant daughter received the highest trot score of the entire field. As was the case last year, Greta Heemsoth was in the saddle. She had previously ridden the Hanoverian mare to the title at the 2024 Bundeschampionate and also guided her into the final for six-year-old dressage horses at the World Championships in Verden last year.
These top three from the Small Final have successfully secured their tickets for Sunday. The World Championship Final for seven-year-old dressage horses begins on Sunday at 09:30 AM in the HORSE24 Arena
Salvino for Charity
On the final Sunday of the World Championships, the hammer will fall in Verden for a charity campaign. This initiative supports the Hamburg Familienhafen, an outpatient children’s hospice service for Hamburg and the surrounding region. The item up for auction is a Breyer® model horse of the Hanoverian Olympic mount Salvino, signed with the original autographs of German championship riders. The auction will take place directly before the five-year-old dressage horse final in the Horse24 Arena.
Miesner’s World Championship Message
Dr. Klaus Miesner, Managing Director of Breeding at Pferdesport Deutschland (German Equestrian Federation): “The Verden concept introduced last year, splitting the venues into a dedicated World Championship Arena and the young horse event on the other arena, has been extremely well received. It is truly outstanding. The feedback from so many different groups is exceptionally positive. Everyone is completely satisfied with the event, the arenas, the hospitality, the stabling area, etc.—it is really wonderful all around. Personally, I would also like to pay great respect to the Technical Delegate and the veterinarians; they handle the processes on-site in a highly professional manner that fully supports the sport. For next year, I hope for good weather again, the same wonderful, highly dedicated team, and even more spectators. You feel genuinely welcome here. Thus, the message we can share with all horse enthusiasts is: come here, it is absolutely worth it.”
World Championship Tip:
Tonight, Saturday (August 8), starting at 6:00 PM, the food court will feature upbeat music from the band “that plays wherever there is fun to be had”: The Speedos. Admission to the World Championship grounds is free starting at 5:00 PM!