At the FEI WBFSH World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden, KWPN stallion Proud James earned the gold medal in the five-year-old class. Silver went to the Oldenburg mare Viva Diamond OLD, and bronze went to the Danish horse Straight Horse Leornardo.
In the final for five-year-olds, presented by Madeleine Winter-Schulze, a Danish rider rode two horses onto the podium: Mette Sejbjerg Jensen. Tears flowed, emotions ran high, and the winner explained almost shyly: “It was also a bit easy!” She rode Jameson RS2’s son Proud James to World Championship gold and Lord Europe’s son Leonardo to World Championship bronze, saying: “I am incredibly grateful to be able to ride two such high-quality horses. We prepared very carefully for this World Championship – and both the quality of the horses and the preparation make it really almost easy to ride to a medal. But I really enjoyed both horses here.“ Both are great to ride, intelligent, and both are ”showmen.“ ”They come into the arena, grow five centimeters, and rock it!“
Commentator Maria Colliander from Finland raved: ”The trot is very active, very elastic, very well balanced, and with a good swinging back.” The judges’ enthusiasm was reflected in the score of 9.3. The judges were also impressed by the ground-covering walk and the active uphill canter, awarding 8.3 and 9.0 respectively to the new world champion. “Consistent contact, swinging back, listening well to the rider” were the keywords used by the Finnish commentator to describe the horse’s suppleness, which was awarded a score of 9.2. The charming gray horse also received a 9.5 for his perspective. With a final score of 90.60 percent, it was clear: this was the gold medal.
Proud James is a son of Jameson RS2, who was bred by Dutchwoman Yolien van Maasacker out of a Glock’s Johnson dam. “I just wanted to breed a good dressage horse,” said the breeder. “I saw the sire Jameson and thought that with his energy and charisma, he would be a good match for my mare. And I think Proud James has the best of both his mother and his father.“ The world champion is under ownership of Helgstrand Dressage. ”I was having dinner in Amsterdam when I received a video,“ said Andreas Helgstrand. ”I watched it under the table, practically between the main course and dessert, and immediately said, ‘I’m buying him.’” A good decision.
Silver for Viva Diamond
“She was even better today than in the qualifiers,” explained World Championship newcomer Linda Weiß. “She had a little more of that ‘go’ in her today, like you need in a final.” With 89.20 percentage points, Viva Diamond OLD became vice world champion of the five-year-old dressage horses in the Horse24 Arena in Verden. The mare’s walk was outstanding, earning her a score of 9.3, by far the best walk score of the five-year-old finalists. “The walk was very accurate in rhythm,” praised Colliander, “very nicely relaxed and with good overreach.” The Vitalis daughter received 8.8 and 9.1 for her trot and canter, and twice 9.0 for her suppleness and perspective. Commenting judge Colliander described the trot as light-footed, rhythmical, and with good self-carriage, while the mare could have jumped a little more in the canter. “And for the future, we are certain that this horse has a lot of potential: the horse has a good attitude and very good basic gaits.”
The owner of Viva Diamond OLD is Judith Köppel from 360° Sportpferde, and breeder Anne Alberding bred the impressive mare out of Birkhof’s Don Diamond daughter Zauberhaft. The fan club behind the pair Weiß-Viva Diamond was also enchanting and impressive. With printed T-shirts, a fan garland, flags, and loud cheers, they turned the Horse24 arena into a fan zone for the vice world champion and her rider.
Bronze for Leonardo
Mette emphasized that Leonardo’s rideability is his great advantage. “He is super to ride, very intelligent, and very similar to James—except for his color,” grinned the double medalist, referring to the bronze medalist, who is a black horse. Mette Sejbjerg Jensen has been a stable rider at Helgstrand for ten years, has already presented five horses at the World Championships, has been in the final twice, but has never ridden a horse to a medal position. “Proud James and Leonardo are my best friends!”
Straight Horse Leornardo is a son of Lord Europe, the stallion who finished second in the 2023 Nürnberger Burg-Pokal final under Leonie Richter. The Hanoverian star sire De Niro is the dam’s sire of the Dane, who was bred and is under the ownership of Straight Horse ApS. The judges awarded him 8.8 (trot), 7.8 (walk) and 9.1 (canter) for his basic gaits, and 9.0 for suppleness and perspective. His bronze medal result at the World Championships was 87.40 percent.
At a glance:
The final field of five-year-olds consisted of nine stallions, four mares, and two geldings. Four horses in this final came from Dutch and Danish breeding, three Oldenburgers, two horses from the German Sport Horse Breeders’ Association, and one Hanoverian and one Westphalian completed the field.
High-quality starting field
Patricia Wolters, chief judge of the competition from the Netherlands, summed up: “The most important things for us when judging are good natural gaits, natural balance, a good attitude, and a harmonious presentation. We saw some horses that were a little tired, mostly those that qualified via the small final and had competed in one more test, but all in all we had a very high-quality starting field among the five-year-olds.”
The conclusion of tournament director Wilken Treu:
“We really had five great days, the feedback from the riders is really good, but of course we already have some ideas about what we can do even better next year. We want to develop the World Championships even more into an event for spectators and visitors, make it even more diverse. The auction and our charity campaign were the first building blocks on the way. We are really proud to be able to host the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses again and we will do our utmost to keep them here in Verden for as long as possible.”