2004 Oldenburg Stallion Licensing

R-line Stallions, From Apex to Nadir

What was for some the highlight horse of the evening, was considered to others an absolute dressage disaster. Rubin Royal (Rohdiamant x Grundstein II), the 2001 Hauptpremium Winner of Oldenburg, has become legendary for his unlimited trot. At the Althengst Parade, Rubin Royal was once again so extravagant and impressive in his trot by throwing his legs at the sky, his hind legs almost touching the girth. It is unbelievable to see this horse move. That is also why so many people were gasping for air when they saw this star horse move. From a dressage perspective, Rubin Royal was tense, very short in the neck, he didn't show a walk at all and lost rhythm regularly in his trot work. The Prix St Georges movements he showed were not always correct.

Of course, one has to take into consideration that the atmosphere at such an althengst parade is very electric and some horses blow their fuses at such parades. This can be said of experienced dressage horses such as Rubin Royal, who just became overcooked, and it can be said of youngsters such as Rubinero (Rubinstein x Ex Libris), who froze up and could not be presented properly by Lisa Wilcox. Same case with Roadster (Rohdiamant x Furioso II). We all remember last year when he threw Wilcox out of the saddle; this year Roadster tried to do it again, bucking a little bit and jumping on the spot. Wilcox kept her cool, tried to ride the horse in shoulder in to focus him on his work again, but the ship has sunk and Roadster was not his usual self. Fortunately, Wilcox had her highlight on Royal Diamond (Rubinstein x Inschallah AA). This dapple gray sire, who's an experienced Grand Prix horse, is "crowdproof" and stayed calm and collected. It was Wilcox' final public ride on a Vorwerk stallion, already having said goodbye to her German audience on Relevant at the CDI Oldenburg. Wilcox will be working in Switzerland from January 2005 onwards.

The R-line stallions, presented at the 2004 Althengst Parade, had their ups and down. One of them who definitely showed major improvement since his last outing was Rosentanz, the Danish owned Rohdiamant x Sao Paulo. Scoring 9s and 10s for his super canter and walk, Rosentanz' weaker point until now has been his trot. At the Althengst Parade, we finally saw Rosentanz really engage from behind, giving us a little taste of what's in store for the future. Rosentanz was presented together with two other 3-year olds, De Kuyper (De Niro x Figaro) who was absolutely a disaster with his stiff, phlegmatic movements, and Don Chico (Donnerhall x Rubinstein) who moved alright but was a very transparent horse, not leaving a lasting impression -- at least not on me. However, it is important not to forget that these 3-year olds are actually babies and one can not expect them to move like thoroughly schooled dressage horses.

Text and Images copyrighted Astrid Appels/Eurodressage. No reproduction Allowed

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