Ellen Schulten-Baumer Wins First Piaff Forderpreis
Ever
The
finals of the Piaff Forderpreis at the CDI-W in Stuttgart,
Germany, were the occassion for a rare moment in the
equestrian world. All eight finalists went to the sponsor
of the Piaff Forderpreis to personally thank him for
organizing and financing this new initiative on the
German Dressage Scene. Klaus Rheinberger, chairman of
the Liselott Schindling Foundation for the Promotion
of Dressage, was the brain and wallet behind the Piaff
Forderpreis, which was named after Liselott Schindling's
legendary Grand Prix horse Piaff.
The Piaff Forderpreis is a prize to be won by Grand
Prix riders under the age of 25 through a series of
qualifiers and a final. It was Ellen Schulten-Baumer
who took away the first ever overall Piaff Forderpreis.
"I speak for my collegues as well when I saw that
we are very much aware of the rareity of this circuit
and finals which took place at the biggest dressage
competitions in Germany," Schulten-Baumer stated.
With
1447 points, the 22-year-old Schulten-Baumer won the
finals aboard the Hanoverian Lesotho (by Lauries Crusador
xx). "My horse still has so much potential and
next year I will ride Grand Prix with him. We're getting
our feet wet at that level and then see what happens,"
Schulten-Baumer explained. Trained by her stepfather
Dr Uwe Schulten-Baumer, Ellen is the number one rider
of his barn since Isabell Werth left for Madeleine Winter-Schulze.
"Der Doktor" also received an honorary award
as he was the trainer of the winning combination. "We
want to encourage trainers to get their students to
Grand Prix level through this prize," German Dressage
Team trainer Holger Schmezer said.
Cora Jacobs finished second on Granat with 1370 points.
Jacobs is trained by Christoph von Daehne. Tina Wehlmann
ended third aboard Whenever. The reserve European Young
Riders Champion (in 1999) recently switched trainers.
She went from Hermann Gossmeier to Rudolf Zeilinger.
The
finals of the Piaff Forderpreis at the CDI-W in Stuttgart,
Germany, were the occassion for a rare moment in the
equestrian world. All eight finalists went to the sponsor
of the Piaff Forderpreis to personally thank him for
organizing and financing this new initiative on the
German Dressage Scene. Klaus Rheinberger, chairman of
the Liselott Schindling Foundation for the Promotion
of Dressage, was the brain and wallet behind the Piaff
Forderpreis, which was named after Liselott Schindling's
legendary Grand Prix horse Piaff.
With
1447 points, the 22-year-old Schulten-Baumer won the
finals aboard the Hanoverian Lesotho (by Lauries Crusador
xx). "My horse still has so much potential and
next year I will ride Grand Prix with him. We're getting
our feet wet at that level and then see what happens,"
Schulten-Baumer explained. Trained by her stepfather
Dr Uwe Schulten-Baumer, Ellen is the number one rider
of his barn since Isabell Werth left for Madeleine Winter-Schulze.
"Der Doktor" also received an honorary award
as he was the trainer of the winning combination. "We
want to encourage trainers to get their students to
Grand Prix level through this prize," German Dressage
Team trainer Holger Schmezer said. 
