2004 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses

Brave Effort of Dresemann

July 14, 2004

We want to compliment owner Theodor Schurf and stallion keeper Matthieu Beckmann for their bravery of bringing Dresemann back to the public. When Dresemann won the Bundeschampionate two years ago with the highest points (four 10's) ever given by judges at that show, the stallion made his fame for life and no longer needed to prove himself in the show ring. It was generally known that Dresemann would not return to the Bundeschampionate and it was questionable whether the black Hanoverian stallion by Daidalos x Wolkenstein II would ever see the show ring again. Fortunately, Dresemann was selected to compete at the World Championships and we were very eager to see this black star move.

What strikes first upon seeing Dresemann, besides his beauty of course, it his beautiful front leg. What shoulder freedom and elegance! And fortunately, Dresemann is not too bad behind either. He's not a hindquarters wonder, but he definitely exceeds average hind leg quality.

Ridden by Oeliver Oelrich and not his steady rider Elisabeth Niehues-Rembeck, Dresemann had a good first round in which the trot was the best movement. The canter was very good, but the walk could show more overtrack. The pair finished 9th with 8.42.

In the finals, Dresemann started with a superb trot tour. "His trot is powerful, uphill, active and free in the shoulder," Loriston-Clarke said. Dresemann was on his way to a very high score, when he suddenly saw a ghost in the distance which scared him. The wind blowing hard in the arena did not help either to make the black stallion relax, so he spooked quite hard and cut corners at C. The canter was, therefore, more tense, but the horse still showed a fantatic extended canter.

It was a pity that Dresemann tensed up so much, causing him to lose several points. The pair finished 13th with 7,52, but nobody in the audience cared that the horse had a bad day. The crowds gave him a big round of applause and everyone knew that he has champion's potential and a bright future ahead of him.

Text and photo copyrighted Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed!

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