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2006
World Cup Finals
Isabell Werth Back in the Big Time
 After the retirement of Gigolo five
years ago, Isabell Werth has been struggling hard
to reclaim the limelight and to be back on the highest
eschelons of the dressage sport. At first sight,
the Hanoverian gelding Satchmo seemed to be her number
one star ride. She rode a
world record
Grand Prix score with him at the CDI Stuttgart, but
his Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde personality makes him an unreliable
ride. Surprisingly it's the huge Hanoverian gelding
Warum Nicht FRH (by Weltmeyer x Wenzel) that has proven
to be the most loyal and valuable to her.
At the 2006 World Cup Finals, Isabell and Warum Nicht
FRH rode to unprecedented high scores and placed second
behind Anky van Grunsven with 81.150%. Werth rode Warum
Nicht (also known as "Hannes) to Apache OLD's freestyle,
which featured Land of Hope and Glory, a popular tune
that returned in three kurs in the A-finals. Especially
the extensions with great overtrack were beautiful
and throughout the piaffe and passage, Werth maintained
an exemplary light contact with the bit, even though
Hannes came a bit deep in the piaffe at times.
 "I'm very happy with my ride today because it was
very consistent. Hannes stayed focused throughout the
test and was relaxed," she explained. In the award
ceremony, Werth thanked the audience for being so supportive
and added that "this should be an example for Germany."
Her plans for the future are preparing her horses for
the qualifiers for the German Dressage Championships.
With Satchmo she'll be riding at the CDI Hagen next
week and with Hannes, she will do one outdoor show.
Text
and Photos copyrighted Astrid Appels/Eurodressage
- No reproduction allowed without permission
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