Ludwigsburg: Wins for Schneider and Kittel

The premiere should have already taken place last year, but Corona put a spoke in the wheel. Now the first international Ludwigsburg Dressage Festival could take place at the Schlossdomäne Monrepos as a four-star CDI. The victories in the main competitions were shared by Patrik Kittel from Sweden and Dorothee Schneider from Framersheim.

Ullrich Kasselmann and his son Francois are truly experienced show organizers, as evidenced by the annual season-opening classic, "Horses an Dreams," and the Future Champions youth tournament, as well as major events such as the European Championships at their own facility in Hagen a.T.W. Kasselmann had long wanted to organize another dressage tournament with an appealing ambience outside the Osnabrück region. He found what he was looking for at the gates of Stuttgart. The stately Monrepos Castle in Ludwigsburg offered a suitable setting. The local riding and driving club with its chairman Dr. Werner Hildenbrand reacted enthusiastically. Kasselmann's company Horses and Dreams Entertainment GmbH got the project off the ground, and now, after a year's delay, the premiere was celebrated.

In addition to young horse competitions and competitions for up-and-coming riders, the Grand Prix Tour was the main focus of interest. The active riders could choose whether they wanted to ride the freestyle after the Grand Prix or compete in the Grand Prix Special. Grand Prix winner Patrik Kittel opted for the freestyle. The Swede, who lives in Dülmen/Westphalia, presented the nine-year-old stallion Touchdown. The Swedish-bred Quaterback son was only competing at Grand Prix level for the second time, but already knows how to move very confidently. In the Grand Prix the pair received 76.826 percent, in the freestyle even 83.715. The stallion was in training with Christoph Koschel (Hagen) until 2019 and then moved to the Kittel stable.

The U25 European Champion Raphael Netz, rider with the Werndl family in Aubenhausen, rode into second place. With his Hanoverian gelding Lacoste by Locksley II, he scored 77.36 percent - the 22-year-old's best result in the senior camp so far. Frederic Wandres came third with the Oldenburg Hotline son Hot Hit. The head trainer at Hof Kasselmann had only used the ten-year-old gray horse once before in an international freestyle in Samorin. In Ludwigsburg, the pair was awarded a score of 75.95 percent.

In the Grand Prix Special, team Olympic and European Champion Dorothee Schneider was the best. She presented the Baden-Württemberg-bred First Romance, son of Fürst Romancier. The winner of the 2018 Nuremberg Burg Cup Final and third in the 2020 Louisdor Prize Final has now arrived in international Grand Prix sport. In Ludwigsburg, the eleven-year-old gelding was awarded a score of 72.404 percent. Second and third place in the Special went to Jasmin Schaudt (Albstadt) with the Hanoverian Fano by Fiorano (71.17 percent) and Nicole Wego-Engelmeyer (Hagen a.T.W.) with the Hanoverian Dante by Welfenadel (70.70. hen