Preis der Besten Dressage: Of "old" hands and new couples
Warendorf (fn-press).
Finally back to sport, finally back to competition - this feeling has defined the Preis der Besten 2021. Satisfied horses and participants were the result. Clara Paschertz, Rose Oatley, Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel and Luca Collin are the 2021 winners. In the Young Riders, a pair that everyone had on their list since last year at the latest prevailed: Luca Sophia Collin and Descolari. The 19-year-old from Düsseldorf and the eleven-year-old Desperados offspring had won silver at the U21 European Championships in 2020 as well as the German Champion title and now added the Prize of the Best to their list of successes. With 74.711 and 75.658 percent, they won both competitions, both advanced level dressage tests. "We know that we are very privileged because we are allowed to ride shows right now and it was great for both me and my horse to get out again. The conditions here are always great and we really enjoyed it," said the winner. Her success story is a rapid one: in 2017 she was still riding E and A dressage. She is completing her training as an equine specialist with a focus on riding with her trainer, Jochen Bender, and has worked her way to the U21 top together with him and her successful horse Descolari. Second place goes to a rider who comes from Bavaria but trains in Westphalia: Elisabeth von Wulffen. With Fiesta Bonita, the Munich-born rider came second in both classifications, in the final even by a very narrow margin of 75.5 percent. The judges at E and B even saw her in the lead in this test. It was not immediately clear who was to win the bronze medal in the young riders' competition. Helen Erbe (Krefeld) and Serano took third place in the first test and initially had a good chance of winning a medal. Helena Schmitz-Morkramer (Hamburg) and DSP Lifestyle were still in fourth place in the first classification, but worked their way forward in the second test and secured the bronze medal with 144.026 points.
Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel from Nottuln dominated the classification of the U18 dressage riders. With Hugo FH she secured the overall victory after winning both scores. In terms of points, she would also have been entitled to a medal with her second horse, Farlana FH, as she secured second and third place in the competitions with her, but only one rider-horse combination is scored for the overall classification of the Prize of the Best. The two European Championship participants Jana Lang (Ambach) and Baron won silver after a second and a third place. U18 debutant Rose Oatley secured bronze with Rock Revolution in her first Prize of the Best start in the junior age group.
While Rose Oatley was still riding as a debutant in the juniors, she was one of the favorites in the ponies (U16), after all she won the German Championships in 2020 with Daddy Moon and was part of the gold team at the European Championships. The pair from Lütjensee in Schleswig-Holstein also won both competitions, ahead of her European Championship colleague Antonia Roth (Stuttgart) with Daily Pleasure WE. Julie Sofie Schmitz-Heinen (Wermelskirchen) competed for the first time in the Prize of the Best and was awarded not only the harmony prize but also the bronze medal for her fine rounds with Carleo Go.
With two points ahead Clara Paschertz (Cloppenburg) secured the gold medal in the youngest age group, Children up to 14 years. At 14, she is an "old" hand in this age group, as she was already part of the gold team at the European Championships in 2020 with Danubio OLD and won individual silver. For her, it is therefore the last year in the Children and a successful conclusion. Therefore, she also clearly formulated her goal: By the end of the year, she would like to compete at M-level. "I already noticed that we lacked a bit of routine because we hadn't been on the road for so long." Martha Raupach (Damme) and the seven-year-old KWPN gelding Jack Sparrow won silver. With Lara Lattermann from Ansbach and the Oldenburg mare Soleil de la coeur H, the bronze medal of the Children goes to Bavaria.
All results of the Preis der Besten are available here.
