Bundeschampionat 2008, Warendorf, Germany

Results

The talk of this year's dressage Bundeschampionat was the approved Trakehner Imperio (by EH Connery - Balfour xx, bred by the Keunicke family in Germany) under Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn, who is co-owned by the German Trakehner Stud Hörem and the Bavarian State Stud Schwaiganger. The stallion scored the only perfect 10.0 of the entire show for his trot and followed up his winning round in the qualifier with a very convincing win in the finals. His total of 9.1 placed him well ahead of the second placed horse, the approved Westfalian stallion Rock Forever with Oliver Oelrich, who scored 8.8. The judges and the spectators were on their feet with standing ovations even before Imperio's final scores were announced, and commentator Christoph Hess compared the tremendously elegant and supple bay with "wonder mare" Poetin in his total domination of the field, and his exceptional basic qualities. The stallion was reserve champion in Neumünster in 2005 and so positively shows the much needed influence of TB blood in our breed.

Imperio (photos by Ulrike Sahm)

Another Trakehner worth mentioning with a special achievement in the class of 5yr old was the mare Pepsi IV (by Cadeau - EH Sixtus), bred by ZG Lorch/Becker and owned by Margit Eisner. Pepsi was the highest inspected 3yr old Trakehner mare in Germany 2 years ago, owned by Gestüt Sommerlade at the time. She was one of the 300+ horses that were up for grabs last summer, had never seen a saddle or been trained in her entire life, and within one year went from being broken to qualifying and competing at this outstanding event. What an achievement for this lovely mare and her rider, Germany's Helen Langehanenberg.

Pepsi IV (photo by Astrid Becker)

In the 6yr old division, Trakehner fans saw three stallions compete in the qualifiers: Birkhof's Meraldik (by EH Münchhausen TSF - Caramel xx) and Nicole Casper placed 7th, but were unable to qualify for the finals. Kasimir (by Ivernel - EH Charly Chaplin) with Lydia Camp placed 15th and Le Rouge, the 2004 champion in Neumünster (by Pret a Porter - Tycoon) with Vera Nass qualified for the finals by winning the consolidation round. In the finals, the impressive chestnut was still a bit distracted, but scored 7.7 overall for a 10th place.

Le Rouge (photos by Ulrike Sahm)

In the division of 4yr old stallions, Gestüt Tasdorf's Elfado (by Kostolany - Roncalli xx) and his rider Hannes Lütt barely missed the B finals (with test riders) and ended in 4th position - a tremendous success in this highly competitive field of young German stallions. Last year's reserve champion, bay Zauberfürst (by Interconti - EH Caprimond) and Friedericke Schulz-Wallner (who, by the way, was the original trainer and rider of champion Imperio) placed 10th overall.

In eventing, usually a stronghold for Trakehners, hopes were up after the consolidation rounds and the impressive win of approved stallion Herzog (by EH Tambour - Inkognito) with Elmar Lesch - 9.0 for their round in the 5yr old division meant a position in the finals. In the end, the two ended up 7th. One place ahead of them, on 6th position, was Feenzauber Iwest (by Connery - Sans Souci) with Michael Jung in the saddle. The gelding received exceptional comments from the knowledgable crowds and it seems there is another star iin the making for Michael Jung (who already rides Trakehner eventers like Grafenstolz TSF and Miss meller TSF).

Herzog (photo by Ulrike Sahm)

In the 6yr old division, Maona (by Liebestraum - Lucado) with Vanessa Hölscher-Bölting qualified for the finals, where she placed 9th overall.

In the driving division, 4yr old Hilka (by Kantadou - Kennedy) with driver Falko Mäkelburg was the youngest horse in the field (only here, 4 and 5yr olds compete against each other) and managed to qualily for the finals and placed 8th overall in the end.

Summing up, the Bundeschampionat was a huge success for the breed - once again. It was an even more special event for the Trakehner stallion Connery. Soon to be proclaimed as "elite" in Neumünster, Connery had four of his offspring placing/winning in the finals in dressage and eventing, which is a huge accomplishment for Hörem's elegant bay.

Riding Horses (3+4yr old)

The Trakehner Verband selected all representatives for the Bundeschampionat at the 2008 International Trakehner Bundesturnier in Hanover.

3yr old mares & geldings:

3yr old stallions:

4yr old mares & geldings:

4yr old stallions:

Dressage Horses (5+6yr old)

5yr old:

6yr old:

Event Horses (5+6yr old)

Qualified 5yr old:

Horses that yet have to meet the final requirement (finish of regular horse trial at training and/or preliminary level), but have achieved the two necessary qualifying scores, include:

Qualified 6yr old:

Horses that yet have to meet the final requirement (finish of regular horse trial at training and/or preliminary level), but have achieved the two necessary qualifying scores, include:

Driving Horses (4+5yr old)

4yr old:

Part Trakehners (already qualified for 2008)

History of the event

The German Bundeschampionat in Warendorf is the world's biggest and most prestigious young horse competition and has been staged in Germany since the early 70s. It attracks around 35,000 visitors in 5 days each summer. For a gallery of some of the most famous former Trakehner Bundeschampions, scroll down to the photos at the end of this page!

Horses and ponies of all breeds compete in young horse classes, dressage, show jumping, eventing and driving and even only a qualification to this event can raise the value of a horse significantly. The qualification events see the best horses of the country compete for tickets to Warendorf, and the individual requirements for each discipline are:

Riding Horse Classes - only horses nominated by the breed registries (in our case the Trakehner Verband) can participate

Dressage: 5yr old horses have to gain at least 8.0 at an official qualification site at L-level; 6yr old at M-level

Show Jumping: 5yr old horses have to gain at least 8.0 at an official qualification site at M-level with water (1.20m); 6yr old at M-level with water (up to 1.35m) and place 1-5th at one M*-level course or place 1-10th at one M**-level course.

Driving: 4 to 6yr old horses have to gain at least 7.5 at a driving horse suitability class

Eventing: 5yr old horses qualify by scoring 8.0 or better at at least two event horse classes at A and L level througout Germany until the weekend of August 2nd plus by placing at least once at training and/or preliminary level horse trials. 6yr old horses qualify by scoring 8.0 or better at at least two event horse classes at L level througout Germany until the weekend of August 2nd plus by placing at least once at training and/or preliminary level horse trials

Our lists on TI will be growing and will be updated as the qualification seasons goes on. By mid-August, all horses will be known and we will bring you full coverage of the event from Germany.

Former Trakehner Bundeschampions - a selection

The first and - to this day - only horse to qualify in all three major disciplines (dressage, show jumping and eventing) was the stallion Birkhof's Grafenstolz TSF by EH Polarion - Camelot - EH Arogno in 2004, with Michaell Jung. He competed in Eventing and became Bundeschampion with the highest ever achieved score to this day!