News from Europe: Dressage Show at Landshut and Ranshofen Show in Austria
April 11-13th
The son of German star breeder Eva Schmied (Nolte's Kitchengirl/Marcus Ehning) placed with two horses in the 1.45 jumping class at Ranshofen/Austria, while also making a name for himself as an up-and-coming new trainer. He prepared the Pinnocchio mare Pandra for her first show, where the impressive bay went clear in the 1.30 class under her rider Martin Wenzel. The 1.45 class, the highest ranked competition of the show, was eventually won by some local riders competing there. Meanwhile, in the youngster classes, both Hendrik Gravemeier, son of German international squad trainer Kurt Gravemeier, and Johannes Holzeder of the Holzeder stallion station, showed some interesting new prospects and shared among them most of the first places in this category of the three day show. The wife of Austrian international rider Jürgen Krakow, Anna, was also competing in one of her rare outings to the show circuit, which brought Krakow to the scene. On the dressage side, Mirja Block, who is German but has only recently returned to her homeland after a lengthy stay in the United States, won the FEI Prix St. Georges, the highest-ranked dressage class of the show, on her horse Prinz Charming.
Meanwhile, at Landshut, one of the most significant dressage shows in Southern Germany to launch the early start of the season, German star rider Uwe Schwanz won the "Stars of Tomorrow" Grand Prix Tour with CCM-SLK's Rockbarton, formerly known as Rockbarton. The Rivero II son this year carries the additional name of its sponsor, the German international consulting firm Customer Communication Services, and showed a particularly impressive passage. Ulla Salzgeber and Olga Klimko were also competing at Landshut. Klimko placed 4th in the Grand Prix with Highlight, before Ulla Salzgeber in 5th place on Herzruf's Erbe. Salzgeber also placed 2nd with Herzruf's Erbe in the Intermediaire II. The dressage Grand Prix Freestyle was won by Christine Eglinski on Cosmopolitan, with Uwe Schwanz and Salome placing 5th. In the Intermediaire I. Swiss Olympic rider Patricia Bottani rode Pacito Vedstedholm to 3rd place, and had everyone nearly breaking their tongues, trying to pronounce the name of her horse! The pair also placed 2nd in the Prix St. Georges.
Pandra (by Pinocchio/Pilot) and Martin Wenzel in the warm-up ring at Ranshofen
Anna Krakow at Ranshofen
Max Schmied
Eva Schmied, who bred Marcus Ehning's Nolte's Küchengirl
Uwe Schwanz and CCM/SLK's Rockbarton won the "Stars of Tomorrow" Grand Prix series at Landshut
