Dablino and Anabel Balkenhol stole the show in the Grand Final of the Medien Cup series in Munster this weekend. Anabel & Dablino produced a super test, full of elasticity and showing just how impressive this young Grand Prix Horse is. The nine year old De Niro son is sure to become one of the big names in dressage.
Anabel Balkenhol, daughter of the infamous Klaus Balkenhol said they know how exceptional this horse is; they just had to hope that his nerves didn’t get the better of him. Luckily he was relaxed and concentrated only on his rider and so Anabel takes home not only the title of the series, but also the big prize of the Mini Cooper cabriolet!
Second place went to double world champion of young dressage horses Damon Hill & Ingrid Klimke with a score of 70.244%.
Damon Hill was the only horse not to enter the arena for the warm up test on Friday in Munster. His rider Ingrid Klimke decided that in order to keep him fresh and motivated, she took him for a good gallop in the fields on Friday, letting the atmosphere add a little spark on Saturday. It was a good decision that paid off.
Ulla Salzgeber and Wakana improved after their disappointing round on Friday. According to Ulla the arena decoration was a little too much for Heidi on Friday, so Saturday morning they had some time in the arena so it was not so unsettling for the mare in the test. The result was a much more together Wakana than on Friday, with highlights of the test being the trot half passes. This was a solid test with just a few very small errors and perhaps a little tension.
Hubertus Schmidt’s son had his fingers crossed that his dad would bring home the Mini cabriolet for him following the success with Donnelly on Friday. However it was not to be…
With Donnelly Hubertus was placed 4th with 69.268% with Tristan he took out 5th place with 68.049%
Hubertus and Tristan have only been together for one year, this was their third test together and only the 6th start in a Grand Prix test for Tristan. Hubertus said he was very happy with both of his horse’s efforts.
It is exciting to see Hubertus has now 3 good grand prix horses following the retirement of Wensuela Suerte, and the sad loss of Forrest Gump to colic in 2007.
The competition run by the Medien Cup to find the most popular rider in the series was won by Carola Koppelmann. +