dressagedaily.info - Euro Update: Matthias Alexander Rath Wins 2006 Piaff Forderpreis


Euro Update: Matthias Alexander Rath Wins 2006 Piaff Forderpreis

November 22, 2006

After winning the first two Piaff Forderpreis qualifiers in Bad Salzuflen and Wiesbaden, Matthias Alexander Rath has continued to dominate the circuit by winning the Finals at the 2006 CDI Stuttgart as well.

Aboard the 15-year-old chestnut gelding Renoir Unicef – a team world champion in 2002 under Rath’s stepmother Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff – the 22-year-old Matthias took the top spot in the Piaff Forderpreis Grand Prix finals with 69.083%.

“The season’s target was to participate here in Stuttgart and finish ahead of the rest,” Rath confessed. “And now I’m very happy with the way things have turned out in spite of making a mistake in the single tempi changes.”

Rath's expectations for the Finals were quite high. “You obviously put yourself under pressure when you say to yourself – you also hear it from others – you can’t fail, you need to be successful on a horse like Renoir. When things do actually work out in the end then it’s all the more nicer.”

CDI Stuttgart: Kyrklund and Werth Dominate Big tour

Finnish Kyra Kyrklund and German Isabell Werth were the big winners of the CDI Stuttgart in Germany. Kyrklund won the Grand Prix for Kur (72.083%) and Kur to Music with 80.55%. Aboard Satchmo, Werth won the Kampmann Cup Qualifier Grand Prix (79.542%) and the Special (78.480%).

American Catherine Haddad competed her Maximus JSS in the Kur tour. She placed 8th in the Grand Prix with 68.833 % and 9th in the Freestyle with 71.700%. View full scores in Scoresource

Nicola McGivern’s Active Walero Reunited with Dam Marata

Serendipity passed for British world class performance rider Nicola McGivern. The love for her number one Grand Prix horse Active Walero (by Wanderer) put her and her business partner, Fiona James, on an adventurous quest to locate the dam of Walero in Germany and reunite the mare with her son. McGivern contacted the yard where Walero was saddle broken as a 3-year old and through them they were put on the right track to find Walero’s dam Marata (by Matcho AA).

“We managed to find the mother at a potato field farm in Germany,” McGivern said. “The breeder, who did not speak a word of English, took me into his lounge, where there was a three-foot tall picture of Walero and me on the wall. In the stables, he showed us Walero’s dam, her full sister and the daughter.”

McGivern and James were enthralled by the 16.1 hand high standing 21-year old white mare and they bought her on the spot. Marata was transported to England where she got reunited with Walero. Although Marata is unable to carry a foal due to her age, veterinarians were able to flush three fertile embryos. Consequently, two have been inseminated with frozen semen of the 1980 born Hanoverian sire Wanderer and one with fresh semen from Laura Richardson’s stallion Millennium. “It is just amazing. We are expecting two full brothers of Walero in 2007,” McGivern rejoiced.

However, Nicola has not been solely focusing on brood mares and breeding this year, she is also ecstatic about returning to the show ring with Active Walero. The pair won team bronze at the 2003 European Dressage Championships in Hickstead (GBR) and was member of the British team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, but a series of injuries sidelined Walero for almost two years. Fortunately, the rest he has received enabled him to fully recover. Nicola and Active Walero are ready for the 2007 show season and are preparing themselves for an imminent come back to international show scene. “Walero is super healthy again and I’m looking forward to Grand Prix next year. The rest has done him more than good.” (Read More)

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