Søbakkehus Maude Performance of Denmark’s Future Dressage Star
All You Need to Know About the Performance of Denmark’s Future Dressage Star at the WBFSH Dressage Championships for Youngsters: Søbakkehus Maude
From September 8th to 11th in Ermelo, The Netherlands, one of the biggest championships for young dressage horses was held.
One of the participants was reigning Danish five-year-old champion Søbakkehus Maude and her rider Allan Uglsø Grøn. All eyes were on the pair as they entered the arena, as they had big expectations to live up to.
However, competition can never stay static, and the team was up against some tough rivalry.
Søbakkehus Maude is owned by NorCordia ApS
The way to the finals : Søbakkehus Maude, Performance of Denmark’s Future Dressage Star
Søbakkehus Maude is a five-year old Danish Warmblood mare by Hesselhøj Donkey Boy.
This small mare most recently gained attention at the Danish Warmblood Young Horse Championships which is held annually in Herning. Participants of this championship must either be full bred Danish Warmbloods or registered horses (Eurodressage).
The horses are tested over four days with a total of three rounds. During the first two days, the horses are represented by their own riders.
Then, the top 24 horses are selected to be ridden by the guest judge rider. Daniel Bachmann Andersen (Danish Grand Prix team rider).
Maude proved to be the undeniable champion only on the final day when she was being ridden by the judge rider.
The mare was second after the first round, having a high score of 9.5 for her walk and 8 for the canter.
With the test rider, Maude scored a ten for rideability and 9.5 for potential, beating the leader after day one, Ghandi SS, in the overall ranking.
This small yet superb mare, bred by Agnete Holmsted and owned by company NorCordia ApS, stunned judge rider Daniel Bachmann Andersen in the best way possible.
Anderson stated: “She actually surprised me positively with how much power she has. She is at the same time easy to collect…
She is very straightforward to the aids, moves up through the body and is easy to collect and extend. Just like I think a 5-year-old should be: fresh, fit and super in the contact.”
Her big win in the Danish Warmblood Young Horse Championship led to high expectations in the international ring during the WBFSH Dressage Championships for Youngsters, and those expectations were met when the mare qualified for the final of the international competition.
WBFSH Dressage Championships for Youngsters : Søbakkehus Maude, Performance of Denmark’s Future Dressage Star
Thursday qualification
During the first qualifier for five-year-old horses, Søbakkehus Maude, and Allan Uglsø Grøn scored 9.0 for trot, 9.2 for walk, 7.8 for canter, 7.6 for submission, and 8.5 for perspective.
The team NorCordia finished in 12th and made it to the cut-off for the final out of 43 competitors.
In the top three were two of Germany’s horses and one Danish horse: Fashion Prinze OLD (a stallion ridden by Wandres Frederic), Vitalos (a stallion ridden by Lenie Richter), and Lyngbjergs St. Paris (a mare ridden by Victoria E. Vallentin.
The highest scores were for Fashion prince OLD, with scores of 9 for trot, 9.5 for walk, 8.5 for canter, 8.5 for submission, and 9 for perspective). Danish mare Lyngbjergs St. Paris scored 9.2 for trot, 7.8 for walk, 9.3 for canter, 9 for submission, and 8.8 for perspective.
The results were, however, far from concluded and on Saturday it was time for the horses to battle it out in the final.
Finals
On Saturday of the Longines Final for five-year-old’s, Allan Uglsø Grøn and Søbakkehus Maude showed great talent once again but had quite a few faults during their test which dropped them down in the overall ranking.
The mare once again flaunted her beautiful elastic trot but lost the rhythm a little bit in certain moments and dropped behind the vertical a few times. She did have some lovely transitions at the start but tensed up a few times at the walk pirouette and lost the bend.
Both horse and rider had a few miscommunications through the contact and at one point breaking into an unintentional canter. The errors in the contact also caused challenges in the frame, and the mare ended up being behind the vertical quite a bit during the test.
The self-carriage which lacked development also improved slightly. Her rider did his best to correct these faults and she started to stay upwards on the hind legs more eventually. Overall, the most significant were in the self-carriage during the trot and canter, during which Maude dropped a bit on the forehand.
The walk however was the most noticeably correct gait, and the mare seemed to naturally take large yet flowy steps.
The score
The little bay mare ended the test with scores of 8.5 for trot, 9.0 for walk, 8.1 for canter, 7.7 for submission, and 8.7 for perspective (total of 84.00), ending in 12th place in the final (Longines Timing).
The scores were not enough for the podium, but with a bright lookout for the future. Overall, Allan Uglsø Grøn delivered excellent riding and Søbakkehus Maude showed great potential.
Although Søbakkehus Maude owned by NorCordia and Allan Uglsø Grøn did not perform quite as anticipated at the international championship, the mare is still young, and her attitude will definitely take her a long way. With more strength and relaxation, she will develop more correct self-carriage, improving all other elements of her tests.
The Danish dressage team however was far from upset about the results because one of their Dutch Warmblood mares, Lyngbjergs St. Paris, ended up winning the five-year-old final with young rider Victoria E. Vallentin.
The team beat Germany’s Leonie Ruchter on Vitalos and Frederic Wandres on Fashion Prinze OLD (who finished second and third respectively). The Danish mare stayed perfectly supple and worked well from the hind end while staying light in the contact.
She did lose her balance a few times in the circles, but the mistakes were quickly corrected.
Unlike Søbakkehus Maude and Allan Uglsø Grøn, the pair did not quite have the same ground-covering free walk or such direct transitions. Yet, elements done in the trot and canter made up for that flaw as Lyngbjergs St. Paris stayed uphill at nearly all times. The pair scored 9.5 for trot, 8.5 for walk, 9.3 for canter, 8.8 for submission, and 9.5 for perspective (total of 91.20).
References
Eurodressage. “Søbakkehus Maude Wins 2022 Danish Warmblood Young Horse Championships for 5-Year Olds.” Eurodressage, Eurodressage 2018, 15 Mar. 2022, www.eurodressage.com/2022/03/15/sobakkehus-maude-wins-2022-danish-warmblood-young-horse-championships-5-year-olds.
Longines Timing. “LONGINES FEI / WBFSH World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses.” Longines Timing, 2022 LONGINES WATCH CO FRANCILLON LTD, 10 Sept. 2022, www.longinestiming.com/equestrian/2022/longines-fei-wbfsh-world-breeding-dressage-championships-for-young-horses-ermelo/resultlist_D03.html.
Who is NorCordia, find out here: www.norcordia.com
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