What a result in the 5 year old class for Van Olst Horses in the Pavo Cup! In the 5-year-olds Everest managed to win and Nacho became 2nd!
During the semi-finals on Thursday, Everest managed to make the most impression as the last starter in the field. With an absolute top test he managed to convince the jury members of his qualities and received a total of 89.8 points! The NRPS approved gray stallion was bred by Van Olst Horses. His father is Especial, Everdale x Vivaldi, who made his debut in the international Grand Prix in Ermelo last week and his mother is the Negro mare Fresia. She is also the dam of 2 more NRPS approved stallions and also the full sister of the well-known dressage horse Elegance, who has participated in all major international championships under Beatric Ferrer Salat.
The impressive Nacho scored 86.8 points in the semi-finals, which was good for 4th place. Nacho s. Negro was bred by Sandra Makenschijn from Chaam out of the Krack C mare Benetton.
During this semi-final, Zandra Birkeland rode the NRPS-approved Ilegro s. Inclusive x Negro x Gershwin. This dark brown horse was bred by the Hanse family from Burgh Haamstede together with Van Olst Horses out of the full sister of the very famous Valegro. Ilegro therefore has the same dam as Nalegro, who is approved by the KWPN, and who took part in the finals of the World Championship for young dressage horses last week.
Secret Lover and O’Frederic competed in the four-year-olds on Thursday. These KWPN approved stallions left a very good impression and Secret Lover finished in 5th place with 85.6 points. Both stallions managed to qualify for the final on Saturday, just like the horses mentioned above.
On Saturday, O’Frederic was the first to start and once again managed to present himself very well. With a total of 83.2 points he managed to finish in a very creditable 10th place.
Immediately afterwards Lottie was allowed to take place in the saddle of Secret Lover. The black stallion ran very actively through the test in which the sharp use of the hind leg was very noticeable. the duo reached a score of 88.8 points, which was good for third place in this final! The scores of the semi-final and the final are added together and Secret Lover came in 4th place!
In the five-year-olds, Ilegro was the first to enter the track. Under the saddle of Zandra he impressed with his great trot and the total points came to 82.6. which was enough for a very creditable 8th place in this final and a nice 12th place in the final standings.
Then it was the turn of the black Nacho. With even more ease than Thursday and even more impressive in the trot and canter, he managed to score a total of 88.4 points and at that time good for first place in the standings. Everest was allowed to run his test immediately after Nacho. In the adjacent ring the final had started for the 6-year-olds and when the result was announced there was very understandable applause. This resulted in some tension at Everest, so that he galloped once in the test and later jumped away again. Nevertheless, he made a very good impression on the judges and with 88 points he was just behind Nacho. Until the end of the class they remained on 1 and 2 and they were both allowed to continue to the last part of this final day. Running over by guest judge Daniel Bachmann Andersen.
It was Nacho’s turn first and the Danish rider was full of praise: “This horse fits me well, also in terms of size”, is Bachmann Andersen’s first reaction. “He has been trained fantastically, my compliments to Lottie for that. Particularly in his canter, he can widen and close very easily, in this he is already comparable to a six or seven-year-old. This horse has a great future ahead of him and I give him 92 points.”
Then it was Everest’s turn: “This horse is fantastic to ride, Phoebe did a very good job with him. It is light in the hand and concentrates on its work. After his busy schedule of the past week, he is not tired either. His canter is really a highlight, he can switch fantastically. I give him 95 points.”
And with that, victory for Everest and second place for Nacho was a fact!