It was an exciting evening in Kreuth, Germany, as the NRHA Germany 4-year-old Futurity Finals closed the event at the Ostbayernhalle. The stands were filled with the crowd cheering loud for the riders until the very end.“In the past years, the Futurity — open to horses entered in the Breeders Program — was mostly for German riders, but this year, it felt truly international with riders from so many different countries. Also, so many visitors came to watch and that makes it a good show also for the vendors and sponsors; we are very happy about this,” said NRHA Germany Board Member Grischa Ludwig.
Level 4 Open
It took until the last horse and rider duo to get to know the 2022 NRHA Germany 4-year-old Breeders Futurity Level (L) 4 Open Champions: It was Belgian Professional and NRHA Two Million Dollar Rider Bernard Fonck who took the win with a 225 aboard GP The Stud In Town. Fonck and the flashy palomino by NRHA Three Million Dollar Sire Hollywoodstinseltown out of CP Surprise, owned by Golden Paint Ranch, had also topped the L4 Open Futurity Go Round and Fonck had high expectations for the stallion in the Finals.
“He is an amazing horse. I won the 2022 NRHA European Futurity on him, then the Belgian Futurity, and now this. After Belgium I didn’t have time to school him, so I just brought him here and he did amazing. In the go round I asked him for more and he stayed in between the reins. He has great spins and he definitely showed it tonight.” Fonck thanked the owners of the horse, the Verschueren family, who are his big supporters and clients who are now good friends.
This is Fonck’s eighth NRHA Germany Breeders Futurity Open title, which ties him to NRHA Million Dollar Rider Rudi Kronsteiner’s German Futurity Championship wins. “This means I need to come again next year so I can try to beat him,” closed Fonck with a smile.
Level 3 and 2 Open
Two riders tied for the L4 Open Reserve Championship as well as the L3 Open Championship. Dutch rider Tiara van Dongen performed a flawless run aboard Gisela Haas’ Orangeisthenublack (NRHA Seven Million Dollar Sire Smart Spook x NRHA Million Dollar Dam Ebony Shines). The mare, with a true royal reining pedigree, took van Dongen to a score of 223.5, which also earned them the L2 Open Championship.
Tiara van Dongen & Orangeisthenublack
Van Dongen came out of the pen excited and a little shaken after hearing the score. “The run felt like we were going everywhere, definitely not as good as it looked, but everyone was cheering, so I knew I had to keep going, and now I am really happy with the results. We couldn’t have done any better. My mare felt amazing, she was honest and did everything I asked her,” she said. “Last night she didn’t feel as good, so today I warmed her up for a short time, checked everything, and we went in. I think that’s her thing, she gets tired quickly, we tried not to make that happen, and today everything worked out perfectly.” Van Dongen mentioned that today’s score was her personal highest, so the win was even sweeter. She thanked the mare’s owner Gisela Haas, who she has been working for at Galaxy Quarter Horses for over a year now and, according to the Dutch Professional, “they [the owners] made a lot of my dreams come true in such short time already and I am very thankful.”
Grischa Ludwig & SL Gunnabeyournite
German Professional Grischa Ludwig tied van Dongen aboard SL Gunnabeyournite (NRHA Five Million Dollar Sire Gunners Special Nite x SL Helluvas Minnie) owned by Sandra Linnig-Föhl.
“It was quite a run today; I am really happy, because last night, when I was riding, the connection with my horse wasn’t quite there. I showed him here last year [at the 3-year-old Futurity] and we ended up leading the go round and finishing third in the L4 Finals, so I knew he could do it. I told my groom to lunge him before I got on him today, and he was bucking for ten minutes straight in the round pen, so he got the excitement out of himself and twas great in the show pen. This was his best ride by far tonight and it was really fun for me to show him.”
Matyas Gobert of Belgium and Vintage Days RM (NRHA Two Million Dollar Sire A Sparkling Vintage x Stamax RM), owned by Julie Douillet & Benjamin El Hichri, scored a 219.5 which earned them the L2 Reserve Championship.
Johan Svensson & Whiz Star Dunit
Level 1 Open
Johan Svensson of Sweden rode Whiz Star Dunit (NRHA Three Million Dollar Sire Hollywoodstinseltown x Shanaya Whiz) owned by Malin Melin to a score of 214.5 to win the L1 Open Championship that concluded with the Section 1 Open Finals earlier in the day. “I am really happy with my horse today. He has improved so much over the week and today we put it all together. I pushed him a little bit more in the finals and he stayed with me the whole time. I really enjoyed the run and the last stop was just the best,” said Svensson. “This horse was bred and raised in Sweden. I started riding him as a 2-year-old and last year we made the finals here at the 3-year-old Futurity.” For Svensson and Whiz Star Dunit it was a 20 plus hour drive to come to Kreuth, but it was worth it. “I really love German shows,” said the Swedish Professional. “With all the regulations and the staff that keeps everything in order, it really makes the sport look good and I enjoy coming here.” After they make their way back home to Sweden, Svensson plans to give the horse some time off and next year focus on the Derbies, including the 2023 NRHA Germany Breeders Derby.
The Reserve Championship went to French Charles-Henri Lemaire and Custom Ice Deluxe (Gunner On Ice x Revolution In Crome), who scored 213.5 for owner Romy Paschold.
From NRHA Germany:
As the show is coming to an end, so is the 2022 show season for NRHA Germany. NRHA Germany board member, Grisha Ludwig, was pleased with the outcome of this year’s shows. “This season we opened the Derby classes to 5-year-old horses and older and that was such a good decision to make. Some people may not like it, but in Germany, people wish to show their horses for a long time and give them a chance to show when they are older. It is the mentality of the riders here. Our members asked for it and it turned out to be a great thing since there is nothing else for older horses. We could have put up a Maturity show, but that would have taken money from the Futurity and Derby and would result in less people coming to those shows, so the decision really worked out for Germany.”
Ludwig continued on the focus of NRHA Germany for the next years: “We want to focus especially on the youth riders, because that is the future of our sport. We have had many youth camps this year and we plan on continuing that next year. This year I believe we had 40 kids, of all ages, at the camps.”
NRHA Germany Vice President Gerd Wilhelm added that this felt like the most international show in Europe with riders representing nine countries. “I am very happy with the outcome. There were so many people attending both to show and to watch, especially on finals night. It could not have gone better for Joachim [NRHA Germany President Joachim Zangerle] and me as we conclude our term as President and Vice President after this season.”
Photos by Tom Hautmann
For further information www.NRHA.de
Press Release by International Horse Press
