Jules Nyssen and Allegro Pull It Off in the 2011 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Eastern Selection Trials

After his preliminary test the judges all agreed on one thing after Jules Nyssen on his own KWPN gelding Allegro (Son de Niro x Ferro bred in the Netherlands by G.H. Seelen) was correct and tactfully ridden. “It’s nice to see you here, Jules,” stated commentator for the Preliminary panel Natalie Lamping after the well known Dressage trainer and competitor from Statesville, NC completed his test. But his results were less than stellar for Jules. With the best movement score for a “correct” canter a 7.7, the panel awarded Nyssen a submission score of 8.8 giving the rider more credit than the horse. His 7.72 result tied him for second with Ashley Wimmer and Sommerhall which was broken putting him into third place. This was all Nyssen needed to kick him and the 17.1 black gelding into gear.

Nyssen who also competes in several marathons a year went for a long run then regrouped for the Finale, and on Sunday morning in the warm up with Scott Hassler giving some input the pair upped the ante riding a forward, uphill powerful test. In spite of a problem in the changes the overall general impression hit 8.0, bringing his total score to a 7.862 to give the Dutch native and longtime American trainer from Statesville, North Carolina the reserve championship for the class following the winning combination of Silva Martin and Aesthete. Nyssen is based at Jennifer Brinkley’s beautiful Stonegate Farm in Statesville, NC where he is centrally located in the southeast. Nyssen has the ability to learn a test right before his ride, and in spite of riding several horses at multiple levels in a show has never been seen having his test called. Nyssen admitted he was not familiar with the Finale class, and practiced the rein back for the first time in the warm up.

Amateur rider Ashley Wimmer and her own lovely Oldenburg mare Sommerhall (by Sir Donnerhall our of Arantscha BC Archipel bred by Theo Berkemeier in Germany) continued to impress the judges riding a “clever” test in the Finale and earned a high score 8.4 for the walk. In the 6-year-old test the canter needs to show an uphill frame and the judges are looking for a “jump” coming from behind. In the Finale where young horses will often show the effect of 3 days of competition Sommerhall was somewhat on the forehand and that cost her in the canter which earned a 7.5. The Young Horse tests do not punish issues in the movements but reflect them in the submission scores. With a 7.8 for the trot and overall impression of 7.8, Wimmer’s final result averaged a 7.708 qualifying her lovely mare for the National Championship short list.

Nancy Holowesko’s Sandro Hit Gelding Sabati out of her Rubenstein I mare Roselea bred in the USA increased their result from the preliminary test with the 8.0 result in the canter and submission scores, adding them to the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage National Championship short list as well. With a final score of 7.676, Ulla Parker added another entry for Holowesko along with Reserve 5-year-old reserve Champion Biscaya to the list for Lamplight. New mom Parker who has just been back in the saddle two months since the birth of her daughter, had a happy weekend with her two mounts and will continue to develop Holowesko's horses for the National Championships in August.

Rounding out the best 6-year-old class presented in a Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Selection to date was the American bred USA P.R.E. Stallion Festivo RS by Janne Rumbough’s Gaucho III out of Llamadora by Estepeno VI, and bred by Juan J Rodriguez. Again the judges were impressed by the quality of the rider Emily Copeland who presented the 16.2 bay beauty with talent and skill. It was a pleasure to see a P.R.E. USA bred in the mix at the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Selection Trials for Verden, and the duo had no problem making the qualifying score for the National short list with a 7.448. With a quality canter earning a 7.8 in the preliminary test, the trot while fluid and lovely was marked down for “travelling wide behind” at a 7.3.

With the US Selections for the F.E.I. World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses is the USA complete, there are still some very exciting American combinations qualified in Europe. Stay tuned to DressageDaily for more news coming soon.

DressageDaily’s Mary Phelps, an agent for Markel Equine Insurance made the trip to Virginia to represent Markel at the East Coast Finals has been passionate about the program since attending the first World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in 1999 where she witnessed Sandro Hit and Dr. Ulf Moeller earn the Championship. “This program makes a lot of sense for our sport and the United States.” Phelps noted. “With dedicated breeders, riders, trainers and a program which has now produced a pipeline for horses of the future under the guidance of Scott Hassler. We are now seeing graduates competing successfully across the country at the FEI Levels. “Markel is not only a great company to work for but truly lives up to their tag line ‘The Insurance Company with Horse Sense’.

In fact just after finishing covering the Preliminary test in the warm up Phelps met Markel Senior Claims Examener Heidi Joi Gayle showing Dr. Thomas Newton's thoroughbred gelding Somethingtoharbor getting ready for her class in the open show at the VADA/NOVA Summer Dressage Competition. While our clients will hopefully never need to work with Heidi, if they do she and the entire claims department at Markel are horse lovers and many are horse owners as well. While we have been lucky not to have to hear too much from Heidi, it was a real treat to see her in the dressage arena. Heidi and all our support people at the Markell Virginia headquarters share a passion for horses. It is an honor to represent them.

 

Please feel free to e-mail us insurance@horsesdaily.com or contact my CSR Tracey Scharf 9-4 EST Mon-Thurs, 9-1 Friday 800-572-3286. Because of Tracey I can be free to travel to cover events while always having a knowledgable reachable person our clients can count on. You can also access application, FAQ's, and take a quick and easy on-line insurance tour right here on DressageDaily in our insurance section. We appreciate the support and business from our readers who are horse owners, trainers and farm owners and work hard to make their busy lives as easy as possible when it comes to handling their insurance needs. Because of Markel, and our clients who choose our agency to service them, we are able to continue to provide our readers with a bigger and better website which was launcher in 1997.