Lena Stegemann and Scara Boa win the Preliminary test for 5-year olds at the 2013 World Young Horse Championships in Verden (Photo: © Astrid Appels)

Lena Stegemann and Ingo Pape’s Hanoverian mare Scara Boa rode on the new wave of harmony in the dressage world and captured the victory in the 5-year old preliminary test at the 2013 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden, Germany, on the first day of competition on Thursday 8 August 2013. It was a very interesting day today. Spectactors at the World Championships needed to show a serious willingness for adaptation to unusual conditions in order to enjoy the event to the fullest. For the first time in two months, in fact since the CDIO Aachen in June, the weather in Western Europe was dreary again with a chilly wind and rain dampening spirits the entire morning. As everybody had gotten used to holiday temperatures this summer, it was literally a cold shower to arrive in Verden for the show. Another peculiar seasonal change happened: Santa Claus was in town because that could be the only explanation for the way the judges were giving generous points especially at the beginning of the class. Whereas the judges’ panel usually starts out with strict scores in the preliminary test and slowly moves up in the Finals, today it was a ticker tape parade of points. Only towards the end of the day, there was more reason in the point system.

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