The Hanoverian 09|2012 - the American Hanoverian Society!

12 The Hanoverian 09|2012
Sport
The Queen of
dressage horses
The British Hanoverian mare Woodlander Farouche
received standing ovations in the class for 5-year old
dressage horses in 2011. The chestnut mare is more
mature as a six-year old and very convincing.
By Jürgen Stroscher
Breeder Lynne Crowden could
hardly believe the success when Jan
Pedersen honored World Champion
Woodlander Farouche. Photo: Frieler
“Simply wonderful, textbook ready,” main judge
Dr. Dietrich Plewa raved in his commentary right
after the impressive performance of the Hanoverian
mare Woodlander Farouche by Fürst Heinrich/
Dimaggio (breeder: Lynne Crowden, Great Britain)
and British rider Michael George Eilberg in the
class for 6-year old dressage horses. This performance
will go down in the history of the World
Championships for young dressage horses in Verden.
The judging team awarded the ride with a
score of 9,88. The moving artist received a dream
score of 9,72 for her performance in 2011. Over
the past 16 years only Florencio by Florestan/Weltmeyer
and Don Davidoff by Don Gregory/Rubinstein
had received higher scores, 9,8 and 9,76. In
2012, Woodlander Farouche was able to pass by
these two exceptional horses to become the high-
est scored Dressage World Champion with a world
record.
Quiet and fully focused in the dressage ring
Eilberg and Woodlander Farouche entered the
World Championship-arena completely relaxed in
rising trot. These two stayed totally calm and focused
while other riders try to impress with extensions.
After all they were both fully aware of their
quality. At the end of the test Dr. Dietrich Plewa
could not but comment, “I say this up front: We
saw two mistakes: the last flying change was not
executed to perfection and we would have loved
to see a little more mouth activity. Otherwise there
is nothing for us to complain about in this ride.”
Farouche approached her task “with lightness,
true cadence, consistent connection and impulsion
development.” Farouche received a 9,8 for her trot
because of a small rhythm mistake. The walk was
active, always forward with immense ground cover
and always in a four-beat rhythm. The walk pirouettes
were textbook ready – a 10 - outright! The
canter was, too “wonderful and effective with constant
cadence”. Unfortunately Farouche made a
small mistake in the last flying change which reflects
in the score, 9,9. The judging panel scored
the throughness with a 9,7, overall impression
again with the top score of 10,0. “What else do
you want from a six-year old horse?” The main
judge asked himself.
The expert audience rose from their seats and celebrated
the “Queen of the World Championships”
with well-deserved applause. Just as in 2011 and
after a grandiose performance Woodlander Farouche
became the absolute highlight of Verden’s
World Championships. After many discussions
about the famous black sire from the Netherlands
over the past months, this British chestnut mare
has proven that we have options. With a lot of
charm, light-footedness and elegance in all three
basic gaits we witness a horse develop into a firstrate
dressage athlete based on naturally built-in
qualities. “There is no need for me to enter Farouche
in so many shows,” so her rider 26-year old
Michael George Eilberg, “She already perfectly
masters all the movements. Farouche is just a
sweet and wonderful horse even when handling
her every day.” Eilberg will continue to compete
Farouche’s 10-year old dam Dornroeschen in England
after a short excursion to the Olympic Games
in London. After all the pair had qualified for the
second reserve spot on the British team for London
2012.
Breeder and owner Lynne Crowden proved her
sense of humor at a press conference while descri-