The Hanoverian 09|2012 - the American Hanoverian Society!

Schneider who exceeded all expectations and the
impressive sire Desperados FRH by De Niro/Wolkenstein
II (breeder: Herbert Schütt, Hemmoor)
won silver with team member Helen Langehanenberg
and her mount the Westphalian Damon Hill
by Donnerhall. Team Great Britain impressed with
phenomenal performances and won gold by a very
small margin. The bronze medal was awarded to
the Dutch team which had brought proven Salinero
by Salieri/Lungau (breeder: Horst Bünger, Essel)
and rider Anky van Grunsven to the Games on the
Themse River. The top eighteen riders qualified for
the freestyle. The spectators witnessed one of the
greatest moments in the sport of dressage. In the
end Valegro with Charlotte Dujardin from Great
Britain won gold ahead of Parzival and Adelinde
Cornelissen and Mistral Hojris and rider Laura
Bechtolsheimer. The judges awarded the ideal
score of 10,0 to Parzival a total of 13 times during
his performance. Kristina Sprehe rode her Desperados
FRH into eighth place in a field of very tough
competitors. “I rode my best freestyle of ever,”
Kristina Sprehe said overjoyed. The only mare of
the entire competition was Diva Royal and finished
in seventh place with an almost impeccable freestyle.
The pair made two small mistakes though.
“One should not make those at the Olympic
Games,” Dorothee Schneider said with a touch of
disappointment in her voice. This was the last performance
for this pair. Stella Charlott Roth who is
the daughter’s owner will ride Diva Royal again in
the future. 18-year old Salinero who was the Olym-
pic Champion of Athens and Hongkong was the
best Hanoverian in the freestyle. He impressed
with a lively and elastic performance. Anky van
Grunsven masterfully brought out his strengths
and received the six-best result. The Dutch rider
had already broken a record by winning the team
bronze medal. It was the ninth medal at her seventh
Olympic Games. “These were very emotional
days for me and I am so glad that Salinero had
such strong performances,” Anky van Grunsven
said at the end.
The story about the jumping competitions is
quickly told from a Hanoverian point of view!
Christian Ahlmann and Codex One by Contendro/
Glückspilz (breeder: Wilhelm Berghorn, Stolzenau)
experienced one of their darkest career moments
in the qualification. 15 penalty points shattered
the dream of an individual medal. The team competition
also took an undesired turn. Even though
Codex One had only one jumping fault the entire
team just did not measure up. The German equip
came to London as one of the favorite teams but
did not qualify for the second round. Accompanied
by cheering crowds team Great Britain won gold
ahead of the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. Temple
Road by Antaeus/Graf Dagobert (breeder: Karl
Rabeler, Egestorf) was the best Hanoverian placing
twelfth with Cassio Rivetti representing Ukraine.
Nino des Buissonnets won Olympic gold with Steve
Guerdat, followed by London and Gerco Schröder
and Blue Loyd under Cian O’Connor n
Sport
Hanoverian medal winners (from
left to right): Salinero and Anky van
Grunsven, Desperados and Kristina
Sprehe, Diva Royal and Dorothee
Schneider, FRH Abraxxas and Ingrid
Klimke and NZB Campino and Mark
Todd. Photo: Ernst
The Hanoverian 09|2012 3