European Championships for Sport Arabians Competition Sport Among Friends Many weeks of hope and anxiety ultimately led to a "happy ending": Thanks to the perseverance of the organizer Sissi Chat, the European Championship of Sports Arabians could take place despite Corona! Rosaleda Qahira mit David Grandits, Gold im Trail alle Fotos: Gudrun Waiditschka 60 © ARABISCHE PFERDE - <strong>IN</strong> <strong>THE</strong> <strong>FOCUS</strong> 3/<strong>2020</strong>
In the Corona year <strong>2020</strong>, the European Championship was the first tournament of the year for some riders, because at the end of July <strong>public</strong> sports events were not yet possible in many countries. It was all the better that, despite the adverse external circumstances, so many riders came to Wiener Neustadt and enjoyed these four days like a vacation. Whoever you asked, everyone was grateful for this change during those Corona days, grateful for the opportunity to meet old friends, make new friends, and do something with their partner horse. The sporting spirit was always in the foreground. For example, those who did not have the right equipment for the Hunter Pleasure, which was advertised as a European Championship title for the first time, found a fellow rider who could borrow the equipment. This togetherness despite sporting ambition is what distinguishes this event. 48 horses and riders from five nations had come: Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, and of course Austria. Not all starters took part in the actual European Championship, some of the riders also brought young horses for the Newcomer and Master Championship. At the European Championships, there were 39 medals in a total of 13 disciplines, new additions were Hunter Pleasure and Ranch Riding, and as in the previous year, the costume classes were divided into Western and Classic. Germany was represented with nine horses, six of which took part in the actual European Championship and four won gold, three silver, and two bronze medals. The most successful horse was (once again) Haifi El Sorrento under Susanne Hoyler, who won two gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. Only the Austrian Susanne Schuh with Loggia (2 gold, 2 bronze) came close to them. The host country Austria naturally had the most irons in the fire, or rather horses at the start. And so the Austrians took home the most medals: 8 x gold, 8 x silver, and 9 x bronze. However, it should not be overlooked that the various pleasure classes (Classic Pleasure, Hunter Pleasure, Native Costume (western and classic), Ladies Sidesaddle, Western Pleasure) are better known in Austria than in Germany thanks to the activities of Sissi Chat. And in these six classes alone, 18 medals were awarded! The "Classics" The dressage test this year suffered particularly from the low number of starters, and the quality of the rides as a whole was below the level of previous years. There were various reasons for this. For the winner Haifi El Sorrento (BS Specific / Haifi Dinjah) *2005 under Susanne Hoyler, it was the fact that since January 1, <strong>2020</strong>, no whips are allowed in the test, which the rider only realized shortly before the start. This was the reason why the gelding did not perform the flying changes with the same zealous as we know it - and yes, one even had the impression "now he will stop entirely". All in all, it was a confident performance as usual and the couple won the test rightly and by a wide margin. Haifi El Sorrentos victory could only have been challenged by Galahad under Helena Jody Byrne, but Helena and her mother were the unlucky ones of the event: First burglars had stolen all their money from the car, and then Galahad was injured on Saturday and could not go forward to the European C hampionship tests. So GFH Sandhya (Baikal / Desert Safanad) *2012 remained in the race under André Reitermayr as the second-best starter, a horse that we knew from western sports so far! André Reitermayr wanted to prove that a horse can be trained or presented in two different riding styles (for more on this see "The Experiment", page 64). An experiment, but you wonder whether the European Championships and an advanced level dressage test are the right moment for it. In third place was Akwadar, who came from Poland under Danuta Kononchuk, an impressive stallion who is still lacking in coolness. Overall, the jumping competition was more enjoyable. Although there were only four starters here, it was the most exciting test of the whole event. This was primarily due to Neele Schlichte, the youngest participant in the tournament, and her Al Ashar (Ashur / Aswana V) *2005, our "Arab of the Year 2019". This team had already won the preliminary and qualifying tests (Newcomer and Master Championships), so they were the last starters and rolled up the field from behind. With prudence but at high-speed Neele steered the stallion through the course and the two won gold again with a sovereign zero-fault ride! Neele beamed and laughed at every obstacle, it was obvious that the two of them had a lot of fun - and that's exactly what this tournament is supposed to convey, along with all the performances that are delivered here. The three other starters all came from the stud of Martina Minhard, Al-Qahira Arabians - that is not an everyday occurrence either. Silver went to Kalderon Qahira (Ghandour / Sevilla) *2005 with Antje Aigner, a couple who is also successful in eventing - even though Kalderon lost his left eye in an accident! Espinosa Qahira (LM Libretto / Shamal) *2000 landed in third place under her owner Alexandra Moosburger and thus received bronze. This mare is a phenomenon and represents the versatile and long-lived Arabian par excellence. She is now 20 years old, still takes part in cross-country tests regularly with her owner and in 2007, at Stadl Paura, they already won the European Champion Allaround title in one-in-hand driving in 2007, a test that has unfortunately not been done in recent years due to too few entries. Let's go west Of course, the reining competition is always awaited with great excitement at the western tests. This year Gerhard Hairas managed to win the Reining with TR Whata Hottie (What it Takes / Paf Tohottohandle) *2011 from Gut Fronleitenhof. He has been a regular participant for years, earlier with his horse, today with a "leased horse", and mostly he was placed. He won the Reining with 211.50 (141) points, just ahead of the reigning European Champion CH Silverlight (Azjaa / Silver Riole) *2004 with Verena Böckle in the saddle. The third was by far GFH Sonar Seganges (Ganges / Sonora) *2009, our "Arab of the year 2018" under Reinhard Hochreiter. "Unlucky" for this Sport European Championships for Sport Arabians <strong>2020</strong> Medal Jumping Dressage Classic Pleasure Hunter Pleasure M. Native Costume (classic) M. Native Costume (western) Ladies Side Saddle Western Pleasure Reining Trail Ranch Riding Classic Allround Western Allround Gold Al Ashar Haifi El Sorrento Valerie Erasomos Ojinegro Qahira Loggia El Trocadero Ashraf Al Shams TR Whata Hottie Rosaleda Qahira CH Silver Light Haifi El Sorrento Loggia GER GER AUT AUT AUT AUT AUT NED AUT AUT GER GER AUT Silver Kalderon Qahira GFH Sandhya Haifi El Sorrento Kalderon Qahira Kalderon Qahira Zahims Alina Cyrano MM Sandrine CH Silverlight Vadim Zahims Navii Ojinegro Qahira Ashraf Al Shams AUT AUT GER AUT AUT AUT POL AUT GER AUT GER AUT NED Bronze Espinosa Qahira Akwadar Ojinegro Qahira Haifi El Sorrento Haifi El Sorrento El Trocadero Akwadar Loggia GFH Sonar Seganges Loggia Baikals Shangrila Kalderon Qahira El Trocadero AUT POL AUT GER GER AUT POL AUT AUT AUT AUT AUT AUT 3/<strong>2020</strong> - www.in-the-focus.com 61
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