Second day in Verden,  The day began beautifully with  a great complimentary hotel breakfast and a short walk through perfect weather to the show grounds three blocks away.  We took our reserved seats, two rows back and settled in to watch a constant stream of beautiful five year old horses. A few of the first entries were a bit spooky but the rides settled as the day wore on,  They rode in sections of 8 rides, separated with a break,  Each winner of the group would advance to the finals plus the top scorers throughout the day.  There were many different styles to watch, some more successful that others but in the end, the horse with the three best gaits won, And the best riders were most able
 to bring out those amazing gaits,
Back again after a years abcence was Eva Mollier, riding Sa Coeur (Sir Donnerhal   x Don Davidoff) to win the five year old class with an outstanding score of 9,1,  All gaits scored very well signifying a very balanced, well rounded horse,  The judges very rightly seem to be placing emphasis on harmony and correctness rather than flash,
We were happy to see a smiling Jennifer Hoffman (an american living in Germany) win the three year old more and gelding class under saddle,  This is a "strip class" where after the group performance riders must remove the saddle for a conformation evaluation,  She rode Donna Lisa 3 (Dancier/Wolkentanz1) to a winning score of 8.75
The four year old stallion class was also interesting.  The winning stallion was Franziskus 15 (Farewell 111/Londonderry) but my personal favorite was Decurio3 by Desperados/Rotspon.  Great temperament to go along with the good gaits!
We ended the day watching the 6 yr old warm up and can't wait to see Woodlander Farouch (last year's darling and winner of the 5 nyr old champs) and Sir Donnerhall 11 tomorrow morning,
More later!
Marie