Veteran Salzgeber and Herzruf’s Erbe winners in front of home crowd

Neumünster, February 2015 – Ulla Salzgeber and Herzruf’s Erbe led another German whitewash at the seventh leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 series on home soil in the VR Classics at Neumünster. At Stuttgart (GER) last November, host country riders claimed the top four finishing spots led by Fabienne Lutkemeier and D’Agostino. This time, 25-year-old Lutkemeier had to settle for runner-up spot behind the veteran Salzgeber who has made a great comeback with the horse with which she finished third at the Reem Acra Final in Leipzig (GER) four years ago.

Standing third in the line-up was Isabell Werth who was more than pleased with the improving performances of El Santo NRW, but it was a tough day at the office for Hans Peter Minderhoud from The Netherlands. A breakdown in the sound system meant he had to halt his performance while his musical score was restored to working order. However, last to go in the 15-strong line-up, he demonstrated his consummate professionalism by resuming from where he left off to finish a close fourth with Glock’s Flirt.

Talking about her winning ride, Salzgeber said: “His highlight is that he is so consistent, he’s not looking around, he is with me and that gives you control so you can ride every exercise like you want it”. She has decided however, that she will not campaign the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage circuit any further with Herzruf’s Erbe. “At this stage I’m in seventh place on the leaderboard but he is 16 years old now and, for the sake of his welfare, I think it’s best to stop the World Cup qualifiers to be fair to him. The European Championships will be our next target” Salzgeber explained.

Runner-up, Lutkemeier, said of her test: “There was a little mistake in the flying change after extended canter but my horse was more settled than yesterday and really focused, so I am very pleased with him.”

Isabell Werth was delighted with her third place finish. “I’m really happy and really proud that the first three places went to Germany, and I’m very happy that I got an improved score from Amsterdam!” she said. Talking about El Santo NRW she continued: “He had a long break of about five months from international competition so I’m really happy that we are on our way back and our scores are close to what they used to be. This was a good experience, so we will go to Göteborg now”.

Indeed Göteborg in Sweden presents the penultimate qualifying opportunity for riders in the Western European League in two weeks’ time, as the pressure for one of the coveted places at the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2015 Final nears boiling point.

After the Swedish leg, on 28th February, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED), on 14th March, will be the final stage of the battle before Las Vegas, USA, from 15th to the 19th April. And for German riders the fight is even tougher because so many of them are well-placed to make the cut, but there is an entry limit of just three from each country.

Click here for the results

Click here to see the Reem Acra FEI World Cup ranking after Neumünster

16 February 2015