Quality dominates in Stal Hendrix competition Kessel

28 May 2024

Perhaps the most beautiful event of the Stal Hendrix competition took place today at the picturesque location in Kessel, preceding the CSI3*. A great deal of quality was evident among the young showjumpers in the ring, suggesting that many of these horses will advance to the international sport. In the four-year-old category, the KWPN approved stallion Pinacolada van Seldsum claimed his second victory.

Piet Raijmakers and Ad van de Watering judged the four-year-olds, who were pleasantly surprised by the overall quality and rideability of this youngest group of horses. “I would be surprised if we don’t see a lot of these horses in top-level sport later on. Everyone is always bragging about Belgian breeding, but what we saw here today gives a lot of confidence in Dutch horses,” Raijmakers stated.

Very complete
With two scores of 9, the KWPN approved stallion Pinacolada van Seldsum (Dominator Z x Namelus R, breeders Minne and Esther Hovenga) repeated his impressive performance under owner Joy Lammers. Just like in Koningsbosch, he emerged as the best. “A dream of a horse, with a very athletic body and a great understanding of jumping. He has so much balance, overview, and is already so rideable: truly a horse for the future, and on top of that, he is an approved stallion,” said the former top rider. Another offspring of Dominator Z finished second, the athletic and agile Dido Z (ds.Carthago, breeder Zangersheide) under Jenny Johansson. She scored an 8.8 and 8.5. “This is also a very nice horse, jumping with great overview and calmness. She lands well each time and is very rideable. Definitely a horse for the future.” Under the German rider Carina Janssen, the Halifax mare Hellifax scored two 8.6s to secure third place. “This horse combines a high degree of carefulness with scope. She has an active canter and showed her potential today.” Two offspring of the Grand Prix stallion Gaspahr finished in the top six. “It was really notable that we saw very good offspring from many different stallions. The Gaspahr offspring made a good impression, and we also saw very well jumping offspring from Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve. In terms of bloodlines, it is a very diverse group of high-quality horses among the four-year-olds in this competition,” said Piet Raijmakers.

Second winner bred by Hovenga
In this third event of the Stal Hendrix competition, Johan Bergs claimed victory among the five-year-olds with the well-jumping Comme Il Faut mare Cybele Bel Z (ds.Berlin, breeder Wendy Warnar), which he rides for Marco Zeekaf. Pieter Keunen followed closely with the Verdi mare Only Karla J (ds.Nonstop, breeder J.H.M. Joxhorst) in second place, while Marieke Vervoort finished third in Kessel with Opahr (Gaspahr x Vittorio, breeder G. Stroucken) thanks to a fast and clear round. Among the six-year-olds, Kristian Houwen triumphed with N’Abalia SMH (Edinburgh x Zirocco Blue VDL), bringing another breeding product of Esther Hovenga to the forefront as a class winner. Pinacolada van Seldsum is also from her breeding program. With this victory, owner Marco Zeekaf of Stal Brouwershof achieved a double win in Kessel, as N’Abalia SMH shares the same owner as Cybele Bel Z. Dave Maarse finished second with the Eldorado van de Zeshoek offspring Nazli-Olaris Ika (ds.Zirocco Blue VDL, breeder Ibrahim Alabdulmohsen), followed by the consistently successful New Hope (s.Cornet Obolensky, breeder J.J. van Tiel) with Teddy van de Rijt in the saddle. They had previously won in Koningsbosch and finished second in Sevenum. In Kessel, they made it to the podium for the third time in a row, strengthening their position heading into the finals.

Photo Pinacolada van Seldsum – DigiShots