Tuesday June 13 and Wednesday June 14, a group of talented young horses descended on Ermelo for the second selection for the WC Young Dressage Horses. The selection committee is composed of Johan Hamminga, Veronique Roerink and Emmelie Scholtens. 

The participating combinations had to ride the Final Dressage Test of the FEI that is also performed at the upcoming world championship. Johan Hamminga: “This is quite a tough test, so it was a good assessment for the horses. Over the past days we have gained a lot of information about the quality of the horses and the riders. Three good gaits, especially the walk, are essential. We have furthermore based the selection on a good posture and self-carriage as well as a gentle, harmonious frame, that allows the horses to release and show their natural movements. It is also important that combinations can cope with the increasing pressure of a world championship.”

Hamminga continues: “We added some extra decoration to the arena in Ermelo to see how the horses would response to this. After all, they must be able to deal with the imposing surroundings of the WC stadium. Of course, it was perfectly fine if horses were bit spooky during the arena inspection at first, but at a certain point they must recover themselves and perform their test in a focused and relaxed manner. In this way, we could test if the horses were ‘staging-proof’. The circumstances were great these past few days, the combinations could take their time to let their horses get familiar with the arena and after the test they were given tips by Emmelie or me. All in all, we may be pleased with the combinations we have invited to the last selection moment.”

In each age category, twelve combinations may advance to the third WC selection in Ermelo on Tuesday July 4. After this observation, the final WC teams, consisting of 6 horses plus reserve combinations for each age category, are announced. The World Breeding Championship for Young Dressage Horses is held at the National Equestrian Centre in Ermelo from the 3^rd until the 6^th of August. 

Selected combinations for the third and final WC selection on July 4