Yesterday, it was the first day of the Longines FEI/WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Ermelo. In the Sport Pro Horses Prize qualification class for four-year-old horses, the KWPN stallion Opoque (by All at Once out of the elite sport mare Ice Princess STH by Davino V.O.D., bred by Stal 104 BV from Wijdewormer) registered with Helgstrand Dressage & Stal 104 and ridden by Mette Sejbjerg Jensen wowed the audience and judges and won the class with an impressive score of score van 93.600. 

Opoque and Mette managed to get a 9.5 on the scoreboard three times: for his walk and canter, and the submission or interaction between horse and rider. Opoque kept a beautiful silhouette and focus throughout the whole performance. He showed a lot of expression and impulsion in the trot, which brought him a 90. 

A dream for every rider
Mette Sejbjerg Jensen: ”What a ride, what a horse! It's really detailed. I came here with the aim of just enjoying my time and having fun. I'm so lucky to have a horse that didn't put a hoof wrong in the test. I owe everything to him.” The rider received a lot of compliments for the way she is presenting the 2022 KWPN performance test favorite. “When Andreas bought him, I immediately said; ‘This is my horse, please let me ride it!’ To enter such an arena on such a horse is a dream for every rider. No matter how the final goes, I will never forget this.”

Source: Lizz van Woerden
Photo: Dirk Caremans