The KWPN Championships kicked off today with the semifinals of the Pavo Cup. This morning, Vitalis-daughter Nanny Mc Phee scored 86.8 points in the six-year-old category. This makes the 2022 reserve champion, ridden by her breeder Judith Ribbels, the leader after the first round.

Hergen van Hall and Wouter Plaizier judged 25 six-year-old horses in this semifinal. “We have seen many high-quality horses with great potential for the future,” said Hergen. “The test is quite challenging for a six-year-old horse. In trot, we ask for a lot of engagement and collection, then the horses must relax in the walk and regain engagement in the canter. Throughout the test, we aim to maintain naturalness, lightness, and harmony. Some horses still find this difficult, but we saw that the riders managed very well.”

Diligent Mare
In 2022, the elite mare Nanny Mc Phee (Vitalis out of Funfun EB elite sport-dress IBOP-dress PROK by Sorento, bred by Stal Ribbels B.V. from Eibergen) was crowned reserve champion, and now she heads towards Saturday’s final with the best prospects. “This is a very diligent horse with a lot of suppleness and go, which Judith presents very skillfully. Especially the walk is very good with a lot of use of the body, both in extension and collection. The trot has a lot of adjustability with a strong push from the hindquarters. In the canter, there was still some room for improvement today. Her go is her strength, but sometimes she wants to do a bit too much, so she could stay a bit more open in the contact. Judith handles this very well by keeping her moving forward.”

Powerful Ilegro
Bred from the full sister of Valegro, Ilegro (Inclusive out of Jalegrofleur ster pref PROK by Negro, bred by Van Olst Horses from Den Hout and Joop Hanse from Burgh-Haamstede) has the right genes for future Olympic Games. Under Zandra Birkeland, he scored 85.4 points, placing second in this semifinal. “This horse was beautifully presented, with the trot as a highlight. He has tremendous power, and when he stays engaged over the topline, the picture is truly beautiful.”

Champion Nashville Sw
In 2022, Nanny Mc Phee only had to concede to Nashville Sw (Secret out of Esina elite pref IBOP-dress sport-dress PROK by Jazz, bred by Stal Willig VOF from Abcoude) in the Pavo Cup. Today, this stallion, ridden by Femke de Laat, is again a title contender for the final, scoring 84.6 points to finish third. “At the start of the test, the picture could have been more natural, but this clearly improved as the test progressed. This is a stunning appearance with a friendly expression, and he was presented very well. The canter is particularly striking.”

Top Five
Nashville Sw pushed namesake Nashville (Indian Rock out of Fabulous Girl elite EPTM-dress by Ampère, bred by E.T. ten Bosch from Driel) to fourth place with 84 points. This horse, bred from the dam line of Grand Prix stallions Jovian and Astrix, scored 84 points under Saskia Poel. The highest-placed KWPN stallion takes the fifth spot. With Just Wimphof-son Network (out of Keyveniz Texel stb-ext pref D-OC by Negro, bred by D. Broekema and D. Staller from Westbeemster), Femke de Laat has two strong contenders for the final. This stallion scored 83.8 points in the semifinal.

The top twelve five-year-old horses will return to Ermelo on Saturday for the Pavo Cup final.

Results

Overview Page KWPN Championships

Photo: DigiShots
MvE for KWPN