Edited press release from the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses

Five days of top sport concluded at the 2022 FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Lanaken on Sunday afternoon with a thrilling final for the 7-year-old horses. In the end, it was Sweden's top rider Rolf-Göran Bengtsson who delivered the fastest performance with Caillan (Casall x Carry), earning the World Champion title. 

The 7-year-olds had 40 horse-and-rider combinations at start, and eight duos managed to keep all the rails up and secured a ticket for the all-decisive jump-off.

As the penultimate starter, it was Rolf-Göran Bengtsson's turn with the Holstein-bred gelding Caillan, a breeding product of Gerd Ohlsen who combines the blood of Bengtsson's former top stallion Casall with that of Carry. Bengtsson had a flying start with plenty of pace, and a short turn from fence no. 1 to 2 helped him clear the course in 38.92 seconds, securing the title. "We have had an incredibly good year. We already won the championships in Holstein and Warendorf and this is really the icing on the cake. If I compare him to his sire, Caillan is more explosive on the jump than Casall, but of course he still has a long way to go to match his track record," Bengtsson smiled. 

The very last combination to look forward to was Christian Ahlmann (GER) with the Zangersheide-bred and licensed stallion Dourkhan Hero Z, a son of Don't Touch Tiji Hero x Zandor Z – bred by High Jumper Sprl. Ahlmann and Dourkhan Hero Z also had an excellent start to their jump-off, but unfortunately lost some time in the Longines double. They eventually finished in 41.55 seconds and had settle for the silver medal. "I try to ride my turns the same way with these young horses as I do with my experienced ones, but today I learned that that doesn't always work out the way you hope”, the German rider explained. "After the Longines double I knew it was going to be difficult to improve Rolf's time, so I chose to aim for the 2nd place."

The bronze in this final for 7-year-old horses went to Olivier Philippaerts (BEL) with the BWP-bred mare Precious Dwerse Hagen, a daughter of Cornet Obolensky out of Thibeau Spits Grand Prix mare Classic Touch DH. The Belgian rider sent the breeding product of the Spits-Ceulemans-family trough the finish line in 44.74 seconds, scoring the first clear round in the jump-off.

However, with a finishing time of 38.41 seconds, it was Christian’s countryman Hannes Ahlmann who managed to ensure the fastest jump-off. He had a fault on the very last fence with the Holstein-bred mare Tokyo 4 (Toulon x Cassini I, breeder Jürger Boege) and missed out on a medal when finishing fourth. Finally, the fifth place went to Jeroen De Winter (BEL) with the BWP-bred mare Paulien Dwerse Hagen – the full sister of Precious Dwerse Hagen.