Brother and sister Bartlomeij and Weronika Kwiatek (POL) have both won gold and bronze at the 10th FEI Driving World Championship for Young Horses. Skilled producers and previous Young Horse World Champions, they each drove two horses in the same class, maintaining their leads from the start of the competition. Lars Krüger (GER) was also on the podium twice winning gold in the 7-year-old and silver in the 5-year-old classes.
5-year-olds
Weronika won the 5-year-old category which was the largest of the event with 17 starters on Thursday for the Combined Dressage and Cones test. She topped the leaderboard with 8.13 driving DSP gelding Cortano and was third on 7.63 with KWPN mare Proud Walda. In-between was Lars Krüger (GER) with DSP stallion Tito De Saxe on 8.00. The top nine qualified for the Dressage and Combined Marathon so did not have to drive in the second round on Friday, after which two more combinations joined the lineup so there were 11 combinations for the Dressage on Saturday morning.
Although the next phase of the competition started afresh, the top three positions were the same with Weronika scoring 7.83 and 7.50, and Lars 7.67. For Sunday’s Combined Marathon, in reverse order Weronkia and Cortano were last to go and scored 7.70 for a total of 15.53 to secure gold – Weronika’s third at a Young Horse World Championship. Lars scored 7.80 to gain silver on 15.47 and with Proud Walda, Weronika had the joint highest score of 7.90 – matching fourth placed Mario Gandolfo (SUI) – which gave them bronze on 15.40.
6-year-olds
Bartlomeij secured the 6-year-old gold with DSP gelding Eldin, the same class his sister won last year with the mare Elektroda. The 2018 FEI Single Horse World Champion had to drive out of sequence after the 7-year-olds on Sunday to allow himself time to change turnouts, so the result was not confirmed until the end. There were only four in the final lineup from seven starters, when Bartlomeij and Eldin posted a leading score of 7.72. Next was Henrik Hoeper (DEN) on 7.22 with his own Hastings, a Trakehner gelding, and Bartlomeij scored 6.94 with his second horse, Hunter, a Silesian WB stallion. After Friday’s Dressage, Eldin was on 7.43, Hastings on 7.36 and the fourth competitor in the class, Sylvia Peters (AUT) with Showgirl moved into third on 7.14, ahead of Hunter’s 6.71.
But the original order was restored after the Combined Marathon when Eldin scored 8.00 for a total of 15.43. Henrik and Hastings were assured of silver with 7.70 and 15.06 and after Sylvia scored 6.30 for 13.44, Bartlomeij and Hunter took bronze after scoring 7.10 to end on 13.81.
7-year-olds
Already with a silver medal, Lars Krüger went one better in the 7-year-old category to stay ahead of current Singles World Champion Mario Gandolfo – but only just. Driving his own Sathu mare DSP Fenne Lily, they qualified for the final competition in fifth place on 6.81 but rose to first after Saturday’s Dressage with 7.43, ahead of Mario and his Freiberger gelding Johnson du Signal on 7.14. Leonhard Risch (SUI) with another Freiberger, the stallion Camaro, scored 6.79 for fourth, behind Bettina Winkler (GER) on 7.07. But Bettina dropped behind Leonhard when he scored 7.40 in the Combined Marathon to end on 14.19 and secure bronze.
Lars and Fenne Lily had to stay cool after Mario’s excellent round on Sunday which was the judges’ choice with a score of 8.20 but an expensive knock in the final set of cones deducted 0.3 for 7.90, and meant that Mario’s total of 15.04 kept him in silver after Lars scored the same 7.90 but plus his Dressage, his total of 15.33 was higher. In this section, seven combinations qualified from 11 starters on Thursday.
Education & Development
The aim of the FEI Driving World Championship for Young Horses is to assess the horses’ development and education in relation to their age. The classes have different Dressage and Combined tests which are simpler for the younger horses. In the Combined Marathon, for the 5-year-olds there is one mobile obstacle and a reduced cones course over a shorter distance of 600 metres, increasing to two obstacles, more cones and a 1,450 metre track for the 7-year-olds.
The panel of judges, led by Ground Jury President Pia Skar (DEN), collaborated during the tests and announced after each round the breakdown of several marks out of ten, which are then added and averaged, minus deductions for knocked cones or errors, to give one score. During the prize giving, the German national anthem was played for all three classes to acknowledge the origins of the horses rather than the athletes.
The Championship and has been held in Hungary eight times and began in 2015 when the Kwiatek siblings also competed and Bartlomeij won the 6-year-old title with the Silesian horse Bazyli. This year there were 35 combinations from seven nations, and at the same time the National Championships for the Hungarian Youth Drivers took place. The drivers and community were grateful to Vilmos Jámbor (HUN) and his family who worked hard to host the Championship after a late change in venue.
“We have witnessed in the last four days what our sport is about – friendship, family and the future. We have seen some fantastic young horses, and we have seen positive results after each day. This gives the promise of some great quality horses in the future of Driving.
I wish to thank everyone on behalf of the FEI for providing such a great Championship, especially the Organising Committee, the National Federation and the Jámbor family for their work and commitment in delivering a great event to all of us.” – Pia Skar (DEN), Ground Jury President.
FULL RESULTS