DM Balve: Third title for Dorothee Schneider and Showtime FRH

When Dorothee Schneider competed for the first time with the Hanoverian gelding Showtime FRH at the German Championships in the Olympic year 2016, she traveled home to Framersheim in the Palatinate with her first DM gold medal in her pocket. It was the start of a world career in which the pair won two Olympic team titles and three European medals. In 2019 they secured DM gold again in Balve, this time in the Grand Prix Special. That this history would repeat itself in 2022, it had not looked like that for a long time. After the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Sandro Hit son suffered a minor injury and had to take a break. Now, nine months later, just in time for the first World Cup viewing, Showtime is back in top form. "He's motivated, he wants to dance with me and he enjoys things. Great how he felt. It's hard to put into words," said Dorothee Schneider after the special and enthused: "I'm so grateful for this horse. We learn so much from each other. We're both rather introverted and reserved. But we have developed together and we are proud of ourselves. Showtime goes with the ears first, according to the motto "I'm here, I can do this and I'll present myself now!" It's a sensational feeling and I love celebrating our sport with this horse."

The 35-year-old Frederic Wandres won his first DM medal with the Hanoverian Duke of Britain FRH and was overwhelmed: “That is phenomenal. All good things come in threes. In 2020 I was here for the first time. Then Duke bit his tongue and we had to stop. But we didn't give up and kept fighting. I'm so happy for the horse because he deserves it and is so consistent. I really begrudge him that,” said Wandres, who works as a rider at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen am Teutoburg Forest. He already knows what it's like to win big tournaments. He has already won the championship of professional riders and the Hamburg Dressage Derby. In addition, he is always successful with his young horses at the Federal Championships and the World Championships for young dressage horses. However, the DM silver medal is likely to be his greatest success to date. Last year he was on the German long list for the big championships with Duke. It is therefore only logical that he is now focusing on the World Championships in Herning: “I would be lying if I said that that is not the focus, but we have to prove ourselves again in Aachen. We were able to take our form from Hagen to Balve and even top it. Now we want to take our Balve form with us to Aachen and then we'll see from there."

The 16-time German Champion Isabell Werth (Rheinberg) won the bronze medal this time with the stallion DSP Quantaz and was most annoyed with herself because the couple made mistakes in both the one-man and two-man canter changes. “It was a real shame because Quantaz has developed so well. We couldn't pull that off today and didn't find a rhythm in the canter tour,” said Werth. “I feel sorry for the horse because Quantaz has become much lighter, much more harmonious. The macho now appears with more composure. I'm learning from it and will focus more on the special in preparation for Aachen."

In addition to the medals, another special prize was awarded in the Grand Prix Special: For the best newcomer at the German Championship. This went to Bavarian Franz Trischberger. The 32-year-old professional rider had finished twelfth in the Grand Prix the day before with his gelding DSP James Bond (71.820 percent). In the special they came tenth with 70.804 percent. The Best Newcomer Prize was awarded by the Liselott and Klaus Rheinberger Foundation.