The British riders and horses who will compete at next month’s Dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses have been revealed, and among them is Nalegro, the five-year-old stallion who could give Britain’s Lottie Fry her third consecutive young horse world title.
Lottie claimed the six-year-old title in 2021 and the seven-year-old title in 2022 with Kjento, and there seems to be no end to the talented horses coming out of the Van Olst stables with Lottie on board. This year it will be the approved stallion Nalegro stepping into the limelight at the championships on 3-6 August to contest the five-year-old championship, ridden by Lottie but representing the Dutch KWPN studbook.
There is something extra special about Nalegro – he is by Painted Black out of Valegro’s full sister Jalegrofleur, making him a nephew of the great double Olympic champion Valegro.
His famous relative is even referenced in his stable name: “Valegro is called Blueberry, so we call Nalegro Blackberry,” said Anne Van Olst, during her display with Lottie at the 2022 London International Horse Show, featuring Nalegro.
Lottie Fry at home with Nalegro.
Lottie describes Nalegro as “a really top character” and “really trainable”.
“He loves to work, loves to learn new things and finds everything so easy. He has so much power in his little body and manages to control it in an amazing way,” she said. “He gives me the feeling of a future grand prix horse, that’s for sure.”
And Carl Hester, owner of Valegro, has made it clear that he is a fan of Nalegro as well: “Valegro was well known in his day for his canter. His canter always scored 10s when he was doing young horse classes. With Nalegro, you get the same feeling that this horse is capable of 10s because of the incredible power in his hindleg and suspension.”
British entries for the Dressage World Breeding Championships 2023
Four horses have been selected to represent Britain at the championships in Ermelo, the Netherlands, while three more British riders will be in action riding foreign horses.
For the purposes of these championships, a horse is classed as being British-bred if it is registered at birth into a British studbook, irrespective of the country it was born in or nationality of its breeder.
The six registered British studbooks are the Anglo-European Studbook, Breeders Elite, British Hanoverian Horse Society, Warmblood Breeders Studbook UK, Sport Horse Breeding of Great Britain and British Rhinelander in the British Hanoverian Horse Society. Only horses registered with one of these at birth is classed as British-bred at the Dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses.
However, in the event that no qualified horses meet this criteria, national federations may enter “foreign-bred” horses, provided they are ridden by riders of the same nationality as the national federation.
Amy Woodhead and MSJ Viva Dannebrog at the Hartpury British young horse semi-finals 2023.
The four “foreign-bred” horses heading to this year’s championships to represent Britain are:
Five-year-olds
Amy Woodhead (GBR) with the Hanoverian mare MSJ Viva Dannebrog
Owner: Emma Blundell
Breeder: Mount St John Equestrian (GBR)
Breeding: by Vitalis, out of Diva Dannebrog, by Don Schufro
Six-year-olds
Beth Bainbridge (GBR) with the KWPN gelding My Pride
Owner: Elite Dressage
Breeder: Stal Timmers (NED)
Breeding: by Toto Jr out of Hare Reina, by Johnson
Seven-year-olds
Laura Tomlinson (GBR) with the Oldenburg gelding Full Moon II
Owner: rider and her mother Ursula Bechtolsheimer
Breeder: Wilfried and Ursula Bechtolsheimer (GBR)
Breeding: by Fürstenball, out of Goldika, by Gribaldi
Sarah Rogers (GBR) with the Oldenburg gelding gelding Forest Hill
Owner: Ursula Bechtolsheimer
Breeder: Wilfried and Ursula Bechtolsheimer (GBR)
Breeding: by Fürsten-Look, out of Ulysca, by United
Listed as reserve for the seven-year-old section is:
Sarah Millis (GBR) with the KWPN gelding Le Zorro BH
Owner: rider
Breeder: Black Horses (NED)
Breeding: by Hero, out of Brendy, by Florencio 2
Full Moon II winning at the National Dressage Championships, ridden by Sarah Rogers
Foreign-based British riders selected for the Dressage World Breeding Championships 2023
Three British riders have been selected to compete at the championships, riding horses representing other countries. These are:
Five-year-olds
Lottie Fry (GBR) with the KWN stallion Nalegro, representing the Netherlands
Owner: Van Olst Horses
Breeder: JL Hanse and Van Olst Horses (NED)
Breeding: by Painted Black, out of Jalegrofleur, by Negro
Phoebe Peters (GBR) with the NRPS stallion Everest, representing the Netherlands
Owner: Van Olst Horses
Breeder: Van Olst Horses (NED)
Breeding: by Especial, out of Fresia, by Negro
Joseph Hunt (GBR) with the PRE stallion Druida De Centurion, representing Spain
Owner: rider and Yeguada Centurian
Breeder: Yeguada Centurian (ESP)
Breeding: by Per Bago, out of Trovadora Centurion, by Oceano Cen
Also listed as reserve for the five-year-old section is:
Lottie Fry (GBR) with the KWPN stallion Nacho, representing the Netherlands
Owner: Van Olst Horses
Breeder: S Maakenschijn (NED)
Breeding: By Negro, out of Benetton, by Krack C
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