This past weekend Princess Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, daughter of Princess Benedikte and niece of Queen Margrethe of Denmark, spent a few days at the Danish Dressage Championships that took place on the estate of Broholm in Gudme on the island of Fyn (Funen).
With her to the event were horses Rigoletto and Horsebo Smarties, her current top horse Digby, who is in top form according to Nathalie, was left at home in Bad Berleburg to keep his motivation high.
On Friday 29 July the first round of the Danish Dressage Championships kicked off with a Grand Prix Class, Princess Nathalie’s highest score, with Rigoletto, was 68.383% which was enough for a 4th place.
On Saturday 30 July it was time for the Grand Prix Special where Nathalie’s highest score, with Horsebo Smarties, was 65.750% which left her on a 10th place in the class. The 15 best riders from the first two rounds qualified for the final round of the championships.
That third round, the Grand Prix Kür, took place in the afternoon of Sunday 31 July. But before the event Princess Nathalie had taken the final decision of retiring her horse Rigoletto and instead of riding in the class they made one last farewell performance together in front of the audience ahead of the final.
Rigoletto, a gelding breeded by the family in Bad Berleburg, was never a promising horse in his youth – quite the opposite. Nathalie even considered selling him but her father Prince Richard objected and so he was kept. And today I guess no one could regret that decision. Together Princess Nathalie and Rigoletto spent eight years touring the world on the dressage circuit, he was her first top horse and they entered the very top classes. At age fifteen and after a range of victories and top achievements during the years, Rigoletto can now look forward to a quiet retirement grazing on green pastures in Bad Berleburg.
Also on Sunday, Danish national team coach Rudolf Zeilinger announced his selected team for the European Dressage Championships that takes place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in a few weeks. Princess Nathalie was selected along with Lisbet Seierskilde Pedersen, Sune Hansen and Anne Van Olst. The team’s goal is to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Summer Games in London; they can do that by ending on a total of 6th place or higher.
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