The Test Riders Are Ready for Herning

Danish Warmblood has entered into agreements with two highly competent riders who will take on the role of test riders at the Young Horse Championship during the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show in Herning.

At the Danish Warmblood Young Horse Championship in Herning, which takes place as part of the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show, public attention is particularly focused on the guest rider test, where the finalists are ridden by a test rider. 

The horses are divided into the disciplines of  jumping and dressage, and the format of the Young Horse Championship has evolved significantly over the years. However, one thing remains unchanged: the finalists must be ridden by a test rider.

Daniel Bachmann Andersen, dressage test rider. Photo: Ridehesten.com

Daniel Is the Dressage Test Rider

At the Blue Hors Young Horse Championship, held during the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show, Olympic rider Daniel Bachmann Andersen will test the young dressage horses for the fifth time. Daniel receives widespread praise for his approach to testing the horses and for his ability to communicate clearly to the audience what he feels when he gets into the saddle on a horse unfamiliar to him.

Daniel excels at conveying his impressions to the audience, and this is a very important part of the task for him. As he explains, by sharing what he feels and thinks during the ride, he inspires listeners in their own training. In this way, the test rider sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the Jyske Bank Boxen become a very special kind of clinic for dressage enthusiasts.

Daniel and the audience can look forward to seeing the horses again at the Young Horse Championship during the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show. The horses have previously gone through suitability tests held around the country in October and November, and it is the approximately 50 best horses from these tests that qualify for Herning. According to Bjarne Nielsen, who has been one of the three permanent judges at the suitability tests, the quality has been higher than ever before. The same applies to professional rider Rune Willum, who will judge the Young Horse Championship together with the German judges Heike Kemmer and Sven Rothenberger.

The best 21 horses advance directly to the test rider phase, while the three best horses from the B final join the others in the final.

The dressage horses are ridden by their own riders on Wednesday and Thursday in the Jyske Bank Boxen during the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show. Friday is a rest day (or B final), and the test rider phase is then held in two heats with a total of 24 horses on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the Boxen.

Test rider Konstantin Deeken Künnemann. Photo: Ridehesten.com

Over the years, several prominent profiles have served as test riders at the Danish Warmblood Young Horse Championship for show jumping, held in conjunction with the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show, and this year is no exception. Danish Warmblood has entered into an agreement with 27-year-old Konstantin Deeken Künnemann to take on the role. He has himself competed in the Young Horse Championship several times and had also qualified a horse for this year’s championship, but by agreement with the owner, an alternative solution has been found.

Konstantin is a test rider at the 20-day test for jumping stallions, and the professionalism and openness with which he has approached this task have been very positively received. He has demonstrated his ability to adapt his riding to each individual horse while delivering a fair and highly professional assessment. He was also a very popular commentator on TV2 during the Paris Olympics, proving himself to be an excellent communicator. Danish Warmblood is greatly looking forward to seeing him as test rider for the jumping horses at the Danish Horse Insurance Young Horse Championship during the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show in Herning.

“I think these are big shoes to fill, but I’m incredibly excited,” says Konstantin Deeken Künnemann.
 “It will be a great experience, and I have a lot of respect for the task and truly appreciate being asked.”

The jumping horses are ridden by their own riders over two days, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, in KRAFFT Arena M during the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show, where they are judged by Bo Kristoffersen and Bo K. Møller. Friday is a rest day for the finalists, and the 20 best horses then meet in the test rider final, divided into two heats, on Saturday and Sunday in KRAFFT Arena M.

Hestens Værn Championship Prize

Daniel and Konstantin will award scores for capacity and rideability, and they will also designate the Hestens Værn Championship Prize. Each year, Hestens Værn awards an honorary welfare prize at the Young Horse Championship in both dressage and show jumping during the Danish Warmblood Stallion Show.

The prize is awarded to the horse selected by the test rider in each discipline. The test rider assesses which horse demonstrates the greatest physical and mental surplus during the guest rider test. At the same time, the horse must be correctly trained according to the training scale and be appropriately educated for its age.