Top-level Judges ready for the Blue Hors Young Horse Championship in Dressage
This year, the Blue Hors Young Horse Championship in dressage will be judged by top-level judges with extensive experience in assessing the quality of young horses.
Rune Willum (left) is a judge at the Young Horse Championship in dressage together with Sven Rothenberger (right), while Gunilla Nyman directs the riders through the presentation. Photo: Ridehesten.com
Danish Warmblood has made a major coup in the selection of judges for this year’s Blue Hors Young Horse Championship in dressage, held in connection with the Stallion Licensing event from 4–8 March.
The Young Horse Championship in dressage and show jumping is a final for 5-year-old horses that have qualified through suitability tests held across the Danish Warmblood regions in October/November 2025.
This popular championship has a unique format, as the horses are ridden both by their own riders and by a test rider. This year marks the fifth time Olympic rider Daniel Bachmann Andersen will have the pleasure of testing the best 24 finalists, divided into two groups, inside Jyske Bank Boxen on Saturday and Sunday.
Top Judges from Abroad and Denmark
On the first two competition days, the horses will be ridden by their own riders for invited judges. Once again this year, Danish Warmblood has reached an agreement with 4-star judge and international trainer Sven Rothenberger (GER), as well as international rider, trainer, and coach Heike Kemmer (GER). They will be joined by Rune Willum. Rune Willum served as the main judge at the suitability tests and will therefore act as the federation’s representative on the judging panel.
Outstanding Horses and True Horse People
Last year, Sven Rothenberger judged the Young Horse Championship for the first time, and he is looking forward to returning to Herning:
“I was very pleased to be invited again this year to judge the Danish Young Horse Championship in Herning,” Sven Rothenberger begins, continuing: “Herning is a very special event because it brings together both the world’s best dressage riders through ECCO Five Star Dressage and the breeders.”
Regarding the quality of the Danish Warmblood horses in the championship, he says:
“Based on last year, I can say that young horses of exceptionally high quality were presented, and I truly enjoyed commenting on and evaluating them. That is exactly what I hope for again this year: two days with very good horses and a fortunate hand in judging, so I can assess the horses correctly and help open the path toward a successful future. In summary, it is a fantastic event with outstanding horses and – above all – true horse people.”
Sven Rothenberger has had a major international career in dressage. The horse that truly put him on the world map was the Danish Warmblood Andiamo (by May Sherif). Together with Andiamo, Sven Rothenberger became the first male rider to win a World Cup Final, which took place in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, in 1990. He has won several championship medals and changed nationality in 1994 following his marriage to Dutch rider Gonnelien. Together they have three children well known in dressage sport: Sanneke, Semmieke, and Sönke Rothenberger, all of whom have competed on the German national teams as pony and youth riders, trained by their parents.
A large number of young horses have passed through Sven Rothenberger’s hands, and he also has a strong interest in breeding. Over the years, he has presented stallions for licensing within the German breeding associations.
Heike Kemmer at the Olympic Games in Hong Kong. Photo: Ridehesten.com
Olympic Rider and Breeder
Sven Rothenberger and Rune Willum are joined by German Olympic rider Heike Kemmer. She is the daughter of a horse breeder and grew up in a horse family. She later took over management of the family stud farm. She won team gold at the Olympic Games in Athens and Hong Kong (with Bonaparte), as well as individual bronze in Hong Kong. Her CV also includes several medals from European Championships and German Championships.
Today, she works as a trainer, educator, and professional expert within German dressage sport. She is an internationally respected professional, closely associated with elite sport and breeding environments in Germany.
How the Young Horse Championship Is Conducted
On Wednesday, the horses in the Young Horse Championship will be ridden by their own riders inside Jyske Bank Boxen. Sven Rothenberger, Heike Kemmer, and head rider Rune Willum will award scores for the gaits, with three horses in the arena at a time.
On Thursday, also in the Boxen, the riders will perform dressage movements corresponding to LA level. The riders are familiar with a list of movements they are expected to demonstrate on request. The announcer, dressage judge Gunilla Nyman, will direct the riding lines, gaits, and movements.
The judges will award scores for gaits (walk, trot, and canter), as well as rideability and capacity. Riders enter the arena two at a time, and after their ride they receive a verbal evaluation from Sven Rothenberger.
The top 21 horses advance directly to the final, which takes place during the weekend and, as previously described, includes the test rider phase. Here, Daniel Bachmann Andersen will award scores for rideability and capacity while simultaneously describing to the audience how he experiences the horse’s quality and level of training.
There will be consolation finals on Friday, from which the three best combinations qualify for the final. In practice, this means that horses qualified directly for the final have a rest day on Friday. The three horses advancing from the consolation final will complete the test rider phase on Sunday, giving them a rest day on Saturday.
Read more about the Young Horse Championship HERE
Buy tickets for the Danish Warmblood Stallion Licensing HERE