Laura Kraut and Bisquetta shine on the Grand Prix podium in Maastricht

With Jumping Indoor Maastricht last weekend, the Netherlands once again enjoyed one of the most beautiful and, above all, most atmospheric competitions of the year. From Thursday to Sunday, numerous enthusiastic supporters gathered in the MECC to see their favourite riders and especially horses at work. Of course, several Zangerheide horses made their appearance in the ring again and achieved some particularly strong results.

The most eye-catching name in Maastricht was that of the 10-year-old mare Bisquetta, a daughter of Bisquet Balou van de Mispelaere and Takashi van Berkenbroeck, born to breeder Claire Mccarthy-Winters as Bisquetta Squalls Estate Z. Under the saddle of top American amazon Laura Kraut, Bisquetta shone on Friday with a first time with a nice^2nd place during the 1.50m main class, but the highlight of the weekend came for the duo during the CSI4* Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Kraut and Bisquetta stayed clear in the 1.55m basic round, making them one of the eight combinations who managed to advance to the jump-off. In it, they once again managed to keep all the bars in the reels and this performance again earned them^2nd place in the standings.

In the 1.50m main class on Friday, the victory also coloured blue and yellow, and Norwegian rider Oda Charlotte Lyngvaer and the 10-year-old mare Carabella vd Neyen Z, a daughter of Carrera VDL and Lux Z from the breeding farm of Yves Claes, took care of that. With a clear jump-off in 30.75 seconds, Lyngvaer and Carabella vd Neyen Z were seven hundredths of a second ahead of Kraut and Bisquetta.

Also on Saturday, the international show jumping programme in Maastricht concluded with a 1.50m class, in which two Zangersheide horses managed to secure a place in the top five of the rankings. ^Fourth place, for example, was for Belgian rider Annelies Vorsselmans and her 9-year-old mare C. Kulottie W Z, a breeding product of P.H.B.M. van Wegen who crossed the blood of Marcus Ehning's former top stallion Comme Il Faut with that of Guidam. In a 6-strong jump-off, they could not be caught out on any faults, with ^4th place as final result.

Place 5 then went to fast Luxembourger Victor Bettendorf and the 8-year-old chestnut mare Kenya Heureka Z, a daughter of our stallion Kassander van 't Roosakker Z and Zandor Z bred by Luc Henry and J.J. Remijnse. Bettendorf and Kenya Heurka Z, who also secured a ^3rd place in the 1.40m speed class the day before, managed a particularly nice finishing time in 37.45 seconds but their 8 penalties unfortunately kept them from a podium place.

Finally, Dutch rider Mel Thijssen also managed to jump to ^5th place with the 8-year-old grey stallion Cobalt De Quélennec Z, a son of Cornet Obolensky and Gipsy d'ASK from the breeding farm of Frenchman Emmanuel Le Berre. They managed to achieve this top ranking during the 1.40m speed class on Friday morning, in which they ensured a nice neat clear round.