Vamos Amigos lolls happily in his bed of shavings, enjoys grooming and in between looks at his rider with large, wet eyes. How good that there is social media, otherwise the world would not know all this. The ten-year-old bay gelding likes it at the site of his possible triumph, his rider Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour signals with the video snippets.
It takes happy horses to win, of that the 30-year-old is firmly convinced, who is the big favorite at the World Championships starting this Saturday. A short training sequence, a rhythmic, effortless piaffe should show that Laudrup-Dufour and Vamos Amigos are ready for three world championship titles. So many are in there, one with the Danish team and the two individual championships in the Grand Prix Special and the music freestyle.
The Dane came back unbeaten from the CHIO Aachen with her two horses (in addition to Vamos Amigos, the twelve-year-old Olympic horse Bohemian) – five starts, five victories, even the Germans, who are used to winning, have rarely been able to do that. They will find it difficult to repeat earlier triumphs at this World Cup. Four horses that have won with grades of more than 80 percent in recent years are not (or no longer) included, nor are any of the horses that won Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021.
At the World Cup, Laudrup-Dufour could benefit from the fact that the Germans are busy with other things
Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl is expecting her second child in these weeks, her Trakehner mare Dalera only gets little exercise. Weihegold and Bella Rose by Isabell Werth have been retired – hardly anyone believes the successors Quantaz are capable of similar feats. Dorothee Schneider’s two-time team Olympic champion Showtime is injured again, the rider with Faustus is only there as a reserve.
Instead, three newcomers are riding, Ingrid Klimke with Franziskus, previously only experienced in the eventing championships, Benjamin Werndl with Famoso and Frederic Wandres with Duke of Britain. National coach Monica Theodorescu takes it easy: “That’s sport, and if others are better this time, then that’s just the way it is. We’re concentrating on ourselves.”
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour sat in the saddle for the first time at the age of five, at twelve she began riding her pony in tournaments and at some point the horse that brought her to the top in the sport came along. Many horsewoman biographies begin like this or something similar. The horse to whom Laudrup-Dufour owes her international promotion is called Cassidy, he is 19 years old and will have a farewell party in Herning. The pretty fox was initially considered difficult and not overly talented.
“It won’t be a Grand Prix horse,” said Laudrup-Dufour’s then trainer Andreas Helgstrand, today one of the biggest horse dealers and stallion owners in the scene. He was wrong. With Cassidy, Laudrup-Dufour became European Champion of the young riders twice, won her first medals in the seniors, EM bronze in 2017 and 2019 – and the judges began to notice when the elegant couple galloped into the arena. Cassidy taught her to appreciate what has been her intention with whatever horses she chooses ever since.
“He always gives more than he actually can,” she says. The willingness to perform, the will to be trained is the most important thing in a horse, the desire to move forward. She doesn’t like lazy horses. Even her students, many of whom she now trains, have to be “curious and hard-working”. The same applies to Laudrup-Dufour herself. You can see her daily fitness training when she sits balanced and with body tension in the saddle. It also opened her eyes to what she is asking of her sports partner.
A piaffe or passage is like a push-up or weightlifting for the horse, she says. It takes strength and enough time to recover. This is why Laudrup-Dufour competes less often than many of their competitors. Nevertheless, she has made it to second and third place in the world rankings with Bohemien and Vamos Amigos. First place is still occupied by Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl with Dalera. In November 2021, Laudrup-Dufour married show jumper Rasmine Laudrup, daughter of former Bayern soccer player Brian Laudrup. Since then the double name.
The couple lives with about 20 horses in the small town of Grønholt near Copenhagen. Former Olympic riders Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Kyra Kyrklund come by for training and give tips. These are the best days for Cathrine Landrup-Dufour. “I don’t do all this for the tournaments, I love my daily work, it’s more the love for riding, for the animals.” That sounds good. And if you win a few medals, so much the better.