2004 CDIO Aachen

Martin Schaudt Returns to the Olympics after 10 year Intermezzo

July 21, 2004

In 1996, Martin Schaudt was member of the German team at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Ten years later, Schaudt will return to the Olympics on the German team. Durgo, however, has been replaced by the Hanoverian gelding Weltall VA, a Weltmeyer x Picard offspring, which Schaudt bought at the Verden Auction for Hanoverian sport horses.

Rising Star Schaudt rode himself in the picture by winning the 2004 German Dressage Championships for male riders, but he definitely claimed his place as fixed star in the firmament at the 2004 CHIO Aachen. Placing third in the Grand Prix (74.375%), the Special (75.840%) and Kur to Music (79.575%), Schaudt has become the second anchor of the "Mannschaft."

In Schaudt's freestyle, Weltall's piaffe and passage were just stunning and the traversal movements were more balanced than before. Only a glitch in the tempi's every single stride on the centerline was to be considered an error in his test. Schaudt's kur music was also a bit anonymous. His choreography was interesting, but the sound did not memorably synchronize with it.

Text and Photos copyrighted: Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed