Patchouli Vera, Red Viper and Nashville SW win the Pavo Cup 2024
Last Saturday in Ermelo, the Pavo Cup finals reached a wonderful finale. During the override, Swedish guest rider Jessica Lynn Thomas was impressed by the calibre of the horses. In the four-year-old class, the victory went to Patchouli Vera, ridden by Annemijn Boogaard. Red Viper, ridden by Bart Veeze, not only won the competition in the five-year-old class, but also received an invitation to participate in the performance test for the KWPN (Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands). In the six-year-old class, the most points went to Nashville SW ridden by Femke de Laat. Through this win, he repeated his trick of two years ago when he also won the title in the four-year-old class.
In the final, the three six-year-olds were the first to be ridden by guest rider Jessica Lynn Thomas. She was incredibly impressed by Nashville and even awarded the stallion a 9.8 for rideability. “I am very impressed by this horse! I would give a lot to have a horse like this in my stable,” Thomas said. Femke de Laat agrees wholeheartedly that Nashville is a great horse to ride. She enjoyed the moment that Thomas was working with the stallion and she could watch from the sidelines. “It’s fantastic, super cool!” she enthused. As a four-year-old, the willing stallion had already won the Pavo Cup. In a month’s time, the duo will appear at the World Championship for Young Dressage Horses, which will also be held in Ermelo.
Second place went to the mare Nanny McPhee, ridden by Judith Ribbels. After the semifinals, they were still in the lead, but after the override she had to pass the baton to Nashville. Ilegro, ridden by Zandra Birkelund, took third place.
Five-year-olds
Before the start of the override, expectations were high for Red Viper. Ridden by Bart Veeze, this stallion first won the semifinals and then the first final. The question was, of course, whether he would allow Jessica Lynn Thomas to ride him as nicely as Bart Veeze, with his long legs. That certainly turned out to be the case: “There is a huge difference between Bart and myself, but Red Viper is sensitive to the aids and made it very easy for me.” Red Viper was awarded a 9.8 for rideability, therefore securing victory in the five-year-old class. Veeze: “I am mega proud. From the first test, he has won everything, then the pressure is high. With a test rider, you relinquish control. He is a horse with an excellent temperament, he tries his best every day!”
Second place went to the mare Oxxi_Lena ridden by Annemijn Boogaard. This mare was awarded 9.4 by Thomas for the override. Olivius, ridden by Danielle Heijkoop, finished third and was also the best gelding in this final.
Four-year-olds
It was once again clear in the four-year-old class that Annemijn Boogaard knows how to ride a mare. In this final, she convincingly rode Patchouli Vera to victory in the Pavo Cup. She was already in the lead after the semifinals and the mare also won the first final section and then she sealed this victory with a fantastic 9.3 from the guest rider. In 2023, the mare achieved the highest IBOP score and therefore entered the Pavo Cup as one of the favourites. Boogaard is proud of the mare: “It’s exceptional, quite strange and unexpected. For a four-year-old, with the override too, it’s quite a lot, but this is a fantastic mare who always wants to pull out all the stops and give it her best shot.”
A full brother of Red Viper, the champion in the five-year-old class, took second place. With a 9.6, Roman Empire ridden by Bart Veeze was given the highest score by the guest rider. “It feels like I could enter the ring with him tomorrow,” she enthused. Third place went to GLOCK’s Pablo Picasso ridden by Rubén Mengual Reig.
Prizes
In addition to the beautiful Pavo blanket, the winners in each section also received a personalised Pavo director’s chair, 300 kg of feed of their choice. For second place, in addition to a Pavo saddle, there was 200 kg of feed of their choice and for third place, 100 kg of feed. All riders were gifted a bottle of Pavo E’lyte liquid, which came in handy of course in the warm weather to help the horses recover quickly. The prizes were presented by Pavo director Aart Freriks.