Waterloo Se, with California’s Willy Arts aboard, is the 2007 Champion in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Championship for Four-Year-Old Horses. The Championships are being held at the Kentucky Horse Park. The Dutch Warmblood gelding, owned by DG Bar Ranch and Siegi Belz-Fry, earned an overall score of 8.62 in Saturday’s championship class.

Judges had nothing but good things to say about Waterloo Se (00 Seven – Showbiz by Jazz) during competition at the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Championships, held September 14-16. The gelding was bred by Belz-Fry. The panel of three judges included Anne Gribbons, Marianne Ludwig and Natalie Lamping.

Speaking for the judges, Gribbons said they “were certainly impressed.” The judges credited Arts for his good riding, which highlighted Waterloo Se’s own natural ability. “The trot had a very clear rhythm and an unusual balance for such a young horse. And in the lengthenings, he kept his tempo. He had a lot of air time and a lot of power showing up without speeding up or losing his rhythm,” Gribbons said. Waterloo Se was given an 8.5 for the trot.

For the walk, he received an 8.6, but the canter was the judges’ favorite gait of all. “The canter we liked even better. It’s balanced, uphill and with very smooth transitions. We give an 8.7 for the canter,” Gribbons said. They reserved their highest score – an 8.8 – for overall general impression saying that Waterloo Se “was nicely presented and looks like he’s very well up to snuff for the job.”