Horse of the Month: Dalera

We take a closer look at Jessica Von Bredow-Werndl’s wonderful dark bay mare…

TSF Dalera BB has booked her rider’s ticket to the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Finals in Las Vegas in April. However, Dalera may be travelling elsewhere. Her rider, Jessica Von Bredow-Werndl is thinking of the Tokyo Olympics for Dalera and possibly taking table mate Zaire to Las Vegas instead.

Jessica and Dalera, a Trakehner mare, won leg three of the Western European League in Stuttgart last November. It was a thrilling win, especially as it put Jessica’s German teammate Isabell Werth into second place with the formidable Weihegold OLD.

Werth was very gracious in defeat, acknowledging Jessica’s winning score of 88.440% in the freestyle was fully deserved for the win. Jessica said, “I think it was our best performance so far and I can’t thank Dalera more than today, she was completely with me and she did her very, very best. I’m speechless.”

The dark bay mare 12-year-old came to Stuttgart off the back of a three-month break after the Europeans in Rotterdam. There the pair won Individual bronze and team gold for Germany. Jessica believes she was a better horse for having the time off.

Here’s that Stuttgart win…

Dalera is owned by former Swiss judge Beatrice Burchler-Keller who has been a long-term sponsor of Jessica.

Dalera has been ridden by Jessica all her competitive life. Jessica and her brother, Benjamin, who also competes on the international stage, are based in Aubenhausen, south east Germany, close to Switzerland, where Beatrice lives.

Jessica and her brother have a holistic approach to training, a concept based on mental attitude, breath-work and visualisation. They use a variety of training methods and value an outsider’s view.

Their training is based on concentration, strength and trust. Jessica and Benjamin advocate fairness to their horses and like to treat their horses, like horses with turnout and downtime, so they benefit mentally too.

A fine pedigree…

Dalera’s sire is Easy Game, who was elite stallion at the 2014 Trakehner stallion licencing in Germany. Bred by Silke Druckenmüller, Dalera’s dam is Dark Magic; by virtue of a surrogate carrier Dalera now has one full brother. The colt is called Dalerian, who was born in 2018.

That same year, Dalera was part of Germany’s victorious team at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Tryon in 2018. She’s a globe trotter who lights up in between the boards. Although according to Jessica, to handle, she is a different story.

Jessica said:

    “Dalera is a very, very special mare as she is like the cutest horse in the world when you are cuddling her when you are walking around with her when you are just having a good time when you are without riding her from the ground.

“But as soon as you sit on her she wants to give you her very best. She is very eager, she is willing to work, she feels like a Rockstar in a competition. She really wants to present herself and she enjoys it.”

Her personality ties in with the breed traits of a Trakehner; good natured, even tempered, but with an energy and athleticism to match their work ethic.

Looking to Tokyo…

Germany’s current status of World and European champions shows just how dominant they are in international Dressage right now. Olympic places are super competitive, but surely TSF Dalera BB has done enough in the last two years to book her flight to Tokyo. Aside from their results, her consistent relationship with Jessica must be very appealing to German selectors. They are established winners who have shown they can perform outside of their own country.

The beautiful TSF Dalera BB would be an asset to any team and to any country with dreams of Dressage medals.

Original article: https://www.fei.org/stories/horse-of-the-month-dalera