Ottawa, Ontario—Cheryl Meisner represented Canada at CDI3* Zwolle, held February 7–11, in the Netherlands. The international event was also host to the annual competition for the Best Stallion of 2008 at Zwolle International.

In the Grand Prix, Meisner and the talented 11-year-old bay Dutch Warmblood stallion Paganini (Havidoff x Statuar), owned by John Risley, placed second with a score of 64.708%. The duo then finished third in the Grand Prix Freestyle with a score of 67.650%.

“The CDI Zwolle show was really nice. There were a lot of good stallions there, so it is really nice to win the title of best approved Dutch stallion for 2008 with Paganini,” remarked Meisner, who is working towards a berth on Canada’s Olympic Team that will be travelling to Hong Kong this August. “Paganini was really energetic and excited to be there. On the day of the Grand Prix, he had good energy and was very attentive in the arena with a lot of presence. I have high hopes for our trip to Spain for the Sunshine tour.”

On top of their great results, Meisner and Paganini combined scores in the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle earned Paganini them title of the Best Stallion of 2008 at Zwolle International.

Aat Van Essen and Premier, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding sired by Jazz, won both the Grand Prix, with a score of 69.375%, and the Grand Prix Freestyle with 73.959%.

The international judging panel included E. de Wolff van Westerrode (FEI I—NED), Jennie Loriston-Clark (FEI I—GBR), Adriaan Hamoen (FEI C—NED), Bernard Maurel (FEI O—FRA) and Bo Jena (FEI C—SWE) for the Grand Prix. Jena, Maurel, Hamoen, Loriston-Clark and Wim Ernes (FEI O—NED) comprised the judging panel for the Grand Prix Freestyle.

 

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