He was awarded the title ‘Holsteiner of the Month for April’ after Zuccero by Zirocco Blue-Caretino (Hanno Köhncke, Badendorf) from line 4539 had won the Grand Prix in Neumünster in front of a home crowd under Rolf-Göran Bengtsson. But at that point, no one could have imagined the extraordinary success the pair would go on to achieve in the 2023 season: in August, the grey stallion and the likeable Swede, along with his team, travelled to the European Championships in Milan, Italy – and won gold in the team event.  

“He’s athletic, careful, brave and easy to ride,” enthused Bengtsson, who last year also achieved outstanding victories and placings with Zuccero in Gothenburg (SWE), Hamburg, Uggerhalne (DEN), Falsterbo (SWE) and Pinneberg. Readers of the association’s magazine PFERD+SPORT now had the opportunity to vote for their favourite from among the twelve horses in the running for the title ‘Holsteiner of the Year 2023’ – and chose the association’s stallion. During the presentation in Elmshorn at the end of January, Carolin Tassius-Diederich, representing RathmannVerlag, presented a show blanket to the grey stallion and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson. 

Photos: Stefan Lafrentz (cover photo) and Janne Bugtrup