The next Holsteiner YoungStar comes from the ranks of the Holsteiner performance horses. He is the seven-year-old Cadeau, a son of Clarksville out of a Lorentin I-Linaro dam. The Holsteiner was born at Birgit Jørgensen’s stud in Rødekro, Denmark. He is now based at the dressage stables of Anna and Roland Metzler in Tornesch.
Cadeau’s career began whilst he was still a foal, when he emerged as the resounding winner of the Holsteiner State Foal Championship – which was then still held in Bad Segeberg. His breeder subsequently decided to raise him as a prospective stallion, eventually entrusting Cadaeu to the expert care of Roland Metzler at the age of two and a half to prepare him for licensing. The bay, a representative of the Holsteiner line 8908, did not make it to the licensing arena at that time. However, Roland Metzler, a dressage horse trainer, was already impressed by his quality back then. “I simply liked him,” Metzler still recalls clearly today. And so he bought the promising young horse from Birgit Jørgensen.
Time for development
Roland Metzler began riding Cadeau, but gave him time to develop physically. “We didn’t take him to any competitions at all as a three-year-old. We felt at the time that he wasn’t quite ready yet,” Roland Metzler continues. The following year, the pair competed in a number of riding horse classes, in which they were also victorious; they came second at the Holstein State Championships and eventually qualified for the National Championships. In the meantime, he was awarded the ‘geprüft’ status in Oldenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The year 2023 – when Cadeau was five years old – was all about training and development, before Roland Metzler’s wife Anna sold the Grand Prix horse last year and the successful Grand Prix rider took the saddle of the promising young horse for the first time. “I had to persuade Anna a little at the time to ride him,” smiles Metzler. But today, there is no trace left of that initial scepticism. Last season, Cadeau once again qualified for the National Championships and won four ‘M’ dressage classes and two ‘S’ class dressage horse trials – under the saddle of Anna Metzler.
Cadeau and Anna Metzler at the Holsteiner Verband’s Young Dressage Horse Day
“Cadeau has everything a Grand Prix horse needs,” enthuses Anna Metzler. “As well as the quality of his basic gaits, it’s above all his ability to learn new things quickly. Everything comes easily to him and he’s a really clever chestnut,” she continues, describing the Holsteiner. What does the future hold for this Holsteiner YoungStar? “We want to train him to be a Grand Prix horse and give him the time he needs to get there. With Holsteiner dressage horses, you sometimes have to be patient a little longer – but it’s worth it!” the pair are certain.
Cadeau and Anna Metzler – already victorious in the advanced class
Photos: Janne Bugtrup, Malina Blunck
Video: Private collection
