The final highlight of the 2026 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses was the final for the five-year-olds. And this final highlight was—thanks to Escolar—“simply impressive.”
His name says it all: Simply Imposant, a son of Escolar from the Gut Neuenhof stud farm out of a Westernhagen dam, bred by Daniela Burkhardt-Robert and owned by Dr. Peter Brenske.
Brenske actually had his eye on a different horse at the Hanoverian Elite Auction when he sent Kira Laura Soddemann to test-ride them. She tried out not only Brenske’s favorite but also the four-year-old Bundeschampionat participant Einfach Imposant, who was also part of the collection. Soddemann knew immediately: He didn’t get his name by accident, even though he was still a rough diamond at the time. Ultimately, Dr. Peter Brenske won the bid, and Soddemann got her top choice to train.
Although Einfach Imposant competed in the Bundeschampionat as a four-year-old, he didn’t really start to shine until this season. Before the World Championships, Kira Laura Soddemann rode the Escolar son in four dressage horse classes—and he won them all. You could see why at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden in early August.
After the pair had already won the final qualifier in commanding fashion, they were the last pair to enter the World Championship stadium in Verden. Here, Einfach Imposant took it up a notch compared to the qualifying round: 92.6 percent—world champion! And what a champion. To quote the judges: “This horse has it all!”
Congratulations to the entire team behind Einfach Imposant, and especially to the breeder, Daniela Burkhardt-Robert, who chose Escolar as a partner for her mare back then.
Other Descendants of Escolar
In the seven-year-old class, the winner was a stallion bred in the Netherlands and competing under the Australian flag, a son of Escolar: Osaka P, ridden by Jessica Dertell. In the five-year-old class, Esquire—last year’s Oldenburg Reserve Champion and Bundeschampion—represented Germany as another son of Escolar. The stallion, bred by Maria Burczyk, was ridden by Eva Möller for his Polish owners and placed fourth in the small final.