Maryland Stallion Elfenperfekt *Pg* Earns First CDI Win One such buyer was Alice Drayer of Jef-
ferson who ended up with four foals by Peron. Elfenperfekt is one of these foals and is owned by both Alice and her husband Peter. Interest- ingly, one of their other foals also is competing at the Grand Prix level, a mare named Elfen String of Pearls, who is owned and ridden by Marylander Amelia Lyon. Because of both Peron’s and Webster’s untime-
ly deaths, Peron off spring are diffi cult to fi nd! T e American Trakehner Association (ATA)
awarded Elfenperfekt’s dam, Elfentraum, Elite Mare status in 2015. Her elite status was due to the accomplishments of both Elfenperfekt and Elfen String of Pearls. Elfentraum is by Zauberklang *E* of Canada and out of Elfen- schimmer who is by the stallion Donauschim- ner of Wonderland Farms in Pennsylvania. Elfenperfekt was approved as a breeding
By Katherine O. Rizzo T is past October, the Maryland-bred
Trakehner stallion Elfenperfekt took home his fi rst CDI wins at the CDI-W Tryon held Oc- tober 23-25 at the Tryon International Eques- trian Center in North Carolina. Ridden by the 14-year-old stallion’s trainer, Abraham Pugh of Greencastle, Pennsylvania, Elfenperfekt scored a 68.109% in the Grand Prix and a 74.010% in the Grand Prix Freestyle, winning both classes. Rounding out the top three at Tryon were
two former Marylanders, with Julio Mendoza Loor placing second aboard Rosali and Jessica Jo Tate riding Kynynmont Gunsmoke’s Gide- on to third place.
Rare Bloodlines Elfenperfekt is by Peron, who is the high-
est scoring stallion in Olympic history. Peron was also the highest scoring horse on the 1996 U.S. Olympic Dressage team, which earned the team Bronze Medal. Peron was bred in Europe and was approved
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at Neumunster in 1986 before being imported to Canada where he stood at the Ahrensberg Trakehner Horse Farms until 1989. He then moved to the U.S. and stood at stud for owner Carol Meyer Webster, but was not actively bred during the build-up to the 1996 Olym- pic Games. After the Olympics, he returned to Germany and spent some time breeding and competing before his death in 1999. Before being shipped back to Germany, Peron was collected by Select Breeders Services here in Maryland and Webster retained rights to the frozen semen, intending to start her own breed- ing operation here in the States. Tragically, Web- ster died shortly after and her family got out of horses, selling what remained of his semen.
stallion by ISR Oldenburg N.A. in 2013 and then in 2015, he was licensed as a breeding
stallion by ATA. Elfenperfekt is also licensed through the Trakehner Association of North America. He has been awarded *Pg* status due to his Grand Prix performance record. In 2015, Peron earned Elite status through
ATA based on his own accomplishments and that of his off spring, including Elfenperfekt and Elfen String of Pearls.
Growing a Champion Elfenperfekt fi rst competed here in the
U.S. with Wanja Gerlach and quickly earned top awards in Dressage from the American Trakehner Association (ATA). He was ranked the top Trakehner in the country in 2010 for Four- and Five-Year-Old Stallions/Geldings, Materiale, 2011 FEI Five-Year-Old and 2012 FEI Six-Year-Old. Also in 2010, Elfenperfekt was the Reserve Champion at the Dressage Breeding Championships at Devon. In 2012, Elfenperfekt was also ranked in the top 10 for the U.S. Dressage Federation’s (USDF) FEI Six-Year-Olds, coming in ninth. Elfenperfekt was also the Reserve Champi-
on Yearling Colts/Geldings for ATA’s Dressage Sport Horse Breeding in 2007 and then again in 2008 for the Two-Year-Old Colts/Geldings list. Pugh took over the reins in 2013
when Elfenperfekt was seven years old and has been his partner ever since. “He has a lot of heart and tries all the time to please,” Pugh said. “He’s very bond- ed to me and is a great partner.” T e stallion continued to dominate
ATA’s year-end rankings, topping the Open division for Intermediate II
in
2015 and 2016 as well as Grand Prix in 2016, 2018 and 2019. He also broke into
THE EQUIERY A MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | JANUARY 2021 | 31
USDF top 10 lists again in 2016 (9th for Dres- sage Horse of the Year, Intermediate II) and 2019 (8th for Musical Freestyle Challenge Grand Prix).
Tested at Tryon Although the start of Pugh and Elfenper-
fekt’s season was delayed by COVID-19, this did not faze either horse or rider as they moved forward with their 2020 plans. T ey started out the season with a win in July
at Dressage at Lexington in the FEI Grand Prix Challenge class scoring a 72.5%. T ey also won the FEI Musical Freestyle Challenge Test of Choice, Open class in Lexington with a 74.878%. In August, Pugh and Elfenperfekt won all their
Grand Prix classes at VADA/NOVA Summer Wind Down I and II and PVDA at Waredaca I and II. Next up was the GAIG/USDF Region 1 Dressage Championships held at the Virginia Horse Center October 8-11. T ere, the pair won the Grand Prix, Open class and placed third in the Grand Prix Musical Freestyle. T e pair continued to shine at Tryon where
Pugh told
Eurodressage.com after the win, “He just keeps getting better and better, and I keep getting better, so it’s really exciting.” Pugh told T e Equiery that the Tryon win was their “big- gest feat so far for sure” as the win gained them notice from some of the country’s top trainers, including the U.S. Olympic Dressage coach- es. “T ey said if we can get down to Florida this winter, they’ll work with us. None of that would have happened without the win at Try- on,” Pugh said. T e pair have headed south and are setting their sights now on attempting to qualify for the World Cup in Sweden. T e stallion’s jour- ney to the top is poignant for Alice Drayer who said, “T is is all very personal to me. I’ve started him as a youngster and there are not a lot of stallions that continue to compete at that level while still breeding.” Just like his sire, Elfenperfekt is collected by
Select Breeders Services with frozen semen available.
Vickie M. Kirkpatrick
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