Chrcynno-Palace Stud brings home the title of Best Breeder and two gold medals, while Michałów one award of the shiny yellow color from Chantilly (northern France, Picardy region), a place known for horse racing and the famous Condé Museum, as well as a castle which served as the premises for a grand feast for 2,000 people, hosted in honor of Louis XIV by the then leading chef of France, François Vatel. It was in that picturesque scenery, with a castle in the background, that the AHO Breeders’ European Championship on August 10-11th was held. The show, a flagship event for AHO (The Arabian Horse Organization), was open to horses born in Europe who had not won medals in title events during the last 3 years and who were owned in whole or in part (for at least 3 months prior to the show) by their breeders. The latter condition opened the gates for leased horses, such as Michałów’s Emira (Laheeb – Embra/Monogramm), entered by Ajman Stud.
Monetary prizes were awarded – 1,000 Euro for each horse that placed in the top five of its class and 10 thousand Euro for a gold medal. The purse amounted to 170 thousand Euro in total. The marks were calculated somewhat differently than during ECAHO affiliated shows. The final score of each trait was constructed in such a way that if a mark differed by more than 1,5 points from the average, it was discarded. Thanks to that if a mark awarded by any one of the judges differed greatly from the others, it did not influence the entire evaluation. Qualifying for the finals were two top horses from each class and those with the highest scores, even as much as 10 from an age category with 20 or more contestants. In cases where the category consisted of 10-19 horses – eight qualified for the finals. If there were less than 10 in class – six entered the finals.
The catalogue saw almost 140 horses, with more than 120 showing up in the arena. On the first day (Saturday) the judges were quite strict, rarely awarding top marks. On the second day (Sunday) they were a little bit more generous. On Saturday Polish fans welcomed the victory of Echo Aurora (Eternity Ibn-Navarrone-D – Echo Afrodyta/Piaff) from Chrcynno with great joy. With a score of 92,8 (including as many as seven “20s” for type, head and neck, as well as movement), she bested her rivals in the 3 year old mares’ class. Psyche Victoria (Ekstern – Pallas-Atena/Ecaho) was third in class among the 4-7 year olds with a score of 89,8. In accordance with the show rules in Chantilly, she qualified for the finals. On Sunday Chrcynno continued its lucky streak. This time the 2 year old colts’ class was won by Psyche Keret (Khidar – Psyche Victoria/Ekstern) with a score of 91,4, including four “20s” (for type and movement). Echo Mars (Ajman Moniscione – Echo Kirke/Ecaho), who competed in the 3 year old colts’ class, placed third with a score of 89,8 (including two “20s” for movement). Horses from Chrcynno were prepared by Alicja Poszepczyńska and presented by Gerald Kurtz.
Whereas in the hands of Frank Spönle we saw Michałów’s Emira, who also won her class of 8 year old and above mares’ with a score of 92,7. Later in the finals she claimed the gold, just like Echo Aurora and Psyche Keret. Echo Aurora was also chosen Best Female of the show and Best Horse of the show. Psyche Victoria took fourth place in the finals. All these successes earned the Poszepczyński family the award for Best Breeder. This is without a doubt a beautiful result and a huge dose of optimism – not only for the stud at Chrcynno, but for Polish private breeding in general.
