Vice World Champion, German Champion, and Hanoverian Champion
"A horse with charisma, great rideability and lots of natural balance," said the judges in their comments praising Vitalos, who won silver in the six-year-old class at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Ermelo/NED with a total score of 88.400 percent - sensationally confirming his medal place from the previous year in the five-year-old class. The judges commented on the "trot in natural uphill" (9.2), the "walk in clear four-beat with a lot of over-foot and a lot of activity in the hind leg and also in collected walk" (8.5) and the "canter also clearly in time with a high degree of willingness to collect" (8.7). Vitalos also scored well for rideability (8.8) and perspective (9.0). With a total score of 91.386 percent, Vitalos had already won World Championships for Young Dressage Horses under his rider Leonie Richter in 2022, after winning the 2021 Bundeschampionat for four-year-old stallions with a record-breaking score of 9.6 (10 for rideability) and the Hanoverian Championships. He completed his stallion performance test in Denmark as the winner in his age group, where he again received the dream score of 10.
Vitalos also made positive headlines with his first foals. His son Vitalo GA stands out from his numerous top foals, who went to the final ring at the German Foal Championships and was subsequently sold at a high price at auction.
His sire, Vitalis, is one of the world's best dressage sires. He is the youngest stallion in the current WBFSH ranking in 16th place. He owes this to his Grand Prix-successful offspring, including the European Championship team bronze winner Vayron/Daniel Bachmann Andersen/DEN, the team World Champion, two-time individual Vice World Champion and World Cup runner-up Vamos Amigos/Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour/DEN, the WEG and European Championship participant First-Step Valentin/Larissa Pauluis/BEL, the Louisdor Prize final runner-up and Aachen runner-up Valencia AS as well as the Aachen winner and Otto Lörke Prize winner Valesco/both under Fabienne Müller-Lütkemeier and the Salzburg winner and Nations' Cup winner Valparaiso/Laura Strobel. The latter, together with our Bundeschampionat bronze winner and second HLP reserve winner Viva Vitalis and Vis à Vis, is one of over 70 licensed sons of Vitalis. Vitalis himself was colt winner in the Netherlands in 2007, reserve winner of the NRW licensing in 2009, HLP dressage index winner in 2010, placed at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses and in the Pavo Cup Final in 2012, champion in the USA in 2013 and qualified for the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses again with a record number of points and won the international small tour at the age of seven in 2014. Back in Germany in 2016, Vitalis won the Nuremberg Burg Pokal Final in Frankfurt under Isabel Freese/NOR and the Stallion of the Year competition at Inter I level at the World Championships in Ermelo/NED.
Vitalos’ younger half-brother, Franzeniro DXB (by Franziskus), was successful in the international young horse tours in Kronenberg/NED and Deauville/FRA in 2023.
The dam's sire, De Niro, himself already successful in the Grand Prix class as an eight-year-old and winner of the Hamburg Dressage Derby under riding master Dolf-Dietram Keller, led the WBFSH ranking of the best dressage sires worldwide for six years in a row. There was never a championship where his offspring, including Desperados FRH/Kristina Bröring-Sprehe, Dablino/Anabel Balkenhol, D'Agostino FRH/Fabienne Müller-Lütkemeier, Delgado/Beatriz Ferrer-Salat/ESP, Voice/Edward Gal/NED, Deep Impact/Severo Jurado Lopez/ESP and Darco of De Niro ZS CH/Charlotte Lenherr/SUI, did not compete for medals. More than 260 advanced (S) level horses registered in Germany alone collected over 3.4 million euros in prize money for their sire. With over 100 licensed sons, the Hanoverian Stallion of the Year 2008 had a lasting influence on breeding.
The stallions Wanderbursch II and Askan follow in third and fourth place in the pedigree.
The third dam, Antje, also produced the mare Waleska (by Wolkentanz I), who sired the licensed stallion Destination MS (by Destano).
Hanoverian line of Aina, which also produced the stallions Allegro (by Augustinus xx) and Fabriano (by Wendulan).
Dream score of 10 for rideability
