Nancy Later and Mänster Win 2002 Heidelberg Cup Championship

Mänster is a 16.1-hand, chestnut, 10-year-old Swedish warmblood gelding (Chapman x Manstrimma) owned by rider Suzanne McCarthy. “She bought him for herself and has done very well with him, but she generously changed her mind and is helping me to qualify for the Intermediaire I Championship at Gladstone," said Later. "At the Palm Beach Dressage Derby I entered where there had been some scratches and Klaus (Fraessdorf) let me have late entries at the Heidelberg Cup. I qualified for Gladstone." McCarthy is in the process of purchasing another horse to ride while Later continues to show Mänster.

Later started riding Mänster 18 months ago. "He’s fun to work with," she said. "We enjoy each other. I’m lucky to have him." She said that his best attribute is that “you can tell in just one look at him that he is fun to ride. He’s light on his feet and is lofty in his extensions. You can feel that he can really move. He participates and makes a big effort."She added that currently, he is the most athletic horse that she has in training. Mänster has started passage, which Later describes as "super" and has learned the one tempis.

The duo’s immediate goal is Gladstone then "we’ll play it by ear. My partner, Oded Shimoni, is going to Europe so I will stay in the States this summer." Later and Shimoni are based in Wellington, Florida, during the winter and Brewster, New York, in the summer. "If things work out, I’ll go to Europe also. I may hold Mänster back from the Grand Prix ring and aim for the Pan Am Games. We just started back to work seriously three weeks ago. Klaus Balkenhol worked with me this winter and he was very positive and very helpful. Mänster is a top horse."

Mary Hilton for DressageDaily.com