Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final winner and Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games gold medalist Damon Hill NRW returned to the competition ring on April 18.

The stallion, formerly ridden at the top levels by Germany’s Helen Langehanenberg, contested the FEI Young Rider tests at a Vechta, Germany, show with Jil-Marielle Becks aboard.

The pair won the 2015 Preis der Besten qualifier with a 78.90 percent and an 82.50 percent. Becks entered the 2015 CDI Hagen (Germany) on April 22 to get an international qualification score for their European Young Riders Championships nomination—winning the Prix St. Georges on a 79.21 percent.

“Everybody thinks it would be easy to ride such an experienced Grand Prix horse, particularly in an advanced level dressage test, but it is even more difficult,” Becks told Eurodressage. “First he wanted to perform even more than less changes and was pretty much focused on Grand Prix.

“I simply benefit from Damon Hill’s experience. He is a strict teacher. If I make a mistake, he does the same. This way he forces me to ride [is] completely concentrated all the time,” she continued.

Langehanenberg lost the ride on Damon Hill NRW, a 15-year-old Westphalian stallion (Donnerhall—Romanze, Rubinstein I), due to disputes with the horse’s owner, Christian Becks, late last year.

Jil-Marielle, 17 and the daughter of Christian, first presented the stallion at the Equitana Equestrian Sports World Fair in Essen, Germany, in March.