{"id":21533,"date":"2026-03-01T14:07:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/uncategorized\/lassi-lehmusto-and-vekardo-danced-their-way-to-victory-in-the-winter-cup\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T11:59:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T08:59:33","slug":"lassi-lehmusto-and-vekardo-danced-their-way-to-victory-in-the-winter-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/home-page-campaign\/lassi-lehmusto-and-vekardo-danced-their-way-to-victory-in-the-winter-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Lassi Lehmusto and Vekardo danced their way to victory in the Winter Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Super Final of the National Dressage Winter Cup was held on the international arena at the Helsinki Horse Show on Sunday. In the Super Final, riders from the series\u2019 various categories compete against each other with freestyle routines appropriate for their respective levels. The victory went to the Finnish horse pair Lassi Lehmusto and Vekardo. Second place went to Jasmin Sikstr\u00f6m riding Clementine in the senior division, and third place went to the pony pair Aino Hallasaari and Fairytale Twilight. <\/p>\n\n

\"Lassi
Lassi Lehmusto and Vekardo, photo by Hanna Heinonen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The 14-year-old Vekardo (Herkko Hurmaus \u2013 Vestella) danced with Lassi Lehmusto from the very first greeting onward to the beat of a flawless routine set to a mix of radio hits and timeless classics. The pair earned a score of 73.045%, which secured them the victory in the final. The pair also won the dressage final organized under the \u201cSuperfinal\u201d concept as part of the Helsinki Horse Show in 2024. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cOf course it feels really great\u2014this is an amazing place to go horseback riding. I guess we\u2019ll have to celebrate with a glass of champagne,\u201d Lehmusto smiled. <\/p>\n\n

Lehmusto and Vekardo, perennial favorites from Yp\u00e4j\u00e4, had completely revamped their freestyle routine for Finnish horses at the Helppo A level.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWell, we were a little rushed putting the program together, but it turned out pretty nice,\u201d Lehmusto said in his typically modest manner. There were also reasons to be satisfied with the course. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cI was personally satisfied with the half-passes today; they went well, and they\u2019re our strength in the freestyle,\u201d says Lehmusto, who is aiming for the Finnish Horse Dressage Championships and the Pohjola Series for the outdoor season.<\/p>\n\n

\"Jasmin
Jasmin Sikstr\u00f6m and Clementine, photo by Hanna Heinonen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Jasmin Sikstr\u00f6m, who is originally from Vaasa but lives and trains in Helsinki, placed second in the finals and also achieved an outstanding score of 70.960% in her senior Intermediate A\/B-level free program, riding Clementine, a spirited 19-year-old mare.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of my feisty mare; we had a really good time today. She\u2019s still got plenty of power left\u2014it certainly won\u2019t run out\u2014but of course, we\u2019re taking it one day at a time, since Clementine is getting up there in age,\u201d Sikstr\u00f6m says. The facilities at Messukeskus earned praise from the experienced top Finnish rider. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cWhen my free skate music started playing, I paused for a moment to see if it was really my music\u2014it sounded so amazing through the Messukeskus speakers that it gave me an absolutely incredible feeling on the ice!\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Third place in the Super Final went to the Tuusula-based pony team of Aino Hallasaari, 15, and Fairytale Twilight, a 16-year-old WPB gelding bred in Finland. The pair also delivered a successful performance in the Super Final, scoring 69.630%. The pair is aiming to compete in the Nordic Championships and European Championships as part of the national pony team this coming outdoor season. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe had a great time on the course and gained a lot of valuable experience. My pony is quite a handful, but when it comes to working, it stays focused,\u201d Hallasaari says. He got help from his family in putting together his freestyle routine. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe watched videos of old freestyle routines online and drew inspiration from here and there. I came up with the choreography myself, and my sister, my brother, and my brother\u2019s girlfriend helped put the music together.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Dressage Winter Cup Super Final. Started 6th, finished 3rd.<\/strong>1) Lassi Lehmusto – Vekardo, Yp\u00e4j\u00e4n Ratsastajat ry 73.045%2) Jasmin Sikstr\u00f6m – Clementine, Korsholms Sportryttare ry 70.960%3) Aino Hallasaari – Fairytale Twilight, Kymenlaakso Riding Club ry 69.630%<\/p>\n\n

Full results: LINK<\/a><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Super Final of the National Dressage Winter Cup was held on the international arena at the Helsinki Horse Show on Sunday. In the Super Final, riders from the series\u2019 various categories compete against each other with freestyle routines appropriate for their respective levels. The victory went to the Finnish horse pair Lassi Lehmusto and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,97,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-page-campaign","category-new-article","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21540,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21533\/revisions\/21540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}