It will be a battle between classical dressage and the Sjef Janssen training system, that is for sure at the 2004 World Cup Finals in Dusseldorf, Germany. There are two serious candidates for the title this year
: Anky van Grunsven on Gestion Salinero and Heike Kemmer on Bonaparte. The striking fact is that both combinations are entirely different from each other, but yet are able to produce neck-and-neck scores.
In Dusseldorf, the judges are putting Salinero and Bonaparte on a balance and are weighing out the qualities of both horses. On the one side there is Salinero, a super sensible, super elastic, super electric horse that has extraordinary movements, scope and potential, but looks like a bomb about to explode in the ring. On the other side one has Bonaparte, an elegant athelete with much cadence and refinement in his movements, who is much more relaxed, calm, collected and controlled throughout his test than Salinero, but misses that little bit of pezzaz that makes Salinero shine.
In the Grand Prix at the 2004 World Cup Finals, a class which is a preliminary test and doesn't count for the actual Finals (i.e. the freestyle), the judges chose for spectacular Salinero, but their decision was not unanymous. Judges Anne Gribbons and Volker Moritz put Heike Kemmer in first place.
Anky rode Salinero with much engagement and flair. The trot work was very expressive, large, leggy, but neared the passage instead of being a working trot. Salinero's piaffe-passage is very rhythmical and clean, but the horse tends to open up his front legs while piaffing, making his body wiggle from the left to the right (what Bonfire did behind). Nevertheless, Salinero did not lose his cadence in the pi-pa-tour. The flying changes every two strides were large and nice, the ones every single stride were a bit too tense, especially the first three changes where Salinero pushed his croupe high. The pirouettes were very nice, small, with good impulsion. The overall image was one of superb expression and engagement, but with still too much tension, especially in the canter work. Anky scored 75.791%
Heike Kemmer and Bonaparte are the complete opposites of Anky and Salinero. Bonaparte is much more relaxed and clear headed, but does not shimmer as much as Salinero. Bonapart's piaffe and passage are very rhythmical and balanced, but could have shown more impulsion. Twice, the horse lost his movement forwards in the piaffe. The tempi's were very nice, but in the one's the first change was a bit short. The overall trot work was very lightfooted and balanced. Heike scored 74.875% and placed second.
After the class Anky commented that Salinero is very eager to please and anticipates every move. "He knows the tempi's every single stride are coming up and gets really nervous because of that," Anky said. With her winning Grand Prix score, Van Grunsven is the absolute favorite for the title, which she can win for the sixth time, a historical record. "Everything has gone so fast this year," Anky said, "Even though I decided to take it slow because of my injury, it has gone faster than expected." Not only is Anky favorite for the World Cup title, but if all goes well, she'll be a strong candidate for Olympic gold this year, depending if Ulla Salzgeber is going to compete or not. The German Olympic Committee is going to decide on that June 4, 2004.
Images copyrighted: Dirk Caremans - No Reproduction Allowed
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Eurodressage On the Scene at the 2004 World Cup Finals