What would the Sunshine Tour in Spain be without Andalusians and Lusitanos competing there? It was absolutely refreshing to see such a multiplicity of Iberian bred horses perform at top level in Vejer de la Frontera
and the major advancement the Iberian riders have made in five years time is staggering. The Andalusians are no longer piaffe-passage machines, but they now can actually walk and extend as well.
With Spanish Olympians Ignacio Rambla and Juan Antonio Jiminez and Spanish team rider Antonio Cid, Spain had its best of the best represented at Montenmedio. Remarkable was the surge forward of the Portuguese riders at all levels -- from young horses to Grand Prix -- in the show.
A Spanish rider that is definitely upward bound is the former young rider Jose Antonio Garcia Mena riding the Andalusian stallions for Alvaro Domecq.
Aboard Osado, an 11-year old Andalusian licensed stallion, Garcia Mena rode a delightful freestyle on Rafael Soto's old music for Invasor. Osado is really impressive in the piaffe and passage and judge Patrick Collard confessed to even given him a 10 for it. Garcia Mena scored 68.167% and placed fourth in the Freestyle
The Grand Prix freestyle, which was an invitational class, was the apex of the three-week Sunshine Tour. Twelve riders performed to music and the level of competition and artisticity varied.
Aboard the PRE stallion Bandido, Antonio Cid rode a lovely freestyle, but his score was only 64.20%. Cid had to rely on the kindness of friends to save his kur. Right before the class started, the CD with his kur music turned out to be scratched and useless. Ignacio Rambla lend Cid his old kur, which Cid only practiced once in the warm up.
His programme came off remarkably well, except that Cid had forgotten to do a pirouette to the left and had done two to the right instead.
Ignacio Rambla made a technical error in his choreography as well. Riding the 12-year old Distinguido, Rambla did not perform a piaffe passage transition once, but did canter pirouettes with a transition into piaffe, extended trots with a transition to passage. Rambla did every thinkable combination with piaffe and passage, but not the normal piaffe-passage transition.
"It was a very exciting freestyle, lots of things happened," Withages joked afterwards. "One rider lost his music, and another forgot to do a simple piaffe-passage transition."
Withages was extremely satisfied with the rising level of competition in Spain. "The level is getting better year after year. I was here two years ago, but this year there were more horses, more Grand Prix combinations, and more Spanish and Portuguese riders," said Withages.
The FEI Dressage Committee chairwoman has been doing intensive judges' training clinics in Portugal and she believes Portuguese dressage is reaping the fruits now at shows. "Of course these clinics have effect, it's a virtuous circle."
Text and Photos copyrighted Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed without permission
