For the Portuguese dressage riders, Vejer de la Frontera is only a stone's throw away and, therefore, they sent a whole delegation to the Sunshine Tour. In the big tour Miguel Ralao Duarte, Daniel and Carlos Pinto, Andre Parade and Nuno Vicente
took a firm stand against their Spanish neighbours and proved their worth in all three legs of the big tour.
Especially Carlos Pinto and Miguel Ralao Duarte were able to make a fist in the large field of Grand Prix competitors. Aboard the 11-year old Lusitano stallion Notavel Puy du Fou, Pinto had a fantastic weekend. In the Grand Prix he finished sixth with 65.333% and in the Special he moved up the ranks to a satisfying third place with 65.720%.
Notavel, who is owned by Vincent Guilloteau of the Puy du Fou Mediaeval theme park in Les Epesses, France, is a very talented dressage horse with ground covering extensions and an elevated piaffe-passage.
In the Special the horse looked a bit sour in the test, but he put down a solid performance that can definitely be brushed up with some more show routine.
Miguel Ralao Duarte saddled Oxalis de Meia Lua, a 10 year old Lusitano owned by Benedicte Daoust. Without a doubt, Duarte's main quality is his quiet seat and steady, soft hands. Oxalis looked extremely happy in his work, and although, not always as flashy as can be, the horse did his job with great precision.
In the Grand Prix, Duarte placed 10th (64.542%), in the Special he ranked 8th (63.240%) and in the Kur he was 9th with 63.726%
"The Portuguese performed surprisingly well," Mariette Withages commented after the Grand Prix. "All of a sudden they have shown their face on the scene and created the possibility of qualifying a team for the 2005 European Championships in Moscow."
Text and Photos copyrighted Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed without permission
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