The 2007 CDIO Aachen seemed to be all about Isabell Werth. In the first big title match between Olympic champions Isabell Werth and Anky van Grunsven, Werth took the spotlight and claimed all major victories at a home competition in Aachen, Germany.
However, despite the fact that Aachen is considered to be the best and most important show of the year, it is not an international championships where medals can be won. Werth's overall victory does not automatically mean that European gold is in the bag. The only indicator this is for the 2007 European Dressage Championships, held in Turin, Italy, at the end of August, is that the going will get tough there.
Van Grunsven made mistakes in her Grand Prix and Special ride but still stayed VERY close to Isabell. In the Kur, Anky could not rid Salinero from tension in her small mistake filled and over-scored test, for which the judges received some booing and whistling by the knowledgeable Aachen audience.
Van Grunsven is always very professional and critical about her own performances. In the press conference after the Grand Prix she admitted to making mistakes, but was very confident that at the Europeans, she will be going for it all the way. "I've made mistakes here in all three tests which I normally never make at home. Without these mistakes, I wouldn't have lost here. In Italy the circumstances will be entirely different," Van Grunsven said. Anky was referring to the fact that Salinero never seems to be totally at easy in the show ring. "I've been riding at Aachen for five years and Salinero has never stood still here. Salinero is a horse that loves to work and sometimes that works out differently than I would prefer."
Dutch team trainer and Anky's life partner Sjef Janssen was not so positive to the entire Aachen experienced and grumbled to the Dutch press which quoted him saying, "things happened here that I don't understand. I've been coming to Aachen for 20 tears and always go home frustrated. Fortunately, I'll be in the car tonight with my kids, at home I'll watch the cycling and then the day will be good again."
According to Jacob Melissen, press officer for the Dutch Equestrian Federation, opinions differed whether Werth's Aachen victory was deserved. He lists several factors which politically worked in the benefit of Isabell. Firstly, Melissen stated that the panel of judges contained one German judge, and no Dutch judge. Secondly, Isabell received more time to get Satchmo acquainted to the show ring before the bell was rung. Anky, on the other hand, already received the bell tune when she was riding on halfway on the first long side of the arena, which forced her to enter more quickly than Werth. Melissen did add that Anky made mistakes: no halt, a mistake in the rhythm of the extended trot and the traditional croup high/mini buck initiation of the tempi changes every single stride. And in general, Salinero did not look as relaxed as he could be.
Upon inspection of the break down scores, the German judge did appreciate Werth the highest of all judges, but the was no major difference with three more judges who all ranked Isabell first. Only the American judge, Gary Rockwell, placed Van Grunsven first.
Werth's test was ridden with much bravura and guts and her new music supported that ride. It was a fresh breeze to finally hear a top level rider compete to new music. Silvia Ikle and Kyra Kyrklund changed theirs recently, but the wait for Anky to freshen up her freestyle has been forever. "L'Esprit Chanson" is to date still one of the most beautiful freestyle music in the international dressage world, but it has been 'clubbed' to death. Anky has been riding to this music since she first introduced Salinero to Grand Prix, which was in 2003 (!!!). The choreography of the test was written for a novice Grand Prix horse who was just getting introduced to the highest level of dressage. Now, Salinero is an Olympic and World Champion gold medallist and still doing his baby kur, while the judges seem totally blind to its easy level and choreography, which is not befitting a champion.
Van Grunsven has been announcing a new kur for almost two years now and nothing has been done so far. With her old Grand Prix horses Bonfire, Partout and Krack C, she freshened up the scene regularly riding to the most imaginative freestyles, which still have that "goose-bumping" feeling to them. Remember the West Side Story kur, the James Bond kur, the Tango Kur (now recycled for Painted Black), Something Old, Something New and Bonfire's Symphony. Those were the days when Anky was the absolute trend-setter for the Kur to Music. A few months ago, Anky announced that Dutch pianist Wibi Soerjadi is composing a kur for her; a not so very innovative gesture, as she's copying the original idea of team mate Imke Schellekens-Bartels, who was unique with her approach by having Soerjadi compose an entire freestyle for Sunrise, and not just a demo tune to which Anky did perform in co-operation with Soerjadi at shows, clinics and demonstrations.
Probably Anky's double baby break released some competitive steam and focus from her system for a while, but at the moment the Dutch champion seems totally focused on the sport again and has stated to go for gold at the Olympic Games in Hong Kong and maybe even at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. Anky surely has a very professional attitude towards her own performances at shows, which earns much respect, and she is a super focused rider. Anky still is the favourite for European gold this year and her "defeat" at Aachen is meaningless as it will only sharpen her focus and drive and it just wetted her appetite for victory. It will be Isabell Werth who needs to be on her guard if she wants to go for gold in Turin, because Anky will be the hot favourite and the one to defeat at an international championship.
Werth and Wittig Demonstration
That Aachen was all about Isabell Werth was demonstrated on Saturday evening, when she gave a demonstration together with her trainer Wolfram Wittig and the team Wittig riders on the different stages of schooling a horse Saturday before the CDI freestyle. It was a huge crowd pleaser, not least because Isabell almost got thrown by her six-year-old new hope Der Stern and took it with good humor.
Afterwards, Isabell was awarded a special badge of honor by the German Equestrian Federation. So far, it has only been given to Nicole Uphoff and Ludger Beerbaum. She had no idea that this was going to happen, and it was very emotional, as was a lot of the whole event.
Text by Astrid Appels
All photos copyrighted Barbara Schnell
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