Friday morning's competition at the 2009 CDIO Aachen opened with the Grand Prix class in the CDI tour.
The winning ride came from the last ride to go, the Danish princess Nathalie Zu Saeyn-Wittgenstein aboard the Danish warmblood Rigoletto (by Rubinstein x Rossi), bred by her mother Her Royal Highness Princess Benedicte of Denmark.
It was a lovely Grand Prix class with many superstar horses coming into the ring one after the other, but the challenge in Aachen this year seems to be riding a mistake-freetest. Zu Saeyn-Wittgenstein had only a few tiny glitches in her otherwise very smooth ride and deservedly won the class. She had her horse responsive to the aids while smoothness and relaxation were the key factors in the ride.
The trot work was forward and ground covering, the walk relaxed. Rigoletto executed a good rein back which was awarded 7s and 8s. His piaffe and passage are fluent. The almost buckskin gelding can keep a good rhythm even though he does take a few slightly uneven steps in passage with more action in the right hind leg. The tempi changes were big and straight but the one short change in the zig zag was the only significant glitch in her test. She scored 72.128% and won the CDI Grand Prix, sponsored by Havens Horse Feed.
"It was incredible," Zu Saeyn-Wittgenstein commented. "He was with me from the first step and fully concentrated on me."
Hans Peter Minderhoud and the Oldenburg gelding Escapado (by Ex Libris) gave Zu Saeyn a run for their money. Minderhoud made Ton Kies' gelding look fresh and energetic in the test. There was much forwardness in all gaits, scoring high points especially on the trot extensions. The piaffe and passage were rhythmical, though Escapado could have been a bit more closed in the frame in passage.
There was a tiny glitch in the transition from passage to collected canter and the only 'real' error in the ride happened in the two tempi's for which he got scored an 8 by one judge and a 5 by another. The one tempi's were fine as well as the pirouettes.
Minderhoud scored 71.745% to finish in the runner up position.
"Escapado went really well," said Hans-Peter. "Unfortunately we had a mistake in the two tempi's. I got the ride on this horse after the 2005 European Dressage Championships and had to deal with a lot of bad luck because he got injured. It always went up and down. But he has a lot of quality."
Swedish Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven slotted in third on her new Grand Prix hope Favourit. The chestnut gelding by Fidermark x Worldchamp was trained to Grand Prix level by Herman Gossmeier and sold to Vilhelmson by his Austrian owner Ursula Jungwirth as a second international competition horse besides Tinne's number one Solos Carex. The gelding is already proving to be more than a back up.
Though he didn't feel like going into the ring with a bit of jumps and turns while travelling the ring, Favourit did his job inside the arena and excelled in the piaffe and passage. The pair scored 69.362%
Matthias Alexander Rath on his rising Grand Prix horse Triviant. Stepmom Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff acquired this Dutch bred gelding at the PSI Auction. The ground quality in this horse is obvious. Super basic gaits which lead to very expressive movements especially in the piaffe and passage, but there were many small issues for this pair to score higher. The passage was sometimes uneven, the halt was not square, one pirouette was out of balance. But Rath's quiet and steady connection with the bit and smooth control of tempo were fantastic. They scored 69,191% and finished fourth.
It's great to have Ulla Salzgeber back in the international show ring and back at Aachen. One of the most legendary dressage horses of all times was her Rusty. He made the crowds gasp with his flying changes and pirouettes. Salzgeber is now back with two horses: Wakana and Herzruf's Erbe.
She rode the sensitive mare Wakana in the CDI Tour. This Thuringian branded Wolkentanz II x Wanderbusch II offspring is such a great horse! She has a very impressive silhouette and athleticism but was ridden on the safe side in the Grand Prix.
She lacked overtrack in the extended trot and though she really sits in piaffe she still tends to loose impulsion, which makes the piaffe-passage transitions even harder. The pirouettes were super though and with some more experience and strength, this 9-year old mare will score solidly above 70%.
The best ride of the class came from 69-year old Japanese Olympian Hiroshi Hoketsu on the Hanoverian mare Whisper (by Wolkenstein II x Grenadier). There isn't a single rider who is more "zen" or more stoic in the saddle than Hoketsu. He has got a great seat and super soft hands and his mare has her ears forwards and is listening all the time. Her piaffe and passage are brilliant and scored between 7-9 though it easily should have been solid 9s from all five judges!
Unfortunately Whisper saw a ghost at C and took off. Her rider got her collected again but there was some loss of concentration. A mistake in the zig zag and one tempi's made the score dropped to 67.617% though she was hitting 73% before the spook happened. When Hoketsu finished his ride, the crowds went wild. Everybody loves them and they should!
Christoph Koschel on the Finnish bred liver chestnut gelding Donnperignon. This Donnerhall x Mozart II offspring has Matador blood in his veins. He has a great technique in passage, but couldn't always stay regular. In the pirouettes he takes the weight beautifully on the hindquarters.
And Nadine Capellmann has also found her new ride in Finland! Raffaldi is a Danish bred gelding by Come Back II x Raffaeli Z which was trained to FEI level in Finland. Capellmann introduced Raffaldo to the world last year in Aachen and now entered him in the competition. He has much in store but needs a little more time!
Former European Young Rider Champion Valentina Truppa is now playing with the big guys. Her medal winning YR mount Chablis (by Castro x Leonardo II) has moved on to Grand Prix as well. Truppa showed nice trot extensions and a super zig zig, but lacked a bit of electricity in the otherwise rhythmical piaffe and passage.
Ingrid Klimke is a busy lady in Aachen. She has two horses in the CDI and one horse in the CCI competition so it requires a lot of running around and management to get every horse ready on time. She showed her double World Young Horse Champion Damon Hill NRW (by Donnerhall) at Grand Prix. They scored a 9 for the extended walk and crossed the ring in extended canter like a lightning flash. In passage the horse was too open in the frame. They scored 65.745%.
All photos copyrighted Astrid Appels
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Scores 2009 CDIO Aachen
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