Julie de Deken from Belgium, partnered with Fazzino, caused a Belgian sensation by winning the first part of the newly created Under 25 competition in Aachen. Fazzino who moved with ease in spite of the blistering heat, delivered an elegant presentation which convinced the judges. Particularly the piaffe and passage stood out.
“Not in the least did I expect to win”, said the rider shortly after the Intermediaire II competition. “We did not have much time to prepare, so I just wanted to enjoy the ride. Fazzino was in a very relaxed mood as well, he was eager to work.” The pair finished with 68,95 percent. The second Belgian rider, Fanny Verliefden ranked fifth (67,19 %). Her ride being very professional and precise despite its lack of vigour in passage and especially piaffe. Finally the Belgian sensation in Aachen was complete at the Belgian team scored the highest and won the special nations' cup prize.
On an individual basis Kirsten Sieber from Germany and her gelding Charly ranked second. Performing in a very correct and highly concentrated way, the duo reached a total score of 68,62%. Charly particularly excelled in his extended trot and canter, but his transitions were also flowing. During the second piaffe, however, there was a loss of rhythm.
“This was bad luck and some communication problem between Charly and me," Kirsten commented. “But generally I am very satisfied with the ride.” Her team mate Kristina Sprehe did not pass the vet check and consequently was not allowed to start. “All of a sudden Royal Flash became unlevel. I am really disappointed, but that’s bad luck,” said Kristina. “I hope he will recover soon.”
Third placed Juliette Ramel from Sweden and her gelding Ten Points reached a total of 68,15 percent. Especially the half-passes, canter pirouettes and passage were delightful. However, during flying changes there was a slight lack of rhythm and the piaffe was somewhat lacklustre. Her teammate Antonia Ramel who rode her new acquisition Insterburg TSF ended up with 63,36 %. In spite of the fact that the elegant pair shows a lot of potential the performance still lacked precision. Sometimes transitions were not smooth, now and then the rhythm was not perfect and the rider was still struggling with the pirouettes.
Lisbet Seierskilde from Denmark reached 67,03 percent. Her gelding Raneur has three ground covering expressive gaits. Passage and canter pirouette were excellent, however, during flying changes the pair at times made mistakes and the piaffe could have been more energetic. Disregarding these small weaknesses it is a promising pair which shows a lot of momentum. Her teammate Annemette Mortensen was less lucky. Her horse Mitchell Imhoff seemed to be quite excited and Annemette obviously had a hard time to keep him on track. During the flying changes every single stride she had a mistake and the horse was too tense to show a proper piaffe.
Dutch rider Diederik van Silfhout ranked sixth. In spite of the fact that the ride was smooth and no big errors happened it was obvious that his horse Luxform’s Popeye was very tense, which would show clearly during the extended walk. Particularly at the beginning Van Silfhout seemed to ride with the handbrake on. Flying changes did not work perfectly. But during passage Popeye showed a lot of suspension, the canter half-passes were brilliant and the horse gradually became more relaxed during the competition.
The sole Norwegian rider Lillann Jebsen alike Antonia Ramel partnered with a stallion. The 13-year-old KWPN Pro-Set showed strong extensions and he maintained a high energy level throughout. Half-passes and passage were brilliant. Unfortunately the rider went off program which lowered her total score to 67,5%.
For the first time seven instead of the usual five judges were on duty during the competition. The new method which is on trial until end of August was developed in order to reduce the influence of each individual judge. Moreover half-marks are allowed in order to make results more accurate and consistent. All the same it was striking that marks for one and the same rider would at times differ a lot.
By Irmgard Peterek for Eurodressage.com
Photos © Astrid Appels
Back to the 2010 CDIO Aachen index