Let's keep in mind the saying "better late than never." The three weeks after the 2011 Word Cup Finals in Leipzig the outdoor show season took an amazing jump-start and progressed at warp speed nine. With two or three shows going on the same weekend we were overwhelmed with work and never got the change to finish our final story on the World Cup Finals. We still needed to briefly discuss the rides of the top four to fifteen ranked riders or least feature some of the photos we took there. So here we go, better late than never...
Surprising Highs and Lows at the Leipzig World Cup Finals
A Championship or a major intercontinental finals is always a bit more exciting than a regular international competition because the extra bit of tension, stress or anticipation can lead to surprising results. This certainly also happened at the 2011 World Cup Finals where expected high placers dropped down in the ranking and unexpected combinations thrived with high scores.
One of those latter pairs was Edward Gal on Emmy de Jeu's Dutch warmblood mare Sisther de Jeu (by Gribaldi x Amor). Still reaping the fruits of his stardom on Totilas, Edward got big scores for a not so convincing test to finish fourth. In the Grand Prix the lid blew off the cooker as Sisther was bathing in sweat, terrified by the surroundings. For the freestyle Gal did an amazing job in having her at the right temperature, but still it wasn't their peak performance. Entering the ring to Lady Marmelade ("Hey Sisther, Soul Sisther"), the duo came into the arena in passage. The mare had a hollow back and only pulled the hocks high instead of stepping under. The halt was not immobile (and the final halt was stretched and behind the vertical). The extended trot had much energy and a beautiful front leg but there could have been more overstep. The extended walk had no overtrack at all and there was no stretch of the neck; the collected walk was tense and hitchy in the rhythm. The trot half passes were nice, the canter work decent with good tempi changes and adequate pirouettes. In general no major mistakes were made but the ride lacked relaxation and throughness in the horse's body. When the score of 77.393% flashed on the board it seemed as if these points were given out of "sympathy for your destiny" after Gal's sad loss of Totilas.
"It was a beautiful test in our opinion and if Edward had started in the final group he would have finished higher," said Gal's business partner Nicole Werner. "But we're all very happy with a fourth place in the World Cup Finals. Sisther hadn't been out to shows since December so we were anxious about what she was going to do. Espcecially when we saw the main ring and the warm up ring (next to the show jumping rign). Gradually Sisther became quieter at the show and better and that's something we're very happy about. In the past she would only get more tense and now it lessens."
Satchmo Spices the Freestyle with a Buck
The 2011 World Cup Finals were rumoured to be Satchmo's final career championships, so it is sure that Isabell Werth expected to finish at a higher spot than the 5th place. Riding her fairly new freestyle based on up tempo Roberto Blanco and Tom Jones' songs Werth certainly brought some much needed musical atmosphere to the ring as all previous freestyles were not as uplifting nor original as hoped for.
Werth started out strongly with a fantastic extended trot on the centerline and some excellent half passes. Though the 17-year old Satchmo is regular in the passage he was dragging the hind legs and could have had more spring off the ground. The walk was correct. In canter it all went a bit different than planned. Satchmo started to play and buck in the extended canter which made Isabell go behind on the music. The double pirouette that followed wasn't good and Werth struggled to get back on the music. At a certain point Satchmo kicked to the spur. The one tempi's, however, were excellent. Despite this little burst of energy Werth kept an exemplary contact with the bit at all times. Satchmo was soft and light in the mouth and stayed consistent in the frame. Werth scored 77.143 finished 3rd - 5th with six judges. German judge Katrina Wust placed her 11th with a "low" technical score of 69.000%.
Isabell's weird score left to quite some debate at the press conference where Wust had to explain her score to the press. "Isabell started very nicely, she was going for it," said Wust. "I gave nine for the half passes, but when she started the canter, he got blocked in the back. When he resisted for the first extended canter, the music didn’t fit at all and she was chasing behind her music. Both pirouettes -- normally she rides them very nicely -- both were very big. On the centerline the horse kicked coming out of the piaffe. That made the piaffe and the transition go down. If you have your music on the point, you can really see when you are out of it. The music was not underlining it anymore in the second part. There was too much disobedience even though she started out really well. I had low marks for the pirouettes which had a coefficient."
"Actually Satchie was in great form for the World Cup Finals," Isabell Werth commented. "But in Leipzig he had something else in mind. In the qualification Grand Prix he was concentrated and relaxed so that we finished fourth after a few issues. In the kur I really wanted to go for it but Satchmo wasn't on the same wavelength. He's 17-year old but he had made up his mind to show me and everybody else that he still have plenty of power and craziness bottled up inside. At the beginning of the Kur he was fresh and I sensed that something could happen. Then he spooked in the corner before the canter extension, knocked the side of the ring and then he thought that he could throw in a few bucks. Unfortunately it lasted the entire diagonal before Satchie remembered that we were in a test and had to be focused. A few highlights followed but then right before the end the rascal reacted to my leg aid in the onset of the piaffe. "The older the crazier he gets." That's the only thing I can say."
Kittel and Scandic Pumping Power
Swedish duo Patrik Kittel and his Dutch owned licensed stallion Scandic (by Solos Carex x Amiral) had a fantastic ride in the World Cup Freestyle Finals. Riding to upbeat Depeche Mode music they brought some youthfulness and energy to the show ring and immediately had the crowds in their charm. Unlike their Grand Prix in which Scandic leaned on the hand and was downhill especially in canter, the horse was on the aids and only had forward on his mind in the Kur. There was tons of rhythm and bounce in the piaffe, passage and trot extensions. They were super in tune to the music. The entire test was strong, full of confidence and totally befitting the level expected at a World Cup Finals.
So why didn't they score 80% but "only" 76.375%? It must have been because the horse's tongue was showing on the right side of his mouth the entire test. Kittel also often had the horse's head looking to the right, so the horse was not entirely straight in the body. Furthermore if the noseband would have been one hole looser 20 centimeters of tongue probably would have flipped out.
A quick look at the FEI rules for the grounding principals of dressage reveal that tongue issues affect the collective score for submission as well as that of each movements. "Submission is demonstrated by the way the horse accepts the bit, with light and soft contact and a supple poll. Resistance to or evasion of the Athlete’s hand, being either “above the bit” or “behind the bit” demonstrate lack of submission. (...) Putting out the tongue, keeping it above the bit or drawing it up altogether, as well as grinding the teeth or agitation of the tail, are mostly signs of nervousness, tension or resistance on the part of the horse and must be taken into account by the judges in their marks for every movement concerned, as well as in the collective mark for “submission”.
"I was thrilled with the Kur," Kittel commented. "He felt great and we had a really good partnership throughout. As I exited the arena, I felt alot of support from the crowd as they clapped and cheered which made me feel even better.. But as my score was announced, this feeling left quickly and I was a bit disappointed by the score. I was not alone in this feeling as the crowd immediately called out and booed!! Thanks crowd.. you can judge me any day."
Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - No Reproduction Allowed
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