German 25-year old Matthias Alexander Rath and the 11-year old Dutch warmblood stallion Totilas (by Gribaldi x Glendale) once more ascended to the top in the CDIO Grand Prix Special at the 2011 CDIO Aachen on Saturday 16 July 2011. The German duo was on high form scoring 83.083% to refer Dutch Adelinde Cornelissen and her 14-year old KWPN gelding Parzival (by Jazz x Ulft) to second place with 79.771%.
Rath's Grand Prix Special ride had a few unexpected highlights as the extended trots, Totilas' pet peeve due to their lack of ground cover and length in the frame, were significantly better. The trot half passes were brilliant in their elasticity and swing, the tempi changes were scopey, and the passage was super elevated and bouncy. The transitions to and from piaffe still need to improve as especially the piaffe is very expressive but misses regularity.
Unfortunately Rath was a bit sloppy in his punctation but, fortunately for him, this did not seem to carry much weight in the judging. He made a very early transition from passage to walk (the extended walk had good overtrack but the nose should be more out) and the second piaffe was far from the centerline. The flying change after the extended canter came six meters too early and was not on the marker. Totilas was fully of energy and ridden forwards with much expression. However at the end of the test the travel was showing a bit and he became deeper in the neck position. He was deep and tight in the one tempi's as well as in the piaffe at X. It is striking that Rath rides with such an omnipresent curb contact. In the end halt Totilas almost kissed his own chest, but he still got an 8, 9 and a 10 from three judges. Also the transition from the last piaffe to the final stretch of passage coul have been smoother, but it still earned him two 10s. It seems as if the judges slightly lost control over their own scores at the end.
The judging corps for the Special consisted of Eisenhardt (GER), Fouarge (NED), Clarke (GBR), Markowski (POL), and Alonso (MEX). They gave Totilas an average of 83.083% with 80.833% as low score and 85.938% as high score. Rath's Special was certainly one step up from his Grand Prix test. "I'm just very pleased. Totilas again gave it his all," said Rath after his test.
Cornelissen Bites Back
Dutch Adelinde Cornelissen was blaming herself for not riding enough in the Grand Prix and she made sure to change that in the Special. The chestnut Parzival was on fire and produced a super expressive test which could have been one of her best in her career so far, had the bit contact not been so problematic.
They entered the ring in a beautiful uphill canter and square halt. The extended trots were cadenced and ground covering, despite a tiny mistake in the cadence at the onset of one extension. The first piaffe was rhythmical but had no sit. The same for the second one, the beat was there but he got very narrow behind. The two tempi's were superb (8s and 9s), the one tempi's brilliant (9s). The extended canter was powerful but Adelinde already started collecting her horse at X. The pirouettes were superb: tiny and with much lift in the shoulder.
It was an energetic, sparkling test but it didn't break the 80% barrier because throughout the ride the bit contact was far from ideal. Even though (and because) Cornelissen generated so much activity and electricity in her horse, she was unable to translate that power into lightness. She hung into the horse's mouth the entire time and in the execution of almost every single movement the horse has his mouth wide open. This resulted in "lower" collective scores (7s, 8s) for submission and a 7.5 to even a 9 (?) for rider's position and seat. It led to an agreeable 79.771%. Judge Markowski had her first (82.083%) while Clarke (77.813%) and Alonso (76.250%) had her fourth.
A disgruntled Cornelissen relieved her feelings of disappointment to Jacob Melissen, the press officer for the Dutch Equestrian Federation, who wrote an accusatory report as official Dutch press release on the class. "I was very happy about my ride because Parzival was totally focused on me and throughout the test I did my best not to lose a single point," Cornelissen told Melissen. "I saw the ride again and I thought me and my horse were performing better than at the European Championships in Windsor. We then scored 84% and now we just missed out on the 80%. I wonder what I need to do better. Really! For what I used to get 9s I now get 8s. The only thing I can imagine is that two years ago we were competing against each other not to let Parzival explore, while now everything looks much more harmoniously. That's the core of dressage but maybe the rules of game have changed?"
Isabell Werth and El Santo Rise High
Isabell Werth and her young Grand Prix horse El Santo NRW (by Ehrentusch x Rhythmus) are on a rise this show season with staggering scores at the German Championships a few weeks ago and now in Aachen. The sympathetic but heavy bodied bay gelding is still missing power, push and speed in the piaffe and needs to be more closed in the frame in the passage as he tends to get long in the neck while trailing his hinds legs. Furthermore in the Special test there were mistakes in one tempi's on both the diagonal and centerline.
This judges, however, seemed quite forgiving for this "work-in-progress" pair especially because of the highlights that "Ernie" had in store. Lofty extended trots and a passage which improved slightly due to the accelleration and activity from behind generated by the extensions. The extended walk had two hooves overtrack. The two tempi's were lovely and the pirouettes very nice, though there was a slight loss of balance in the right one.
Isabell's 78.292% was quite generous and the judges had 75.833 as her low score and 79.375 as high score. She ranked from 2nd to 6th place. "Those mistakes were my fault. I totally messed up the ones," Werth admitted, but she added that "overall I'm still super happy."
Bechtolsheimer Loses Focus
The Grand Prix Special is normally one of Bechtolsheimer's strongest tests but it wasn't meant to be in Aachen. The British triple WEG silver medallist lost her concentration in the canter tour and strung together a series of mistakes, while resulted in a 77.229% score and fourth place.
Laura B and her huge chestnut gelding Mistral Hojris (by Michellino x Ibsen) started out strongly with a powerful trot extension, followed by a few very visible half halts to begin a wonderful half pass to the left. In the second trot extension the gelding broke into canter. The passage was regular and rhythmical, the extended walk nicely forward with good overstep. The piaffe and passage on the serpentine were world class. The rhythm was wonderful and it looked all very light and easy as if it were an automatism. Unfortunately after the strike-off in canter, Bechtolsheimer rode the two tempi's instead of the half passes and judge at C, Stephen Clarke, had to ring the bell to alert her she had gone off course. The error made Laura B lose her focus. The change in between canter half passes was short and one change in the one tempi's on the centerline did not come through. The tempi's on the diagonals were nice. The final passage and piaffe were brilliant again and earned them 10s, but Mistral was not immoble in the end halt.
“I feel so stupid," Laura Bechtolsheimer stated. "I think I was just trying too hard. S–t happens. That about sums it up.”
Ravel and Donnperignon Shine
American Steffen Peters and Akiko Yamazaki's Dutch warmblood gelding Ravel (by Contango x Democraat) finished fifth again with 76.708%. The judges were quite unanimous on his points though because of the high quality field, rankings changed between third and sixth place. Ravel showed well carried extended trots and big half passes but wasn't so regular in the passage with significantly more right hind leg activity than left. In piaffe the regularity was certainly there but there could have been a bit more impulsion. The two tempi's were big but there was a mistake in the ones. The extended canter was huge and powerful and earned them straight 8s. The pirouettes were outstanding but there was one short change in the tempi's on the centerline. On the final centerline the passage was more even again but Steffen lost the collection right before the halt.
Christoph Koschel and the Finnish warmblood Donnperignon (by Donnerhall x Mozart) received 76.479% but they could have easily scored more for the beautiful work they showed. Gorgeous trot extensions with impressive ground cover were followed by wonderful passage. The extended walk could have been a bit more eager. Unfortunately the piaffe lacked rhythm and the movement continues to disrupt their potential of achieving 80%. Nevertheless the fabulous, straight tempi changes were screaming for 9s instead of the 7s they got. The powerful extended canter did put the 9 on the scoreboard. They scored a total of 76.479%.
Text and Photos © Astrid Appels
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