Dutch serial winning young rider Angela Krooswijk will be facing tough competition this 2012 show season as dominating junior Stephanie Kooijman and her super star horse Winston have moved up the ranks and went head to head with Krooswijk for the first time in the young riders division at the 2012 CDI-YR Drachten on 6 - 8 January 2012.
Routinier Krooswijk prevailed in the individual test and kur to music, while newcomer Kooijman won the team championship test, her second young riders' test so far in her career. Trained by Dutch JR/YR chef d'equipe Tineke Bartels, Kooijman presented a matured 8-year old Winston (by OO Seven). The horse has gained power and self-carriage and appeared less strong in the contact. Only the pirouettes in the Prix St Georges team championship test lacked collection and were very babyish. The pair scored 71.491% to win the Team test. In the Individual they slotted in second with 70.350%, but chose not to ride the freestyle.
Krooswijk and her experienced 12-year old Westfalian gelding Flash (by Fidermark) dominated the tests on Saturday and Sunday. The chestnut stallion produces highlight tempi changes which are ground covering and scopey. Krooswijk is a pro at riding accurate tests and earns many points with her precision. Unfortunately heer gelding tends to grind his teeth regularly in the test. The pair scored a winning 70.482% in the individual and 75.000% in the Kur.
Diederik van Silfhout's girlfriend Lotte Jansen got the opportunity to ride the 12-year old Dutch warmblood gelding Trappel (by Havel x Landwind), which used to be competed by Diederik's younger sister Jarissa. Jansen took over the reins with success as she performed very consistently throughout the show. On Friday she was second in the team test with 69.561%, her highest ranking of the weekend. The tempi changes and smooth trot work were the point-getters in her ride. The walk, which was tense and lateral in the collection, made her lose points.
Michelle van Lanen and her sensitive, gentle giant Urchin B (by Jazz x Vincent) improved during the competition. In the team test the spooky chestnut was still seeing ghosts and got slightly distracted from his job (66.403%), but the petite Van Lanen managed to gain her horse's confidence in the Individual test to finish third with 68.157%. They climbed the ladder all the way to a second place in the freestyle with 72.208 %
Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - NO Reproduction allowed
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