Dutch Dana van Lierop and Spanish Alexandra Barbançon Mestre shone in the junior riders' divisions at the 2012 CDIO-PJYR Moorsele. Hosted for the fourth consecutive year, the international youth riders competition in Moorsele attracts a varied field of European competitors to equestrian centre Zilveren Spoor in Moorsele, Belgium, on 17 - 20 May 2012.
The Netherlands' Dana van Lierop became the torch bearer of her Nations' cup winning Dutch team in the CDIO-tour for Junior Riders. Aboard her own 12-year old Dutch warmblood DJ Tiesto (by Rohdiamant x Nocturn x My Lunaria xx) Van Lierop scored a hattrick, winning all three classes with whopping mid seventy percentage scores. She outdid the rest with a 73.559% in the team test, 75.833% in the individual and 76.625% in the Kur.
Van Lierop made a winning return to the show ring after she had to cancel her CDIO-PJYR Roosendaal performance two weeks earlier because DJ Tiesto had a fever spikingright before the event.
"Tiesto felt very nice and at ease in Moorsele," Van Lierop told Eurodressage. "He was already very nice in the training. The first day I still made a few mistakes but Tiesto gave me a wonderful feeling. In the individual it was almost flawless and went really well. Judge Hamoen said he enjoyed it. Of course that made me really happy. In the Kur he was nice again but a bit hot, but that's just great. He was fantastic in trot and very nice in canter. What is also nice is that everything is super organized in Moorsele."
The 16-year old Dana van Lierop is trained by her mother Nicolette van Leeuwen, a distinguished dressage rider herself. Nicolette won the 2000 Pavo Cup Finals on Osmium and became the 2002 Reserve World Young Horse Champion and 2002 Pavo Cup Champion with Hilltop Rousseau. Going through a very unpleasant divorce a few years ago, Nicolet was able to save DJ Tiesto for her daughter.
Leading up to the European Junior Riders Championships, van Lierop is focusing on maintaining form. "I try to keep Tiesto consistent in the scores. We will be training hard at finetuning everything, but Tiesto is already going really well and that I try to develop with my mom and chef d'equipe Tineke Bartels."
Van Lierop was the 2011 European Pony Kur Champion on Day of Diva, but already made her switch to horses two years ago. "Tiesto is a fantastic horse and he has a super funny character. He really relies on one person, but that makes him super focused on me. He's not afraid. We are located at my aunt's barn where there are fences and creeks and when I'm walking him on th long rein he stops there to drink and walk through it. Really fantastic."
Van Lierop's biggest competition came from team mates Antoinette te Riele on Leida Collins' Dutch warmblood Ziggy (by Riverman) and Jeanine Nieuwenhuis on the 6-year old (!) Dutch warmblood Baldacci (by Havidoff) who moved into the top three in the different tests. Belgian Jorinde Verwimp and her long legged Dutch gelding Tiamo (by Lester) challenged van Lierop but finished second twice in the individual test (71.535%) and in the kur (72.458%)
Tripple Victory for Alexandra Barbancon
Spanish Alexandra Barbançon Mestre saddled two horses for the CDI-tour and booked a tripple victory with 9-year old Dutch warmblood Webbe (by Jazz x Krack C x Belisar). The duo climbed the ladder from a third place in the team championship test (67.928%) to vistory in the individual (70.965%) and Kur to Music. (73.500%).
"I had no idea he would do so well," a very pleased Alexandra told Eurodressage after her victories. "He is a fantastic horse, but like they say: a good horse is never easy. He is quite challenging and Moorsele has the reputation of being a windy show and Webbi doesn't really like the wind. The first day he did a correct test but of course he was a bit tense and lacked activity. However the second day it was really nice! We still have to work on many things, but it's improving so much!"
In the freestyle, Alexandra rode to classical music arranged by Charles Monterie. "The last day was great," she said. "I'm very happy because he usually spooks on the music and it has been the second time that he was fully concentrated on my aids, so it shows that he really is learning. We are on a very good way. I also had very positive feedback from the judges with both of them, so I really couldn't ask for more."
The 16-year old Alexandra also made her return to the show ring with the Hanoverian gelding Mr Q (by Matcho AA) which was off due to an injury. The black has not lost his value as a schoolmaster and proved his worth again in the show ring with a second place in the team championship test (68.33%) and a third place in the individual test (67.939%).
Mr Q exceeded Alexandra's expectations in Moorsele. "To be honest I did not expect to do anything special with Q considering he has been out of the competition cycle for one year and a half," said Barbancon. "I had only been training exercises since three weeks and he was just going so well that we said why not try him in Moorsele. He really proved to be an amazing horse and a super schoolmaster, even after a long break. His bucking in my extended canter showed that he was happy to be back in the game!"
Living in Switzerland, but commuting on a regular basis to Anky van Grunsven's stable in Erp, The Netherlands, Barbançon focuses a lot on training the basics at home. "I believe that you can't ride a good test without the basis. We really work on having the horses forward on the legs and doing many transitions. Of course before competitions we train exercises and try and make them as good as possible. Both of them are very different horses and need therefore different training," she explained.
With the 2012 European Junior Riders Championships set to take place in her home country Switzerland, Alexandra is aiming to peak in Berne. "I am lucky that my exams start quite early and therefore I will be able to ride full time for 4 weeks before the europeans," she said. "I will continue to train hard with both horses, make them as good as we can leaving out no detail. My plan is to go to Compiegne with both and see how we do. I am still planning on probably doing a couple of national shows to keep the competition rhythm. Practice makes perfect!"
Barbancon either had herself or American born Belgian Alexa Fairchild on her heels in the top three ranking of the CDI Junior classes in Moorsele. Trained by Virginie Deltour, Fairchild showed the 12-year old Dutch warmblood Totall Tip Top (by Metall) and won the Team test with 68.378%. The expressively moving Totall Tip Top went on to finish second in the individual (67.939%) and second in the Kur to Music (73.042%).
Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - No Reproduction Allowed
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Related Links
Scores 2012 CDIO-PJYR Moorsele
Photo Report: Wettstein Takes it All in Pony Division at 2012 CDIO-PJYR Moorsele